At the laser-filled Tantrum stage, a stack of shipping containers, DJ Stingray took crowds on a squelching ride through acid, techno and more, while Ricardo Villalobos’s slot was as divisive as ever, closing on a track that sounded a bit like an iPhone alarm tone. Shanti Celeste was another clear standout: spinning R&B edits and rave burners to an ecstatic afternoon crowd dressed as aubergines and wizards. Ben UFO’s appearance saw him drop Kassian’s ‘Metropolis’ and Nick León’s ‘Xtasis’ alongside well-worn classics. Read this next: 10 of the best marathon DJ sets everīut Houghton is a festival for those seeking to hear lesser-known cuts, too – even on the main stage. Joy Orbison’s appearance saw him veering into amapiano, a grimey refix of Khia’s ‘My Neck, My Back’, and Benny Benassi’s ‘Satisfaction’, while Optimo blended Fatima Yamaha’s ‘What’s A Girl To Do?’ with Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’. Longer play times for DJs allowed for more exploratory sets and most selectors didn't go all in on big room bangers, although some did get a look-in. That consideration went into the billing, too. All the care has gone into the sound design and attendee experience – most stages don’t have a raised DJ booth so you’re struggling to see where the tunes are coming from a choice that makes for deeper immersion in the sounds. The site itself is uncrowded and designed with a restrained feel: you won’t find any Doritos-branded stages or confetti cannons, but instead there's corrugated iron structures and barns that align with the natural feel of the grounds and minimal, artfully-placed lighting. Houghton, which is curated by Richards, earned a reputation across its first two years for being a mythical place, set in the rolling grounds of a Grade I-listed mansion, with a focus on hi-spec audio and 24-hour non-stop music (earplugs are handy if you actually want to sleep). The festival’s most coveted accessory was not a vintage football shirt or Rizla bucket hat, but a water spray bottle for continuous face misting. The baking heat caused clouds of dust to rise up from the site and swirl around, caking everyone in a thick layer of dirt. You could actually see the parched grass from NASA satellite imagery as the land transformed from grass to hay. Once again the weather gods weren’t smiling on Richards: on the first day of Houghton 2022, Britain was a dust bowl. On its fourth attempt for a third edition, following an outstanding debut in 2017 and successful follow-up in 2018, would it actually go ahead or would there be more problems to contend with? Incomplete paperwork? Plague of wasps? A giant sinkhole? It’s something the festival leaned into with its ‘Hought-ON’ branding, yet still, a sense of trepidation surrounded the event this year.
The DJ’s Norfolk festival has endured so many back-to-back cancellations it basically became a meme (2019: stormy weather 2020: COVID 2021: COVID, again, combined with staff shortages and ineligibility for Arts Council funding). Craig Richards, you could say, has had a hard time of it lately.