20.75°C MickFest returns to Colchester Arts Centre on Saturday 1st August, celebrating Mick Newman – better known as Hippy Mick – with a full day of live music.
Newman has worked at the Arts Centre for almost four decades, becoming one of Colchester’s most familiar faces. He’s welcomed audiences at the box office, cooked his vegetarian chilli for generations of touring bands and, according to Arts Centre director Anthony Roberts, has become as much a part of the building as the stage itself.
The festival was created in his honour while he was still very much alive. When it was first announced, some people assumed it meant Mick had died – something he now laughs about.
“I’d rather hear about it before I died than after,” he joked when I spoke to him recently.
This year’s line-up features Putan Club, Earth Mother F*cker, Bada Düüm, Masal, Aithur, Jøtnarr, Vaahllallans, and Spermaceti Organ, with Lee Ashcroft hosting throughout the day.
Mick’s chilli has become part of Arts Centre folklore in its own right. Asked whether he’d ever reveal the recipe, he answered in his typically understated way.
“There’s a list of ingredients, but there’s not a recipe,” he said. “So no one can make my chilli apart from me. I can tell you what the ingredients are, but you won’t get it right.”
Not every band has been convinced. Indie band Arab Strap disliked it so much they turned up with microwave meals on their next visit. Others have made the trip because of it. Mick recalls post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor agreeing to play Colchester after asking one question: “Can we have the chilli?”
Away from the kitchen, Mick has watched thousands of performances from behind the scenes. Asked which artists had left the biggest impression, he admitted it was impossible to choose, but singled out Planet Gong, Faust and Roy Harper among the gigs that still stand out.
MickFest runs from 2.30pm to 10.30pm, with tickets £15 via Colchester Arts Centre’s website.
