Adem Holness on 696 Festival: "For me, 696 says Black British Music is welcomed into public space"

696 Festival started at the end of June at Forest Hill's Horniman Museum and Gardens, and has a programme made up of live music, installations, collaborations, residencies, specially commissioned works and more, available through a variety of in-person and livestreamed events to suit different budgets.

The music line-up includes artists such as Steam Down, Joe Armon-Jones, Ashley Henry, Lex Amor, Shabaka Hutchings, Kadeem Tyrell, London Community Gospel Choir and many more, and artist Naeem Davis has created a series of installations that explores the relationship between Black British music and physical space.

Led by Horniman Museum and Gardens' music curator Adem Holness - who is also a Relationship Manager (Music) at Arts Council England - 696 Festival is more than just a celebration of music, it aims to champion the local music scene as well as wanting to flip the script by acknowledging how Black British music has been pushed out of public spaces, which is why the festival shares its name with the controversial Metropolitan Police form that was scrapped in 2017.

Best Fit managed to catch up with Adem Holness to discuss the ongoing festival.

BEST FIT: Can you tell us a bit about how 696 Festival came about and why it's named after the Metropolitan Police form?
Adem Holness: The festival is a celebration of the South London music scene. I felt for the Horniman Museum to platform Black Music it had to recognise that we weren't starting on a level playing field. I wanted to call the festival, and the wider programme it's a part of, 696 to acknowledge how Black British music has been pushed out of public space.The whole idea is that 696 champions music genres and the people working in them that have been disproportionately affected by bias in legislation.

For over 10 years, form 696 made it harder for Black live music to happen in London. So I guess, in some ways, my programme is trying to draw attention to that by flipping the narrative and asking questions. For me, 696 says that Black British Music is welcomed into public space. It says places like Horniman have a vital role to play in celebrating it.

696 Festival has a variety of live gigs, installations, collaborations, residencies, talks and more, why was the Horniman Museum and Gardens the right location to host it?
The Horniman is for everyone. Our founder gave the Museum to the people of London in 1901, and we are free at the point of entry. We're funded with public money and are a public space. We also look after the most comprehensive collection of musical instruments in the country. So, we have a long history as being an important centre for music.

But despite this, historically, we haven't attracted everybody. So my goal is that our local music community feel the Horniman is their place, that the collections belong to them and that the spaces do too. 696 is about building bridges to our local music scene, the Black music community, and saying we're here for you.

The live music line-up includes multiple genres, can you tell us how you curated the line-up and the importance of some of the genres to London?
I thought it was essential that all the programming didn't just come from the Museum and me. I wanted the whole programme to be a spectrum of the scene. The festival has got a mixture of Soul, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rap and Reggae. So I brought in other people like Skin Deep, Balamii and No Signal's Tony Supreme. Together we co-curated artists that we felt represent music on the Museum's doorstep.

What would you say is the main objective for the festival?

Ultimately, to have fun! I wanted to have people come to the Museum and Gardens that never would have otherwise. I want people from my community, the Black music community, to feel that the Horniman Museum is for them. Whether that's to shake a leg, create music with our instruments or put on a gig.

As there is this long history of Black British Music being pushed out of public space, I hope that the festival, in some way, shifts away from that. So often, it can feel like our music, creativity, and culture aren't welcome in spaces funded by public money. I hope people see the festival and know that they are more than welcome at the Horniman.

That's one of the reasons it was so crucial for me to bring back an event like The Original Jerk Cookout that last happened at the Horniman in 2009. This event used to be a major event in the local Caribbean calendar. It was a massive dream come true for it to happen again - I almost can't believe we've got people like Caroll Thompson, Becca D, YolanDa Brown and The London Community Gospel Choir playing!

I assume this festival has been in the works for some time now, was it delayed by the pandemic, and if so, how hard has it been to plan during the pandemic?
Yeah, so the festival was supposed to happen in 2020 and initially it had a totally different shape. At this point, the festival has probably gone through more revisions to its format than the Sugababes! It's definitely been challenging planning, replanning and trying to get it right. Organising a festival during a global pandemic is no small feat.

All the pressures and changes meant that we did have to make some sacrifices and concessions. We had to keep reacting to the ever changing climate and loads of uncertainties. We had to work especially hard to keep everyone safe. I'm super proud of what we've been able to achieve.

I think we've all been absolutely desperate to get back to gigs. We've got some of the most amazing artists programmed, and I feel pretty jammy that I get to watch them all play live, especially after the year we've all had.