The third annual Away From Home Festival is taking place on August 19, 2023. The Away From Home Festival is an indie music festival brought together by ex One Direction band member, Louis Tomlinson, showcasing new indie bands and artists in the music industry. He first thought of the idea during the COVID pandemic, when the world of live concerts and music festivals was put on hold. The first Away From Home was a one-day festival, cost-free to fans as a stand against the outrageous ticket prices during the pandemic, allowing many new bands to perform to a crowd for the first time in months.
The first Away From Home in 2021 took place in London at the Crystal Palace Bowl. Artists such as Jess Iszatt, BILK, The Snuts, and Tomlinson himself, performed some of their music to a crowd of almost 10,000 people. Tomlinson performed a couple of One Direction’s songs at the show, along with 15 of his songs and two cover songs, “7” by Catfish and the Bottlemen and “Beautiful War” by Kings of Leon. A few months later, Tomlinson created another show the following year to support a Manchester band named Maruja after having their gear stolen at the end of September that year. They lost around £6000, almost USD 7400, worth of song-making equipment after their van was broken into, as reported by the drummer of Maruja for Manchester Evening News. Tomlinson and his team ended up donating £4000, almost USD 5000, to a GoFundMe to support the band, inspiring his fans to donate as well.
For Away From Home 2022, Tomlinson began looking for different bands to open the festival. He calls the festival a chance to showcase rising acts and to show his fans the type of music he loves and spends his time listening to, in hopes of introducing the fans to their new favorite band. The 2022 festival was held at Marenostrum Music Castle Park in Spain. Some of the bands that performed at this show were The Vaccines, Hinds, Stone, Sun Room, The Libertines’ Carl Barat, and, of course, Louis Tomlinson, who performed a handful of One Direction’s songs, two cover songs, and only 11 of his songs, making it shorter than the first festival by almost half an hour.
Following the two sold-out events in London and Spain, Away From Home returned this year in Lido di Camaiore, Italy. This festival took place Saturday, August 19, 2023, where artists such as the Blossoms, The Cribs, HotWax, Andrew Cushin, and Abbie McCarthy joined Tomlinson and performed. Tomlinson headlined at Parco Bussoladomani, a city park known for hosting concerts internationally for a wide range of genres and artists. Around 30,000 people were able to attend this year’s Away From Home festival, which is three times as many people as Tomlinson’s first festival. This year, Tomlinson performed songs from his new album, Faith in the Future, opening the show with the same song that opened the album, “The Greatest”. Next year, the world can expect Tomlinson to come back, better than ever in the next Away From Home festival since he plans on hosting them every year and in different locations each time.
