Trinder films have produced a documentary entitled ‘Free Party: A Folk History / trailer 2025 – The story of the largest ever illegal rave, Castlemorton’
The documentary is scheduled for a virtual viewing on the 30th May 2025 but there is a trailer on YouTube that covers the main themes and introduces talking heads like the founder of Spiral Tribe.
The film will focus on a perfect storm of Conservative Party wedge politics, free parties and protest movements that culminated in scenes of police descending on the ravers, eventually leading to the Criminal Justice Bill in 1994.
Spiral Tribe, DiY and Circus Warp, all of whom appear in the film, organised free parties across London, the South West, East and West Midlands. Unlike typical licensed raves of the time, these parties drew together a diverse crowd of New Age Travellers, Anarchists and ravers.
The New Age Travellers in particular were derided by the press with the derogatory term ‘crusties’, indeed the whole scene was presented as a scourge on rural, conservative areas and a useful target for politicians and red top tabloids.
The documentary gives voices to the organisers and attendees of the free party scene along with first hand accounts of police crackdowns. For more information on how to watch the entire film, see here.