Who would have thought 15 years ago, a group of people, dedicated to bringing eclectic live music, an array of artists and like-minded people together would have come so far? From 700 people gathering in the Black Mountains in 1994 to 30,000 people gathering among the fields of Eastnor Castle Deer Park in 2008, The Big Chill Festival has always been about getting motivated by good music, animated about the arts and passionate about putting on a party.

So how to celebrate such a milestone? Well you get together all the tastemaking DJs, influential artists and the visual visionaries who make the Big Chill experience what it is, and you get them to pick one tune that sums up what the Big Chill festival means to them. Then you put all those tunes of one album and sell it for charity. So… we’re doing that.

‘15 By 15′ is a compilation album with, as the name suggests, 15 luminaries of the world that is Big Chill, choosing 15 different tracks to celebrate the festival’s 15th year of existence. The selectors include Mr Norman Jay MBE, Gilles Peterson, Tom Middleton, Mr Scruff, Coldcut, Tuung, Jon Hopkins and the Big Chill Forum dwellers to name a few. With such choice cuts including tracks from Orbital, The Cinematic Orchestra, 4 Hero, The Orb, Ulrich Schnauss and Jon Shuttleworth, not to mention an exclusive composition from Tom Middleton himself featuring on the iTunes edition of the album. ‘15 By 15′ is going to be a souvenir to some, on constant repeat for others and one brilliant compilation for all!

The album will be released in early March with full details of all the selectors and the tracks selected being published on www.bigchill.net soon.

All the profits from the sale of the album will go to The Big Issue, a close working relationship that continues to bloom between the two “bigs” with successful initiative after initiative helping the vendors and the festival alike.