This book is about bringing people together, making connections; stepping back and watching ideas grow. It's about passion for music: its role as a connector and its life-affirming qualities; about non-conformity, challenging preconceptions; and unconventional business approaches, scenes and movements, and the value of attention to detail.

Ultimately, it's about making dreams come true – my own and those of others.

This is a travelogue about life, love, inspiration, and a quest for fulfillment. It's about campfire culture – the ultimate triumph of small over big, the rise and fall of the Big Chill phenomemon, light bulb moments and the blueprint for the global Pic-Nic.

It’s about The Big Chill – from its humble beginnings as a Sunday multimedia club in a back room at the Union Chapel in Islington to its rollercoaster transition into one of the UK's top outdoor events with a 30,000 capacity based around a loyal community; its ensuing growing pains, board room struggles and inevitable decline after being bought by a big-business concern, perhaps a familiar trajectory for many small companies based on inspirational ideas.

The Big Chill and Other Alfresco Stories charts my journey through life and love, from school days to present day, and includes new revelations as well as many anecdotes. I would love to be able to tell this story about my life. Please support the book.

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Pete Lawrence has had a rollercoaster ride of a life.

Born in Leamington Spa, at the age of 15 he lost his mother to a brain tumour and, months later, came home from school to find his father unconscious on floor from a massive drugs overdose after an attempted suicide.

Before he was 30, he had started his own record company, Cooking Vinyl, releasing amongst others an album starring live recordings of Michelle Shocked, an unknown folk singer-songwriter from Texas who Pete had met by chance on his first trip to the States. The album was recorded on a Walkman and cost a mere £1 to produce; it later shot to Number 1 in the Independent Album Charts.

By the age of 40, Pete’s life had taken on a fairytale quality: it had its blissful moments, but wasn’t without its share of difficulties. Having started his own magazine, On, and conceptualised a radical new concept – what’s now referred to as the 'boutique' festival – making the concept a reality proved to be more difficult than he had ever imagined. However, by the end of the nineties, Pete (together with co-collaborator Katrina) had pioneered The Big Chill and galvanised a dynamic and unique community of Big Chillers.

By 50, he had been lauded as one of London’s primary 'movers and shakers' by Time Out magazine, made his Radio Two debut and was already planning his next venture: a blueprint for future directions in social networking.

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