Citadel Festival — Your very own London musical playground

Your very own London musical playground

On the London music festival calendar, there is nothing quite like Citadel Festival – grand, chilled, different, this year it had everything required to fool yourself into thinking you didn’t have work the next day.

After the bouncing vibes and teenage tomfoolery of Lovebox in Victoria Park over the preceding two days, Citadel brought a twenty-something/family crowd to East London. How they managed to change Lovebox Festival into Citadel Festival overnight could only be explained by some sort of wizardry.

Citadel Festival filled a gap. It had a fully Sunday afternoon feel about it – the sun definitely helped no doubt as everything looks better in the sun right? There were various games being played from badminton to dodgeball, whilst kids and adults frolicked around, with distractions at every corner. The revolving glass structure by the main stage reflected the surroundings delightfully as it swirled, refracting the rays of sunshine. The skateboarding area, with big tunes and skateboarding tricks I couldn’t even comprehend, was a great addition, and complemented the random feel of the festival. The comedy, banquet fine dining, debates and talks gave it an extra dimension - differentiating it from many other music festivals.

Roots Manuva played Soundcrash Stage, with the enclosed setting particularly apt for his music. Here people bopped and bounced to the smooth raps of the South Londoner. Bombay Bicycle Club were the highlight, ‘Always Like This’ fully kick-started the crowd when it came on, and whetted their appetite for Ben Howard. Earlier, Nick Mulvey had sung us into the evening with his unique voice on the Communion Stage before the crowds descended to the Main Stage for the headline act.

With the anticipation built from the energetic Bombay Bicycle Club performance, there was an expectant tension – when Ben Howard came on however there was very little interaction with the crowd. Mixed in with a set of mostly new music (with a mixed reception from the impartial crowd) were his bigger hits, but by this time many had left – whether it was because of the performance or to avoid busy public transport? You can only speculate.

It’s not that his performance wasn’t good – it was, but rather it was the fact that everyone knew he could’ve been better, which left many disappointed. Admittedly this is subjective, but there’s an unavoidable expectation around a headline act – many had paid their money just for this. It was an anticlimactic ending to an otherwise refreshing, new and chilled festival which we hope will return next year gracing the grounds of Victoria Park.