Reviews

Love Motion 2025: A Celebration of Disco Bank Holiday Sunday 24 August brought thousands of disco lovers, house heads and soul devotees to the iconic Crystal Palace Bowl for Love Motion 2025 — a full-day celebration of groove-driven music fronted by the one and only Nile Rodgers & CHIC. It was the kind of event that reminded everyone why London’s open-air summer shows feel so magical: music echoing across the water, dancers on the grass, shimmering outfits in the sun and a cr

Bank Holiday Monday 26 May, we ventured back again to Brockwell Park for the fourth, and final, day of the Brockwell Park festival marathon! Today it was City Splash that brought us here for a smorgasbord of black music, with Soca, Dancehall, Reggae, Afrobeats, Amapiano, and many more genres on offer. Over 30,000 people were in attendance at City Splash, with many donning flags and colours of their nations, it felt like a beautiful painting of the cultural melting point of th

Festival season 2025 is nearing an end, but it’s by no means over yet. Boundary Brighton provides a fantastic bookend to a wonderful summer, and this year they added an extra day! Located at Stanmer Park, Brighton, the festival brings a mix of mix of House, Drum & Bass, Jungle, Garage, Bass, and more across five stages. Taxi drop off was a little bit of a walk from the festival, but I often enjoy that part with the reverberating bass getting increasingly louder whilst chattin

Following our capers at Wide Awake and Field Day, we were back for day 3 of Brockwell Park’s festival extravaganza weekend – Cross The Tracks. Cross The Tracks has become a staple in our festival calendar, a packed line-up across 7 stages featuring some of the best artists, new and old, in Jazz, Funk & Soul – a real love letter to those genres. Morning weather check completed, festival fit sorted and ‘just in case’ rain jackets packed, and we were off to Brockwell Park. The p

On Friday 15th August, I had the pleasure of attending South Facing Festival at Crystal Palace Bowl in South East London. With Busta Rhymes headlining alongside Redman and Big Daddy Kane, this was a highly anticipated event for fans of all ages. Also on this already legendary line-up was Chali 2na, so you already knew the highest calibre of hip-hop was about to unfold. Arriving at Crystal Palace Park, you could feel the excitement building as attendees eagerly approached the

The last time I walked through the gates at Reading, I was an angsty yet overexcited 17-year-old, surrounded by similarly angsty yet excited 17-year-olds at various levels of sobriety. I’d just dramatically dropped out of sixth form and was itching for a weekend of parentless hedonism. I’m now a somewhat mature, recently married, almost 30-year-old, and going back to Reading initially felt like a strange thing to do. 'It’s for teenagers' I thought. 'I have no place amongst th

Wilderness feels like stepping into a parallel universe for a weekend. Part glitter-fuelled party, part lakeside retreat, part cultural playground, this year’s edition served up sunshine, sequins, and some seriously eclectic experiences, all wrapped in that signature Wilderness magic. Here’s how it went down. Although it’s easy to forget with everything else on offer, Wilderness is still at heart a music festival and this year it delivered across the board. Friday set the ton

The people of London certainly love their wings, and the return of Wingfest brought the inevitable hype and excitement this year. Thousands of chicken lovers flocked to the Olympic Stadium in London for a weekend full of fun, food and cocktails from Friday 25th July – Sunday 27th July 2025. Entry was quick and seamless, with all attendees being gifted a free trucker hat of choice as part of their ticket, which was a nice touch. On entry you were welcomed by the unmistakable s

In a world that is skilled at stressing everyone out, the outlet of live music is always a blessing - and 2000 Trees truly brings the joy and catharsis that a camping festival is meant for. The festival is an absolute gem of the independent festival scene, with a community that is ready to make the Cotswolds mosh every year. The site isn’t incredibly large but it makes excellent use of the rolling farm land - dense enough for a run to a food stall on the opposite end in the g

Only five years-old and Wide Awake has quickly cemented itself as a cultural powerhouse, bringing in audiences from all across London and beyond. They burst onto the scene in 2021 to fill a much-needed gap in the summer festival line-up as artists creating what’s now referred to as the Post-Brexit New Wave quickly outgrew their humble beginnings and needed a showcase worthy of their audience – and kickstarted a yearly tradition that I wouldn’t dream of missing. I arrived at B

Like the cliché millennial Londoner I am, Field Day has a permanent slot in my calendar. In 2025, it moved from Victoria Park in East to it’s new home South of the river – Brockwell Park. This year, the weather gods were firmly on side: a full day of blazing sun over Brockwell Park, the kind of heat that has you stress-texting your mates for SPF but also secretly basking in the smug glow of being outdoors in actual summer. There was a buzz in the air from the get-go - Field

For anyone who grew up in South London, Crystal Palace Park has always been a bit of a favourite. Despite being best known for its Victorian dinosaurs, on this particular Sunday, the scene felt more like a futuristic ritual. Polygon Live, a sensory overload of 360° sound and lights, had turned this leafy bit of South London into a full-blown space-age playground. The first thing that hit us as we approached was an unassuming large big top tent. But there was nothing low key o

Sunday 20 August 2023 marked the third iteration of Cloud X, a festival brought to you by an independent London-based record label of the same name. Last year the festival was held at Studio 338 and was a fraction of the size, but now it has evolved into a full-fledged festival residing in the gorgeous Beckenham Place Park. The festival site was pretty intimate in comparison to other festivals that have happened at the site, but still contained a solid five stages – Cloud X W

In the vibrant Bristol Downs, Forwards Festival 2023 took over for 2 days, bringing together a diverse tapestry of creativity, culture, and innovation. This annual event has become a much-anticipated highlight on the cultural calendar, and this year's edition did not disappoint. From the moment I stepped onto the festival grounds, I was swept away by a whirlwind of artistry, music, and community spirit. Incredible Art Installations The festival grounds were adorned with a bre

Arctangent Festival, for 10 years now, has been bringing the bombastic joy and boneshaking bass of the heavier side of the alternative rock scene to the fairytale-like Mendip Hills of Somerset. Over its three days, it makes clear time and time again the true community feel that it’s maintained throughout its lifetime, as the camping sites sprout tents and friendly chatter floats through the air. Over a hundred acts grace the stages of Arctangent, spanning genres from post-har

All Points East has firmly established itself as a must-attend event on the London festival calendar. With its prime location in Victoria Park and a lineup that consistently boasts some of the biggest names in the music industry, APE has become an annual pilgrimage for music lovers across the city. This year, the festival delivered yet another stellar roster of artists, including Stormzy, The Strokes, Haim, Jungle, and Dermot Kennedy. I had the incredible opportunity to atten

Another year, another amazing line up at All Points East. Located in Victoria Park, London, this festival has become a must-go for all music lovers. Nestled in the bustling East London location, All Points East always attracts the biggest artists – and this year was no different. We had the pleasure of seeing Stormzy. Having lived in London for 12 years, Victoria Park has become synonymous with great bars, food and people. It’s also the go-to venue for the biggest and best fe

Discover and enjoy A multi-venue music festival in East London, Hackney Wonderland showcases some of the most prestigious and up and coming bands around. Into its third year, the event continues to grow and provides a platform to discover new talent - more important now than ever with the amount of music venue closures around London. You had access to five venues over the weekend, all within a one mile radius: Oval Space, Mangle, London Fields Brewery, The Pickle Factory and

Margate dreamin' Bugged Out are renowned for partying and they're one of the longest running club nights, having been around for over 20 years. This in itself should be enough to tell you that you're in for a treat. Apparently a standard Bugged Out event just wasn't enough, so they decided to step it up this year, teaming up with Dreamland Margate for the first time. The ticket didn't just get you a whole day of fantastic music, it also allowed free reign of the amusement par

The South rises... Never trust a weather app was the first thought. On an expectedly cloudy and drab day, the sun reached out through the clouds, giving the crowd of variously styled vest wearers what they desired. The move from East to South London had no effect on the House and Techno revellers that this festival attracts – after all, we all want to act silly and party during the day don’t we? (Well, maybe not some people, but apart from them – EVERYBODY DOES.) The queues w