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Returning after a two year hiatus, has London's best day festival lost its spark.
19th of July, 2022
By Leah Parks - Davies
The festival has always been a favourite for younger teens being rather tame in both genre and length but still managing to book some of the biggest names in the indie scene. Over the last running year's headliners such as The Kooks, Catfish and the Bottlemen and this year having the return of Two Door Cinema Club (who also headlined back in 2018.) However, the buzz of the crowd and exciting atmosphere of the festival seemed strangely dulled this year.
The festival still held its charm for my previous years of experience, the small size is actually an inviting change as I know I won't have to run a mile to see a band on a separate stage. It also makes it very easy to get in and out of crowded areas as the dividers sit rather close to each other with security here to help if you can't get to the back of the crowd in an emergency. The selection of food vans and drinking places is also a warm welcome and , although I end up spending way too much every year, offers some of the nicest festival food and cocktails you can experience. The inclusivity of bands from surrounding genres is amazing as well as no matter who you take they will recognise at least one band and songs dotted around the park.
Throughout the festival only a handful of goers seemed to actually know or enjoy the earlier bands on the main stage. Just Wondering, Courting, Crawlers and Alfie Templeman hardly had any reaction from the crowd apart from when playing either their most popular songs or covers. From the front of the crowd you could even tell some of the bands were getting frustrated by the little response they were getting from their audience. It almost seems unnatural to suddenly hear everyone dancing and singing to Pale Waves after an hour of being the only person in the audience doing so. This was made even more obvious when Alfie Templeman announced he had one song left and a rise of chattering came from the audience stating that Pale Waves were almost due on stage.
Unfortunately even after the crowd sprung to life for The Wombats, a lot of the crowd did not understand the proper ways of crowd etiquette mainly blamed for being a “teeny-bopper” festival and being mostly made up of 15-20 year olds in the crowd. At one point we even caught people kicking their mates who had been pushed over in the pits. I can imagine that most of the people who go to festivals like this are just looking for a reason to drink and party rather than knowing and enjoying the band that is performing. So if you're looking for a festival where you can mosh and enjoy a closer stage view than most be very aware it may get a bit rougher than you'd expect for an indie fest.
On top of this the scheduling for the festival seemed obviously wrong and could possibly be the reason for the unusually unenthusiastic crowd. After talking to several people in the audience a lot of the community veterans agreed. The comment I received most was that Circa Waves should not have been put on the n4 stage. The band's big fan base packed out the tiny stage as well as most other festival goers wanting to hear the indie classic t-shirt weather. Catching the end of Daisy Brains (Circa’s opening band) you could walk to the barrier without even breaking a sweat. However by the time Circa Waves came onto the stage, even security were worrying about the sheer amount of people pushing into the audience, especially when taking into consideration that the crowd area for this stage is outlined with high fences. Having Circa Waves on the main stage before The Wombats seemed like a very natural place for them to sit in the line up, pushing some of the earlier acts that did not entice the main stage audience to have a higher slot on the n4 stage.
However the festival did still prove a hit as an amazing first time festival. The affordability to see some of the biggest names in the indie scene still proves as communities biggest selling point being a lot cheaper than buying a day ticket to some of the similar festivals in and around London. Apart from a few annoying teens in the crowd, the audience is still very friendly as long as you're not putting yourself in the pits, and honestly can be more fun to stand at the back of the audience to have a dance with your mates free of judgement. It's also an amazing festival for meeting friends and people of similar music tastes throughout several bands we chatted and danced with strangers near to us and has a good laugh in between set, a refreshing contrast to festivals such as Reading and Leeds where i would never even be brave enough to look someone in the eye let alone talk to them.
Overall if you're looking for a fun weekend activity where you are sure to catch a tan this festival couldn't be any better. From this year onwards I'm sure to stay nearer the back of the audience to sit each chat and dance rather than try to get into the pits or pen up front. Community will always be a no brainer for me and I cannot wait for next year already.