Beacons Festival: Day 1

I read somewhere that Beacons is the Glastonbury of the north. Not entirely sure how someone came to that conclusion already seeing as this is the first year the festival’s been able to go ahead (last year’s was cancelled due to flash flooding) but still.

If that gives you the impression of some huge, sprawling enormo-fest, think again. You could probably walk around the entire arena in 5 minutes, it’s that small. I suppose where the Glasto comparison comes from is the DIY feel of the festival and the non-music activities on offer. We’ve not had a proper chance to explore that side of the festival yet, except for The Impossible Lectures tent, where a group are putting on a variety of interactive events. Currently, they’re chanting “Carrie Ann the merman” as a man dressed as a mermaid struts around. Yesterday, they initiated something called the Eurovision Snog Contest, challenging festival-goers to pull as many people of different nationalities as possible. Wahey!

Anyway, the first day’s over and done with and we’ve just about dried off after some pretty typical British festival weather. A kind of schizophrenic day, it was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. Disclosure played for a grand total of seven minutes before blowing a speaker and having to call it a day. Jessie Ware astounded in The Stool Pigeon tent. D/R/U/G/S had more sound issues but managed to get through them. And, of course, last minute additions Peace (who stepped in for Holograms) basically killed the Vice/Noisey tent in spectacular fashion. Oh and they had signs (pictured above) posted around the festival, which I think means they’re winning the whole thing right now.

Not sure if anyone else can beat that but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Rhian Daly