The festival season in the UK has officially kicked off last weekend with the brand new All Points East Festival in Victoria Park.

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The ten-day-long event is the perfect combination of music, culture and entertainment, only a few tube-stops away from Central London. While the idea of yet another festival on the green fields of Victoria Park had a mixed reception from the industry, the organisers certainly gained many gold stars from the audience even before the shows by breaking traditions and scheduling headline female artists on the main stages.

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The weekend kicked off with a three-day music festival with an impressive lineup of shows, including the world-famous Lorde, Bjork and The xx. Guest could enjoy all different genres across seven stages in the park, surrounded by a sneak-in-proof 10-feet-tall wall.

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Day one of the festival built up slowly, the crowd spread out between stages, exploring this new city wonder. The lineup of the day included the LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Glass Animals, Young Fathers with another 28 bands in total.

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Off to the long-weekend, Day two was a big hit: The xx, Lorde, Justice, Lykke Li and 30 more artists made sure that the crowd stayed on their feet all day. Although a storm nearly washed away the last concerts that did not scare the APE crowd away.

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Beautiful summer weather welcomed the third and last day of the music festival, and an equally impressive lineup of bands, including Friendly Fires with their comeback concert. The band has just launched its first album since 2012 with a whole new style and energy, and the crowd approved! Singer Ed Macfarlane set the mood from the first minute with an overtaking energy, singing his heart out and dancing in his signature style that was once described as: "…putting every dirty dancer, everyone who's ever freaked like a freak on the floor, to utter and total shame. He's stuntin' like your daddy up there, from the very first second of the show, and all the while he's singing like his life depended on it." (As quoted by numerous sources.)

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One of the biggest names in music of the past 40 years, Bjork, closed the show. The entire crowd from all stages wandered over to see the festival off to the unique rhythms of the icon.

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In-between the scheduled concerts, guests could enjoy an eclectic mix of the best street food and party classics, such as Pizza Express. And would it even be a festival without a crazy carousel, a tattoo saloon – temporary, of course, safety first – and heaps of glitter wherever the eye can see.

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The numerous gates were guarded by a huge team of security who saw the crowd off with a smile at 11 pm prompt, just in time for curfew.

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Mirian Glez, retail assistant and regular festival-goer says it was a great start to the festival season. “There was a great atmosphere! You could breathe in the good vibes!

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I love festivals because it’s a great way of getting to know new people and enjoy the good weather, and obviously the great music. I chose to go to APE because I LOVE the main bands, like The xx, Lykke Li and Lorde.”

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Christopher Prince, fellow festival fan agreed: “I did like the fact it was a new festival and perfectly located in London because it had a buzz about it when I was there on Saturday.

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“The thing I liked the most was the layout of the site. Each stage had a different vibe and the food stalls were amazing with vegan options and cuisine from pretty much everywhere.”

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Following the tickets-only opening weekend, the festival opened up to the wider public with free events, celebrating 100 years of votes for women and 90 years of equal voting rights for women and men. The last weekend of All Point East will see the APE Presents, hosting three more shows including the already sold-out Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.

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The UK Festival Landscape

 

Festivals in the UK are amongst the most popular summer programs, especially amongst millennials. According to Statista, nearly 65% of people choose to bag festival tickets to enjoy great music as their top reason, while nearly 20% find it a good way to spend quality time with their mates. In other statistics, Brits tend to be moderate when it comes to spending in UK festivals: about 20% stays within a £50 budget, circa 65% goes up to £200 and only around 15% digs deeper than that.

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Recent news has warned people of the dangers of festivals after two youngster died at Mutiny Festival in Hampshire, UK while thirteen other people from the same festival were also hospitalised, reportedly due to the effects of high-strength ecstasy tablets. Statistics from a voluntary research showed that only 2.4% of people go to festivals with the intention to “get smashed” (meaning: to consume enough alcohol or other substances to get high, and out of self-control.) However, when such news hit the press it is hard to believe the numbers would be so low. An enforced campaign started as a result of these incidents, urging festival organisers to provide drug-testing facilities on every event which would help identify the cause of symptoms much quicker and by that save lives.

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Another concern raised by these events was the sufficient water supply on festivals. In mass events, where the crowd and warm weather alone can lead to health issues, substances, like ecstasy can lead to dehydration and severe symptoms.

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There is no denying that festivals are a great way to spend holiday time or even just a long weekend, and with a growing number of events there is often no need to travel too far anymore, concerts will come right to your doorstep. Read below for our list of Festival DOs and DON’Ts to proof your time and check out this list of upcoming festivals here.​