Don’t you just hate it when you wait aaaaaaaaaages for something, then it finally comes round and it’s been and gone in a split second. Arghhh, I hate it so much. I’ve been waiting for Detonate festival 2015 for months! It felt like time dragged even more when they released that the headliner was Nasir Jones…yep Hip Hop legend, Nas was in town!
Well the festival finally came round on Saturday! Its been a week already! I had to really think about my outfit on the day, consulted my weather app (even thought most times the weather mans wrong) as the weather wasn’t looking that great. I wanted to make a bit of an effort but the most important factor was my outfit needed to be comfortable. At any festival you’re going to be spending a lot of time on your feet, so really think about footwear. Also later on in the evening it will start to get a bit chilly (we’re in England after all) so consider taking an extra layer, maybe a jacket, hoody or sweatshirt. For any festival, especially ones like Detonate, I suggest you stay clear from any heels and anything where your toes are going to be open to being crushed by people dancing, jumping etc.
So, due to the weather being a bit up and down, I was in two minds regards to my outfit. It was a battle between shorts and jeans and I opted for Topshop Jamie knee rip jeans in black. They are my all time fav jeans…so comfortable and easy to wear. I paired them with a Topshop dark mustard cami and added a Armani leather jacket as an extra layer to take off the chill in the evening. On my feet I wore Dr Marten shower boots (basically Dr Martens take on wellies) and for a bag took my Herschel polka dot backpack. I always find a small handbag is never big enough for all my bits and pieces, remember I need to take the kitchen sink haha! Also if it gets hot, you can take off some layers and put them in a backpack and you don’t have to worry about them.
If you’re off to a festival anytime soon, I do suggest you take these 5 items with you:
1. Alcohol hand gel – they often run out in the toilets and you can use it throughout the day, cleaning your hands prior to eating.
2. Tissue- incase the bog roll runs out in the toilets. It does happen, trust me!
3. Phone battery pack- I know at a festival I’ll be using my phone loads to take pictures, videos, ringing and texting friends when we lose each other haha, so I always take a phone battery pack. I suggest looking on eBay and getting something that will give you at least two full charges to cover you for one day festival.
4. Poncho/rain coat- if there is a chance of rain always take a poncho/raincoat with you. You will stay dry and warm and enjoy the festival much more.
5. Selfie stick- love them or hate them, I think they are awesome. They are so handy, you don’t need to bother anyone to take a group picture for you. GET ONE if you don’t already have one. I suggest to avoid ones with the bluetooth button as they bluetooth will kill your battery, try getting one with an aux cable that goes into the headphone jack.
So, I was ready to hit the festival, had my backpack of goodies ready. We arrived at the park about 2pm and it took 2 hours to get our paper tickets swapped for wristbands and get into the park!!! A VERY frustrating wait. Especially when you’re getting calls and texts from friends who are already in telling you that one of your fav artists is on stage. Arrghhhhhh!! The great thing about the wristband, once we finally got it, was it was going to be linked to your paper ticket number and prior to getting to the festival you could top the ticket up with cash to use to buy food at drink around the festival. So, no running around trying to find a cash machine and standing waiting in long queues and the risk of losing money. You could top up using a debit card via your phone or pop to the top up stations around the festival. Any money that you didn’t use got refunded to your bank account after 4/5 days of the festival. Annoying thing was that the computer system that was being using to assign the wrist band and link it to your ticket went down which is what resulted in such a long wait to get int. Technology is great but it does have its draw backs.
Once we got in we explored the area first, got to know where all the tents and stages were, food, bar, toilets etc. There was a wide variety of food stands and the food wasn’t extortionate which was good news. We had some great freshly made pizza, I tried Zebra for the first time from the Exotic Game stand (tasted similar to beef) and then finished the evening with some grilled jerk chicken and rice and peas from 3CZ.
Overall the festival was a BIG hit with me. The line up was awesome. Few names i would have liked to have been on the list, maybe next year. The highlight had to be watching Nas perform Illmatic right at the front of the stage, what a performance and Sub Focus closing the festival followed with a firework display and not forgetting enjoying it all with great friends! I’m already looking forward to next year. This was my 4th year attending the Detonate indoor/outdoor festival, and have to say it is one festival I really look forward to every year.
Now to pick my next festival for 2015!!
Thank you to photographer Samuel Kirby for capturing some great moments at the festival. Click here to go to the Detonate festival Facebook page and see the rest of the pictures!
