Beachdown Festival

Brighton’s inaugural Beachdown festival at the end of August aimed to make its mark on the UK festival calendar, while leaving no trace on the site when the four days were up – so did it pull it off?

Devil’s Dyke was a natural site for the festival. Not only did it form a natural amphitheatre for the main stage, the chalk ground also meant that although it didn’t lack the trademark UK festival rain, while this would usually have campers up to their armpits in mud, there was barely a squelch.

When you live in Brighton it seems like every other person is in a band, enough for the festival to warrant the ‘Brighton Stage’, with local talents such as Figital and Maths Class playing. The organisers also attracted big names including Fun Lovin’ Criminals, De La Soul and Terry Callier, and there was the typical festival dilemma of who to see, with The Magic Numbers and Rosin Murphy clashing. We caught a bit of both and The Magic Numbers were a great crowd pleaser, but Murphy was the definitive act of the festival.

Bank Holiday Monday eked out the festival to a fourth day, but with stage acts finishing at an earlier 9pm it appeared many festival-goers decided to go home in the morning. Those who did stick it out huddled together in the drizzle and were kept upbeat by Horace Andy & the Dub Asante, and then José González delivered what was for many, a chilled end to the festival – before being returned home by the Big Lemon, a local bus company that runs its vehicles on used cooking oil.

Organisers didn’t just pay lip service to the green prerequisites; the commitment was evident throughout the site. From the just-for-fun pedal-powered smoothie makers in the kids’ field, to the essential recycling bins, which were always close to hand and never overflowing. And the food was fantastic, you could feed yourself well on organic, locally sourced food for a fiver, without feeling ripped off.

It’s definitely one to watch in the future. Organisers haven’t quite got it nailed first time but its all stuff that can quite easily be put right in time for next year. A quick site re-jiggle would solve the lopsidedness of it – pretty much everything was on one side of the site, and there needed to be lots more loos – and essentially more people. Despite selling out its 10,000 tickets the site felt like it needed filling out, and organisers agree, already planning to increase capacity to 15,000 next year.

The size of the event means it will remain a fringe festival but if organisers build on this successful first year it has the potential to rival larger national festivals in reputation. 

Cost: £85 including camping