The Verse’s Kate Horrobin tells us all about her Boundary Festival experience in her Boundary Festival Review. Main image credit: Faris Villena.
Boundary Festival took off with legendary dub and dance artists rocking over four stages. Stanmer Park was filled with love, energy and some very funky characters. Highlights include dynamic nine-piece Gentlemen’s Dub Club; an insatiably relentless group of energetic, sharp dressed men who always manage to look slick whilst nailing a mean skank. Congo Natty was another highlight who headlined the Bandstand stage and whose at times emotional performance left the crowd moved and wanting more. The décor was a marvel. Dragonfly shaped flags surrounded the arena – almost dancing and grooving in sync with the tunes coming from their surrounding stages. The most impressive visual display goes to the Elrow tent, adorned entirely with psychedelic patterns, colours and lighting. Hung from the ceiling were flowers, acid house smiley faces, dragonflies, neon webbing and peace symbols; I feel the closest I will make it to experiencing the flower power vibes of the 1960s and 70s was in this tent. In terms of food there was something for everybody. As a vegan, choice is usually limited, but Boundary provided with a vegan burger and hotdog stand. A rather rubbery (yet somewhat tasty) hotdog later and I was fuelled and ready to continue the festival at the city venue The Arch – it did its job. My friends however all spoke very highly of The Dog Haus food stand; some rather impressively attractive hot dogs were served up from Brighton’s seafront venue Patterns, which included an unusual topping – potato smiley faces.
My top five reasons to choose to attend Boundary festival are:
- The line up. Each artist brought something special to Boundary in their own way – you never saw a crowd stood still.
- It’s not glamorous but it has to be mentioned, a plentiful abundance of sanitary porter loos.
- The food stands were extensive and catered for all – even those of us with pickier dietary requirements.
- The decorations and atmosphere. The festival was a spectacle and the vibe that was created through visuals was something very unique.
- Affordable! For the sheer volume of legendary acts that played, the price of the festival was great. Boundary showcased some of the best acts of summer’s festivals all in one day at one very intimate ground.
So, Boundary Festival – would highly recommend and can’t wait to see what it brings next year! Thanks, Boundary.
