Boomtown's Radical Redesign: A Comprehensive Festival Review

Attending Boomtown truly was an experience like no other. From the very first moments, receiving the newsletters to queuing up to enter the festival, the energy curated was incredible. So many festivals can result in anxiousness, a worry that your stuff will get stolen or that something would happen late at night, but somehow Boomtown has created a community which has removed all of those feelings. Every single person I interacted with smiled, spoke to me like we were friends for years before, and that sense of togetherness is really what makes Boomtown so individual, and a festival which so many people see as a staple every year.

The interactive actors are sublime. The way they approach people in such a comfortable way, and adapt their conversations to each individual person. Speaking to them was truly exciting, and knowing that each and every turn could lead to something new was a really thrilling realisation.

The music at Boomtown genuinely cannot be faulted. The vast range of stages allow for so many different performers to perform at once, meaning the festival can cater to so many people at once.

After getting our bearings and exploring the worlds the festival creates, we stumbled upon Gentleman’s Dub Club’s set at Lion’s Den, catching the very moment they brought General Levy to the stage. The atmosphere this brought was incredible, and the way they still managed to command the stage despite being joined by other acts was powerful. It felt really nice to see this community reflected not just across the actors, the audience and the workers, but the artists themselves.

Strolling around Old Town lead us to The Rose & Clown, where She’s Got Brass were a standout. A group of women all playing popular songs on brass instruments, paired with singing and audience interaction was a beautiful inclusion, telling of all the different styles the festival caters to. Kneecap’s Lion’s Den performance on Friday evening was something else. The entire audience moved as one, your neighbour was a friend and their stage presence was undeniable. 

On Sunday, Kilimanjaro played on the HYDRO XL stage, and it has such an adrenaline to it. The percussive energy spread across the whole of Metropolis, and the hydrogen powered stage felt like the perfect place for the Afro-centric sound to spread.

For me, my personal highlight of the whole weekend was Shaggy’s set. Certainly his music, to be expected, was some of the most known, but his stage command was something else. Perhaps his chants about how women excel over men in everything they do may have turned some audience members away, but each and every person sang and danced as if no one was watching. Ending the set with ‘It Wasn’t Me’ was a profound crowd pleaser, and it was one of the best performances I have ever seen.

Another unexpected standout for me was Crossy B2B, a Bristol rising DJ in the Drum & Bass scenes. His intricate rhythms are unlike anything else I have heard, and to see a Bristol based artist on the stage felt like I was back at university.

We ended each night with a hot cocoa at Magic Teapot, which ended up being one of our staples. Sat around a fireplace, served by some of the friendliest faces, the music was passed along so everyone who felt like it could sing. Some of the individuals we watched were gifted, others just managed to get everyone smiling and swaying. It is not often you can walk around the corner from a rave set, or a bass heavy dancehall room to such a strong community space, and it is that which really made Boomtown special for me.

The experience of Boomtown cannot be described in one article, regardless of how many words you have to play with. Whether it is your first festival, or your hundredth, Boomtown is completely a festival you must attend once in your life.