Live Review

Blissfields Festival – Winchester

• 6th Jul 2011

There are a lot of festivals around the UK; finding one that’s a genuine gem among them is almost an impossible task. A few years ago Bestival, Latitude and the Secret Garden Party set themselves out from the crowd, and now it seems there’s a new contender. Tucked away in Hampshire, Blissfields has for the first time shown what a spectacular festival it can be.
 
Previously, the event has prided itself on finding incredible bands to play to tiny, tiny audiences of 1,000 people and under. Super Fury Animals, Mumford & Sons, Mystery Jets and Laura Marling have all in the past headlined the family owned boutique. Now it would appear that Blissfields is making a strike for Britain ’s top, all-round, small weekend.
 
In it’s new home just outside Winchester , the family-friendly site has everything a genuine festival needs, without the big ticket prices, over priced booze, queues for terrible toilets, or hour long walks between stages. Big acts like Frank Turner and Tricky play aside incredible newcomers like Summer Camp, Alex Clare, Fenech-Soler and Gold Panda. It would appear that almost every band the NME have championed over the past twelve months has somehow been booked, and crammed into this small field. Then there’s local acts I’ve never even heard of, like SixNationState and Huw Olesker playing shows that rivalled them all.
 
I wasn’t convinced by a lot of the other smaller acts though, and at times it felt like Blissfields was held back by some sort of local allegiance. It gave it a “local” feel for “local people”, which is a shame as Blissfields really could be a very, very important event for British music.
 
It’s a stunning site, with a lot of attention paid to detail, and as every security guard, parking attendant, stall owner and performer wish you the finest greetings and good vibes, you really do feel a massive part of it. It’s still an unthinkably small festival, at just 2,000 tickets, but it’s without doubt one of the biggest for quality and value. Next year, use your spare Glastonbury time and efforts and invest in this incredible festival. You simply can’t not fall in love with it.