Last weekend we were invited to Victorious Festival. I've already written about the fantastic kids area, but here is the review for the rest of the festival antics. Victorious Festival is set in Southsea Portsmouth and is two days with no camping. At £35 a day for adults and £7 a day for kids, this festival is definitely on the purse friendly side. Not only that, it's accessible for all which is fantastic and means the community can really get involved and behind this festival
We opted to pay an extra £10 day to park on site so that Max didn't have to walk far when he was too tired to stay up. It worked really well for us, but there were a few issues when it came to clearing out at the end of the night. There were also plenty of park and ride buses for people to travel in from further afield. With so many transport links, it was easy to see how great the festival is.
What I loved was that they used as many local companies and community programmes to build this festival as possible. From local food outlets to shops and kid's companies. It seemed that everything was covered and the community really stood behind the festival. Not only that but for the businesses that had access closed temporarily as they formed part of the festival site, they stayed open for the festival goers.
One of our top food picks was Feed Hot Dog Co. A hot dog stand that wants to save the world. For every hot dog that they sell, they donate a packet of food to someone in need, chatting to the guy at the stand he explained how the first shipment was heading off to Aleppo, Syria soon. It was so refreshing to see a company wanting to give back for each thing they sold. And the food was fantastic too. Scott absolutely loved the teriyaki mayo hot dog, flavours your wouldn't think to put together that worked fantastically!
The variety of music was fantastic. From the massive headliners of Noel Gallagher, Manic Street Preachers and Mark Ronson to local bands from the nearby college. It really had something for everyone. We spent our time flitting between all the stages as we didn't want to miss any gems that may have been playing. There were lots of bands that Max adored watching and with the festival being laid how the way it was, you could see the stages from wherever you stood.
We were fortunate that Scott's parents live down the road, so we dropped him back to allow us to watch the evening music as Max was a tad over tired. It was nice to spend time together wandering the festival fields, it's been a long time since it's been just us two! We managed to catch parts of the headliners and popped to the acoustic stage to watch Beans On Toast (one of our personal favourites!) which was the perfect end to the festival.
With the festival being laid out over a common and using roads and pavements, it was so family friendly. We saw a wealth of buggies and wagons full of sleepy kids which put a smile on my face as you can tell it's such a welcoming weekend.
One thing I was really impressed with was the creative use of space. They seemed to fit so many stages and so many people into a small space, but still made it feel like there was more than enough room for everyone to move around. It felt so surreal to stand on the side of a hill, watching some fantastic music and seeing the ocean and even a ferry passing by! You don't see that at most festivals.
There seemed to be hundreds of little stages floating around in different areas, we seemed to explore more and more as the day went on. It was fantastic that there was literally something for everyone. In terms of the music selection, it was incredibly varied and we found ourselves dancing to something at each stage. From local bands to amazing cover acts and breathtaking headliners. It was a perfect festival for all of us.
Victorious is one of those festivals that is perfect for seasoned festival goers and families that are unsure if it's the right thing for them. With cheap tickets, no camping and flat terrain, it's the festival of family dreams. We loved the wealth of free activities for kids, the wide variety of music and the community spirit of this festival that keeps on growing. We can't wait to go back next year!
*Note - We recieved press tickets in exchange for an honest review.
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