Secret Garden Party

Covered in glitter and body paint, people well through the gates and begin to fill the camp sites and boats at the lake. The festival area has been carefully decorated and every stage has a concept, such as the Lake Stage, which changes shape every year and is burned at the end of every festival. This year it takes the form of the Emerald City to go with the Wizard of Oz theme.

Thursday starts off small without any major acts on the Great Stage, but instead offers smaller bands like Chainska Brassika at the Artful Badger and house music at The Drop. On Friday, Danish Mø enters the stage and sets a game changer. She delivers her exciting pop anthems with a huge amount of attitude, and the brass-led hooks in the refrains have everyone singing along. She dances like she just doesn’t care, with her soon-to-be iconic hairstyle swinging around her head.

The extremely successful Clean Bandit gathered an enormous crowd. With three singers taking turns, joined by both violins and cellos they showcase hit songs like Rihanna and Rather Be. They manage to engage the crowds to the extent that people leave the gig having lost their voices from screaming.

Later in the night Jagwar Ma plays the Where the Wild Things are Stage. Their psychedelic dance music is absolutely perfect for the SGP vibes. The cheerfulness blended in with the electronic music – something often lacking from the genre – is the ideal booking for the festival, bringing together both the electronic fans and the pop fans.

The following days of the festival bring a fun mix of different acts. An up-and-coming musician with great prospects is Years & Years. His r’n’b inspired soul-pop songs have great hit potential, and when he blasts his biggest hit to date Right, he enraptures the listeners even though the voice is not 100% clean.

The job of rounding off the festival goes to Fat Freddy’s Drop that enters the stage to suggestive track Blackbird, hidden by a monkey mask. To the side of the Great Stage, the Lake Stage has been torched, as tradition, which serves as a wonderful backdrop to the closing band mixing a whole array of genres. When the music is silenced, the people reluctantly go back to their tents where the party continues.

Johanna Eliasson

For information about Secret Garden Party and future events visit here.

Watch the video for Secret Garden Party here: