I had been looking forward to Westfest for several weeks, anxiously anticipating its arrival with my friends. If you’ve read my Westfest Preview, you’ll know I had some concerns for the night. Would I manage to navigate the seven stages? Would I even be able to survive until 6am and, perhaps more importantly, would I ever leave the Garage stage?
Well, the answer to all these burning questions is a resounding yes. Westfest was an insane experience that I would recommend to even the most unenlightened ravers. Arriving at the Bath and West Showground was a spectacle in itself. Walking up the long drive with hundreds of others, who were dressed in everything from spandex to fur, made me realise that this was going to be a very, very strange night.
VIP? Not for me…
Once entering the festival, we headed straight for VIP, which was surprisingly cool. Many VIP areas tend to be quite drab, usually empty with only one DJ and a lonely bar. However, Westfest’s ensemble resembled a 60’s hippy den with people lounging on bean bags and small sofas everywhere. The tent was decorated with colourful lights and swirling, psychedelic signs. It all so pretty and rocked out the trippy theme Westfest is famous for, but sitting down in VIP seemed to be a real waste of my time when the constant bassline of Garage music coming from the next tent started to slowly hypnotise me.
Of course, Garage Nation has always been a real favourite of mine. The stream of old school and modern Garage music was endless and I discovered so many new artists such as the brilliant DJ Bugzee. Artful Dodger had the 12-1am slot and his set attracted the biggest crowd with hits from his iconic album It’s All About The Stragglers as well reworking classics such as Whitney Huston’s How Will I Know and T2’s Heartbroken. He did not disappoint and his set was definitely a highlight.
A little bit of bad boy?
You’ll be happy to know that I did actually leave the Garage stage and ventured to explore the other genres playing around the site. My initial fear of missing acts was a long forgotten memory, as the arena small enough to make travelling to each stage rather effortless. It meant we could drift, or stumble, between the Grime stage known as Boyd Nod & The Blast, Trance stage or HDUK which is now responsible for my new love of Jungle Techno, a genre I didn’t even realised existed, and the main stage.
On the main stage we saw SASASAS whose crazy energy got everyone pumped for the next act which was the infamous Andy C. My prediction for Andy C ran true; he was so much better at Westfest than Soundclash. He dominated the stage and his presence stretched across the whole room with people skanking and shuffling to every song especially Body Rock and Work Out. The light and laser production was on point too, the lights constantly morphing, strobes flashing in time with the music and there was even a moving light display at the back which had people mesmerised.
Not a pumpkin?
My only disappointment with Westfest was the lack of Halloween décor. They nailed the typical festival vibes with fairground rides, stalls and merch but there was a distinct lack of the scary and spooky. You’d have forgotten it was even the weekend before Halloween if it wasn’t for the sheer amount of people that were dressed as cats, Harley Quinn and Zombies. Everyone appeared to be in the Halloween spirit, even the acts mentioned it, but by the festivals appearance it could have been any old winter night. So if you want your 9/10 to upgrade to the perfect 10 Westfest please buy a few pumpkins or maybe a cheeky skull for next year. Perhaps borrow some of BoomTown‘s props?
Despite this, Westfest was a huge success and it lived up to its hard-core raving reputation, drawing a crowd from places as far as Newcastle. My Halloween was brilliant, and the night was one insane party that I won’t be forgetting any time soon. West Fest 2017 you have a lot to live up to and I hope that you can make my next Halloween as good as this one.
More information here: westfest.co.uk
Photos: Phoebe Burt
