Connect with us: 
As proud sponsors of Victorious Festival, the UK’s biggest metropolitan festival, Southsea Lifestyle looks forward to a great bank holiday weekend – 24, 25 & 26 August 2018
One of the most impressive aspects of Victorious is not just the growing number of people attending (over 143,000 in 2017), or the huge variety of acts, but how, by the next day, the Common has been so carefully cleaned, it’s difficult to imagine such a large, fun-packed event ever took place. Restoring the Common so quickly is indicative of the integrity of the organisers of the festival, and why it has been up for a plethora of awards, including Best Major Festival and Best Family Festival. Over the past year, Victorious has also donated over £150,000 to local charities and infrastructure projects.
Looking towards this year’s festival, The Libertines, Kaiser Chiefs (Fri night). Paul Weller, Paloma Faith, Brian Wilson (Sat). The Prodigy, Years & Years, Friendly Fires (Sun) all take to the stage.
Other Attractions
Although headline acts are the big draw for most festival goers, the festival prides itself in showcasing plenty of local and alternative talent. Two female singer-songwriter artists to look out for are Dani Uziel appearing on the Acoustic stage (Sun) and Megan Linford, Real Ale stage (Sat), both Southsea musicians, and both playing contemporary folk/blues. Megan is also one of the organisers of The People’s Lounge (showcasing folk artists), which can be found as part of The World Music Village.
Victorious Festival 2017
The World Music Stage (presented by the charity Arms Around the Child) never fails to surprise with an inventive line up. Neneh Cherry’s Live DJ set returns to get proceedings off to a flying start on the Saturday, followed by everything from urban equatorial African funk (Kasai Masai), to American bluegrass music (Steepways).
Large bands seem to like long names, the high energy, eight piece Strumdiddlyumptious being a good example – Acoustic Stage (Sat), or the popular Southsea Alternative Choir, who are set to play several stages over the weekend.
Richard Morris’ reputation continues to grow, having played across Europe, he has also been working at Portsmouth Music Academy. You can find him at the Real Ale Stage (Sat). Same day, same stage, catch the haunting lyrics and vocals of Percival Elliot, (named after a 19th century inventor) who regularly performs at sold out gigs across the UK, and collaborates with Fat Boy Slim.
The festival includes several new additions, including Literacy Live, showcasing a variety of writer/performers reading from their books or poetry collections. Writers include best selling author Daisy Buchanan, How to be a Grown Up and top tweeter and fashionista @BtonGirlProblems. Pop into the brand new
Comedy Tent to see the South Coast’s best comedy talent, including Sunjai Arif, who has been hosting popular comedy nights at Southsea’s Wave Maiden, and Lucy Bee, as seen on the BBC’s Children in Need.
As ever you won’t go hungry at Victorious with a huge selection of food available, including local favourites Wild Thyme, Southsea Beach Cafe, and Pie & Vinyl. Street Food Way is also a new attraction, serving a selection of international cuisine perfectly placed near the World Music Village.
Market Way is the place to go for vintage/ thrift stores and arts & crafts. At The Market Place, Charlotte Cornelius jewellery is offering a free-to-enter competition to win a platinum & diamond necklace worth over £3,000.
Aspex has been hosting 3 artist makers at the gallery this summer, with a series of workshops (see p.52) and exhibitions, all coming together at Victorious. And if you come across someone painting quick impressions of the festival, it’ll be the artist Kevin Dean.
Family means everything at Victorious and it has its own dedicated 30,000 square metre Kids Arena, where all activities and attractions are free. Here you’ll find the Kids Arena Stage with its own line up of kids’ book and tv favourites. Plus, there’s tonnes of free activities to keep young ones entertained from taster sports sessions, face painting, and arts & crafts.
Last year tickets sold out well before the event, so don’t leave it too late to get yours, go to www.victoriousfestival.co.uk to purchase online. Friday: £40, Saturday: £45, Sunday: £45, (fees apply).
