The Bath Festival Finale Weekend celebrates the return of live music!

One week on, we are absolutely elated at the atmosphere that Finale Weekend evoked in the city of Bath. The sound of the UK’s best artists swept through the city and we all started to feel that wonderful atmosphere that our festivals create. Especially after a year without live music, the feeling of the artists and audience coming together was a special experience and the joy was felt throughout.

The sets on Saturday and Sunday started off with the winners and runners up of our Bath Introduces competition, a competition that aims to give up-and-coming artists a platform and an opportunity to record their music with the wonderful Mizpah Studios and Real World Studios. We were so glad to hear these young artists thriving – GeeJay, Ben Hutcheson, Enter Red and Split the Dealer – with each one giving something unique and worth watching out for in the future.

In between acts, there was lots of fun to be had with delicious food traders, arts and crafts, and a lot of glitter! The three-woman team at Festidolls worked flat-out throughout the day to apply sparkly festival faces. Despite the changing seasons, typical of UK weather, the crowds spirits stayed high. They continued to dance, sing and re-unite with friends.

The atmosphere went up a notch on Saturday when Gabrielle took to the stage. The audience warmed to her charm and presence, singing her classic hit ‘Dreams’, and Scouting for Girls brought their classic feel good tunes, with frontman Roy Stride exclaiming “This is the biggest gig we’ve done in two years and this is just great!”. As darkness fell, lights swept across Bath Recreation grounds and McFly came on stage to huge cheers and the strains of YMCA. By now faces were beaming all round, voices hoarse from singing as emotions ran high. The loyalty of their fans was really in a league of its’ own, with some of our first guests to arrive at 2pm being dedicated McFly fans who named themselves ‘Galaxy Defenders’,  bagging their place at the front of main stage for their 9:30pm set.

Similarly, on Sunday the sounds of Bloco B really energised the audience. Their infectious sense of rhythm flowed throughout the festival, and transitioned perfectly into Fun Lovin’ Criminals set. Like Bloco B, Fun Lovin’ Criminals presented that addictive feeling where you just want to hear more from their classic cool persona. The night finished off with the inimitable Billy Ocean, singing his classic hits which brought the festival to a fitting close.

This festival has been a long wait for everyone. The Bath Festival Finale Weekend had been due to take place in May 2020 and many ticket holders had kept their tickets safe throughout lockdown, with the promise of good times to come keeping them going. From the smiles and the cheers at the weekend, it felt as though that long wait had paid off.