Beautiful Days 2021: review, photos and video

Beautiful Days 2021: where to start? For many people, it was the first big outdoor gathering, let alone the first festival, they'd been able to attend since the start of the pandemic last year.

There was a general feeling of relief and happiness at being able - at last - to sit outside with friends, enjoying food and drink, listening to live music, people-watching (there was no shortage of glittery fancy dress and unusual headgear) and soaking up the festival's quirky atmosphere.

At the same time, there was an overwhelming feeling of familiarity. Crossing the bridge and wandering through the crowds, past the landmark Ferris wheel and helter-skelter at the entrance to the arena, it seemed – on one level – as if the last 18 months hadn't really happened.

A feast of live music

As always there was a huge range of music on offer, from up-and-coming acts to true veterans such as Hawkwind, whose Friday night headline show at the Big Top included the crowd singing 'Happy Birthday' to the band's 80-year-old frontman Dave Brock. Earlier, New Model Army were on powerful form on the main stage. On Saturday, Gary Numan's set drew heavily on his acclaimed current album, but also included the crowd-pleasing hits Cars and Are Friends Electric. The main stage headline act that night, James, was described by one seasoned festival-goer as 'one of the best live shows I've ever seen'.

Mud and toilets

As usual, wellies were essential in many parts of the site, following the heavy rain on Thursday and Friday morning. The going was squelchy in the most churned-up areas, but only those who were attempting it in flip-flops were really having problems.

There were also several reports of dissatisfaction (to put it mildly) with this year's festival toilets. True, they weren't up to the usual Beautiful Days standards; it very much depended on which area of the site you were in at the time. It was certainly a good idea to look out for the loo-servicing lorries, and use the facilities just after they'd been emptied and cleaned. But having said that, many people had seen much worse facilities at other, extremely well-known festivals.

Will there be a Covid spike following Beautiful Days?

We'll have to wait and see. Of course, there were Covid precautions in place at Beautiful Days; everyone aged over 11 arriving at the entry gate had to provide proof of double-jab status, or proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within the last 48 hours, or they weren't allowed in. Anyone going off-site needed to repeat this every time they re-entered. And the event was almost entirely out of doors.

The same entry requirements were in place at Cornwall's Boardmasters Festival the previous weekend, and there was a reported surge in Covid infections – possibly up to 5,000 during the week that followed. But it's fair to say that on the whole, Beautiful Days attracts a wider age range than Boardmasters, with a higher proportion of older, double-vaccinated revellers - and that could make a difference.