JADAR

The Brit Fest returned last weekend for a smash-hit third event, headlined by Happy Mondays, Holly Johnson and ABC.

This year, press and guests were kindly given VIP tickets, and press were allowed into the photo pit and even backstage, which offered quite a different experience to usual. We were just not there as spectators but felt more actively involved in the festival, and we were never made to feel like we were in the way but rather were made to feel very welcome, from being taken into the guest bar to dancing with co-host Jenny Powell.

Powell, with her endless energy and refreshing relatability, is the perfect host for a family-friendly, community-oriented festival like this. Mike Toolan is similarly fun and relatable, and the pair bounce off of each other with electric chemistry.

Whilst the main event runs from Friday to Sunday, there was also a spectacular opening event on the Thursday, with Symphonic Ibiza and the incredible Angie Brown. On all four nights, alongside the Main Stage, there were also performances and other events and activities, from yoga to silent discos, at other spots: Little Big Top, Busk Stop, VIP Tent Spect Guest Performance, and Music Arena Performances.

The Friday, with its “Hippy Peace & Love: theme, was headlined by Happy Mondays, alongside Peter Hook & the Light, Cast, Chris Helme, James Walsh (Starsailor), Sleeper, Stereo MC’s, and The Farm.

The Saturday, themed “80s Neon Party”, was headlined by Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Whilst his voice is not what it once was, it was an honour to watch a ground-breaking, trail-blazing queer artist celebrate his long career. This is more poignant today what with the sad passing of the original Brit Fest headliner, Bonnie Tyler.

The second big name was iconic Scottish band Wet Wet Wet, which is no longer headlined by Marti Pellow but rather Kevin Simm of Liberty X, which was formed by the five finalists of Popstars who failed to make it into winning group Hear’Say but ironically had much more success. Simm later competed on and won The Voice UK so his voice is unsurprisingly and undeniably strong and lovely.

Going forward, each festival will have a “Special International Guest”, with the first being Australia’s Jason Donovan, who is basically an honorary Brit. Katie and I saw him earlier on in the week at the exclusive launch event for High School Musical, in which he will be playing Coach Bolton. Whilst Donovan’s voice has aged noticeably, he was an excellent entertainer, and we adored his bright pink outfit, which he proudly said was not just for Brit Fest but also Pride.

Earlier on in the day, there had been performances from Altered Images, Aswad, Blow Monkeys, Doctor and the Medics, and Nathan Moore.

The Sunday, with its “Super Sporting Sunday” theme, in honour of the match that night (or, rather, the following Monday), was headlined by ABC. Before them was Eternal, which is made up of sisters Vernie and Easther Bennett (the latter is the lead singer) alongside newcomer Christel Lakhdar, who fits in very well. Their set was absolutely electrifying, with bop after bop, but sadly they did not perform their signature song, ‘I Wanna Be the Only One’. I’m not sure if they deliberately chose not to sing it, perhaps because they did not have a man to sing it with them, or if they just ran out of time.

Several acts have run out of time at Brit Fest. Bonnie Tyler had planned to sing ‘Blues’ in her encore, even asking the audience if we liked the Blues, but was told that she had to skip it and go straight to ‘Holding Out for a Hero’. Last year’s headliner, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, managed to sing ‘Red Red Wine’ but not ‘Kingston Town’, which was rather frustrating because they performed so many random sings which not even fans seemed to know. Like with Bonnie, artists should be made aware if they are running out of time so that they can skip other songs and prioritise the songs which people want to hear – especially at festivals, which are largely made up of music lovers not necessarily huge fans of specific artists like at concerts.

Sunday’s line-up also included Babybird, Cole Page, Fisherman’s Friends, Let Loose, Mark Radcliffe & Co, Rick Parfitt Jnr, and Space.

Whilst most of these artists are great festival acts, a little more diversity would be appreciated. The past two year’s have mostly been made up of old White men. I appreciate that it is a nostalgic throwback festival but some more women and people of colour will help spice up the lineup and make for a more exciting, diverse experience.

The growth of The Brit Fest has been so inspiring to watch, and I am proud to have been supporting the festival since the very beginning. The parent organisation, Great British Festivals, is launching a new music event, Christmas Musical Spectacular, in Manchester later this year.

Christmas Musical Spectacular runs at AO Arena from December 22 to 23 2025. The Brit Fest returns to Ashley Hall Showground from July 15 to 18 2027.