Event review: Field Day Festival, 3 June 2017

Photos: Carolina Faruolo, Gobinder Jhitta, Max Miechowski, Samantha Milligan, & Andrew Whitton

Perhaps it’s the sun, or maybe it’s the fact that the Victoria Park festival has decompressed from a weekender back into a single-day event. It could be because pioneering IDM wizard Aphex Twin is playing his first live show in the UK for five years. Whatever the reason, one thing is never in doubt – this is by far the busiest Field Day to date.

Fresh for 2017 is impressive new main stage The Barn. The 10,000-capacity hi-spec indoor space is colossal, but still oversubscribed by the time Aphex Twin takes to the decks. With lines also snaking through security and into the main site by way of long queues for the loos, food and bars, the respite in the VIP hospitality area has never felt so welcome. Here, a cocktail bar ensures that guests don’t have to stray far from the comforts of hay-bale seating and posh private portaloos as they temporarily escape the crowds.

Elsewhere, street-food collectives Venn Street Market, Street Feast and London Brewers’ Market ply punters with food-truck favourites from the likes of Patty & Bun, Voodoo Ray’s and The Cheese Truck. Over in the Village Mentality area, we witness eating challenges, sack races and tug of war, while tucking into cakes from the Dalston WI stall as a British Legion brass band plays around us. Lovely.

Field Day’s eclectic line up is always a winner – this year Death Grips, Nicolas Jaar, Flying Lotus, Slowdive, Thee Oh Sees and King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard all play over the course of the day. With so many exciting acts to see, its immense billing is both the festival’s strength and its downfall – we spend a number of sets outside tents, desperately peering in.

Luckily even a downpour can’t dampen the fun people are having watching Run The Jewels. With less than a week to go before the general election, the hip hop duo’s left-leaning political discourse fires up the crowd, while their rousing lyrics and fast-paced rapping sees today’s audience enthusiasm peak. It’s a perfect ending.