EVEN a thunderstorm couldn’t touch this festival.
Lightning crashed all around Blissfields this weekend, but the Winchester bash stayed dry as 5,000 campers enjoyed music, art and family fun.
The famously sunny event was blessed with near-30 degree weather for a bill topped by Simian Mobile Disco and The Horrors.
This year’s time travel theme was embraced by all ages, from gladiators in Roman costume to teenagers celebrating the end of their GCSEs. Many didn’t notice the storm in the early hours of Saturday which threatened to ruin the festival, nestled in woodland between Winchester and Basingstoke.
Youngsters with painted faces lapped up veteran DJ Grandmaster Flash and the chaotic Ibibio Sound Machine, pictured right, before making way for older punters, who swayed to John Grant’s witty ballads.
They shared a small, intimate site at Vicarage Farm, which contrasts the sprawling fields of Glastonbury or the Isle of Wight Festival.
“It’s really close-knit,” said Rob Ludgate, 22, from Winchester, attending Blissfields for the first time. “Everyone’s doing their own thing but in the end it feels like one family. Everyone’s just happy.”
The main stage – decorated with cogs and wiring to reflect the time travel theme – finished on Saturday night after two days of diverse acts. Highlights included psychedelic popsters Glass Animals and Public Service Broadcasting, who dressed in tweed to travel through an hour of 1950s radio broadcasts and progressive rhythms.
Reaction was mixed for Saturday headliners Simian Mobile Disco, whose dance mixes thrilled but left some looking for a singalong elsewhere. The Horrors topped Friday’s bill in silhouette, a moody light show matching their disaffected, arty rock.
But music was only the beginning for the family contingent.
Toddlers competed in sack races, played with an enormous bubble-blower and learnt how to stage a protest against grandma’s brussel sprouts.
Festivalgoers who managed to sneak extra drinks past security flocked to the Hidden Hedge, Blissfields’ nighttime arena which lit up the forest and blasted dance music until 4am.
The smaller stages hosted local talent spanning rock, folk, ska and hip-hop. Saturday’s early risers were treated to a secret set by Southampton songwriter Ben Goddard and young grime rapper Loyle Carner.
South coast representation included Southampton indie outfit Plastic Mermaids and One Step Too Late, a ska cover band fronted by festival organiser Mel Bliss.
She and husband Paul hope to expand the festival from 5,000 punters to around 8,000 in the next four years.
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