Mud, music and mayhem at Y Not

Music, dancing and mud – that sums up the Y Not Festival experience.
Y Not Festival 2014 - De La SoulY Not Festival 2014 - De La Soul
Y Not Festival 2014 - De La Soul

The Pikehall event has grown over the years from its relatively humble beginnings to a heaving spectacle of food stalls, tents, wellies and hot pants – with an ever–increasing line–up of big names performing.

Headliner Dizzee Rascal stole the show on Saturday night – getting the crowd of thousands to jump to favourites such as Bassline Junkie and Dance Wiv Me and ending with an explosive rendition of Bonkers.

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Dressed to impress in matching blue suits, King Pleasure and the Biscuit Boys got the crowd up and dancing with their 1950s-inspired set. Music aside, the group were worth watching just for the antics of the double bass player as he threw himself around the stage.

Y Not Festival 2014 - De La SoulY Not Festival 2014 - De La Soul
Y Not Festival 2014 - De La Soul

The smaller tents offered a more intimate venue for Y Notters to enjoy.

Festival veteran Beans on Toast wooed the crowd with his acoustic anecdotes of life and love – mixing in a hefty slice of comedy to wake everybody up.

The real surprise of the festival was Nottingham outfit Amber Run, whose energetic musings pulled on the heart strings.

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Cosy though it was, the Xanadu tent proved to be one of the best venues of the weekend. Every time I passed by. it seemed to be rocking – whether it was to vintage classics from the 50s and 60s, or dance and hip hop.

Sheffield band Smiling Ivy made the venue jump on Sunday with home grown ska music that made it impossible for even the most exhausted of Y Notters not to dance.

A trip to the Saloon on Saturday night could only be described as wild.

The corrugated iron walls of the shack – designed to look like a bar from the wild west – literally shook as more people than you thought possible squeezed in to dance the night away to a variety of banging tunes.

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Every table had someone dancing on it, while festival goers swung from the rafters and make–shift chandelier.

Despite losing some of the cute small festival feel it used to have, Y Not remains a less aggressive alternative to the bigger music festivals.