MUSIC | My Festival Experience at Longitude 2017

Longitude Festival was a blast. While it was pretty hectic and crazy at times, the music and friends I went with made it the ideal summer weekend...

I went on Saturday and Sunday; read on to see some pictures and a breakdown of my looks, what I thought of the music and my own experience. Make sure you are subscribed to my YouTube channel to see my Get Ready with Me videos and vlogs from the festival.

DAY ONE

THE LOOK

Sunglasses: Penney's

Scarf: American Eagle

Dungarees: H&M

Mesh Top: Brandy Melville

Bralette: Hollister

Bum bag: my mum (I have no idea where she got it)

Shoes (not visible): Vans

THE MUSIC

My sister Emily and I attempted to rap with Skepta together, pretty hopelessly, while we waited for the big act The Weeknd. Skepta was good; we didn't really know his music that well, so we just waited for the chorus of each song to come around so we could rap with him, kind of ("...shutdown... shutdown... shutdown...).

It was very disappointing that Catfish and the Bottlemen were scheduled at the same time as The Weeknd; I would have loved to see Catfish, but Emily and I decided to stick to the bigger act. His voice was perfect, and the opening number to his set, 'Starboy', was epic. His songs got a bit slower, but after a while, he picked it up, finishing off with "I Can't Feel My Face", "I Feel It Coming" and "The Hills". 

There were not as many acts on Saturday that sparked my interest, yet I got to get my bearings at Marlay Park. 

THE EXPERIENCE

Emily and I arrived a bit late, at around five. The queuing in was very busy and mad at this time, as it was probably the popular time to head in. We got our wristbands and made it into the festival.

Emily met up with her friends, while I met up with mine, and we promised to join again later for a bit of Skepta and the Weeknd. I found Lauren and Lillie, and since they weren't any acts that we were dying to see, we had a browse around. We sat and listened to a bit of Mac Miller, and I also got to see Chloe and Evelyn and their friends for a while, as well as a few people from my school.

I was so surprised by the size of the festival, and the amount of people there. I understood how easy it would be to get lost, which thankfully did not happen to me throughout the weekend. The weather was a little cloudy, with sunshine every now and then, but it worsened to drizzle later on once I reunited with Emily again. 

That did not dampen our spirits though, as once you enter Longitude, it's as if your day goes from a 4/10 to a 9/10. (Mostly) everyone was happy and feeling good. These feel good vibes distracted me from complaining too much about the passive smoking, rubbish and excessive spilling of alcohol. To be honest, the portaloos weren't even that bad, and there were loads of them so I never queued for that long. Win, win!

The Weeknd ended, and Emily and I walked up the closed road to my Dad's car. I was exhausted, and could not understand how people could do three days of this festival. It's all go...

DAY TWO

THE LOOK

Sunglasses: Penney's

Top: Abercrombie & Fitch

Shorts: Hollister

Shirt (around waist): Hollister

(same bum bag)

Runners: Nike

Cap: free from Coca-Cola!!

THE MUSIC

Milky Chance had our Sunday of Longitude off to a great start. The girls and I jammed out to their reggae-like indie folk tunes in the sunshine. Even the songs that were not recognisable were fun to listen to.

JP Cooper was next. The area, Whelan's, was way too small; it was packed at his set. My friends and I got in at the right time as it filled up really quickly. I'm surprised Longitude didn't give him the Heineken Stage, since his song "September Song" is such a hit here. His voice live was the highlight; it sounded like melted chocolate, a mix of Shawn Mendes and John Legend. I got to go on a guy's shoulders for a bit of "September Song", which was one of the best and worst decisions I have ever made. The girls know why.

Anna loves Jack Garratt, so we were for sure going to see him. I quite like a few his songs, but boy did my appreciation for him soar as he drummed away like there was no tomorrow. His set was electric, each song building up slowly as he did all the instrument work himself - super impressive.

And finally, the night ended with Mumford & Sons, who were not as good as we expected them to be. They had the African singer Baaba Maal sing a song or two, which was alright, and their hits were brilliant, but otherwise they were a little bit boring. Nothing too special. At the very end, they brought out a few surprise guests, including the one and only Hozier. The girls and I were over the moon.

Despite Mumford & Sons being the last act of the whole festival, they weren't my favourite on Sunday. JP Cooper is up there because of how intimate his set felt and his angelic vocals. Overall, the music on Sunday was fantastic; some were more exciting than others, but they all did great sets.

THE EXPERIENCE

Sunday was spent with these lovely gals, Anna, Sarah and Rachael. We arrived at around half two to the festival, and it was wonderfully empty compared to the previous evening. There was room to run about and lay in the sun without fear of being trampled on, and nice, rubbish-free grass. It was all to change later on of course, so we took the opportunity to relax and hang out in the lovely sun. The atmosphere was very relaxed and chill, and it was nice to see some more school friends, as well as Lauren and Chloe and Co. again.

After Milky Chance, we explored some more and had a bit of grub from Wok Out, all while taking numerous photos and selfies of course. We even got to win free Coca-Cola hats by taking pictures at their stand. 

JP Cooper, Jack Garratt and Mumford & Sons were all one after the other from 7 pm onwards, so we were busy walking from stage to stage in the evening. Everything got more hectic at around seven. It's mad to think this, but somehow, Sunday was busier than Saturday by the end of the day. You could hardly see the ground as you walked, and the four of us had to hold hands at one stage to avoid getting separated. Yet it was inevitable, as the four of us had to split into two pairs so I could go to the bathroom, and it was hard then to reunite. But we did it, wooh!

My festival experience at Longitude was unforgettable. I had such a whirlwind weekend of good music, good people and so much amazing festival fashion to admire. McDonald's was well needed on the way home from the festival on Sunday - I was wrecked. 

The downsides to the weekend were so minor, as I really enjoyed my first festival, and it's for certain that festivals are my thing. If the lineup is good next year I'd love to go again!

Were you at Longitude?