Somersault Festival 2014

July 2014 saw the first ever Somersault Music Festival, in North Devon, England. If I hadn't have previously known that this was the first year of the festival, I would never have guessed. It was so well put together and organised, I couldn't fault it. There was people of all ages, from youngsters to teens to much older adults, so I always felt completely safe and in good company. The variety around the festival was amazing, so many different foods and stalls and people.
The festival consisted of three main music stages; the main stage; the Jack Wills new music stage; and the Communion stage. All three stages had a wide range of artists and bands, which was great because it meant that I saw some acts that I am a huge fan of, but was also introduced to many new acts that I had never heard of before. The festival lasted from Thursday 17th- Monday 21st, with music on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the days. The headline acts of the weekend were my two favourite artists; Jack Johnson and Ben Howard. I had never seen Jack Johnson live before, and it seemed perfect that I got to see him at such a brilliant festival, with such a chilled out crowd in lovely weather with my boyfriend (we're both big fans!) He played a fantastic set, connected with the crowd and showed off his pure musical genius. A very impressive first head liner of the weekend.

On the Sunday we stayed at the main stage for most of the day, to guarantee a good spot for Ben Howard later on that night. I'm very glad we decided to do this, as it meant we also got to see other bands such as Sierra Leone's Refugee Allstars; Catfish and the Bottlemen; Hiss Golden Messenger and Half Moon Run.These aren't bands I have really paid much attention to in the past, but they were all great live and have inspired me to start listening to some new music. Me and my boyfriend had both seen Ben Howard twice previously, so we were both very excited to see him again, as he is an exceptional live artist. He did not fail to disappoint the third time either! It has been a while since he released any new music, since his album 'Every Kingdom' in 2011 and 'Burgh Island EP' in 2012, so his fan base have been hoping to hear some new material very soon. Luckily, as well as playing music from his first album , him and his band surprised us with 5 new songs. They were all quite different to the music on his first album, more similar to the music on his EP, but all so exciting to hear as they haven't been released yet. The whole crowd was mesmerised by his performance and the way he managed to set such a mood with his music, it was entrancing.

I am not fortunate enough to be blessed with much height, and being only 5 foot tall at a music festival isn't exactly ideal. However not being able to see the stage or Ben Howard himself didn't really phase me, I felt like there was such a good atmosphere in the crowd and as long as I could hear the music I didn't need to see what was going on on the stage. This was the case for the majority of the set, but when it got to the final song, I felt like I really wanted to get a good view and feel a part of it even more, so my boyfriend was kind enough to offer to give me a shoulder ride. It was the absolute highlight of the whole festival! I had such a good time waving my arms about and seeing Ben Howard and his band perform an amazing finale to a pretty perfect headline at a festival in Devon, Ben Howard's home.