Bluedot 2022

Thursday 21st to Sunday 24th July 2022
Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre and Arboretum, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 9DL, England MAP
£195 for 3 days incl camping, kids 11-15yrs £87, kids 6-10 yrs £27.50

Daily capacity: 21,000

Bluedot, with its quirky location and spacey, scientific vibe has delighted in attracting big on-brand names throughout the years, such as Jean-Michel Jarre and Kraftwerk - so it’s no surprise that the big draw this year is Icelandic genre-within-a-genre Bjork, who brings with her the Halle Orchestra. The other solid headliners were Metronomy and Groove Armada - who dispense with the chill grooves and go on full on Space Lazer. Although we only attended the Sunday of Bluedot, it's clear that the festival has a core fanbase of devoted revellers who delight in taking their families every year.

You can’t talk about Bluedot without talking about the huge Jodrell Bank telescope that everyone posts identikit pictures of to the left of the main stage. It’s as ubiquitous as the Eiffel Tower when you visit Paris, and it’s certainly part of the niche appeal of the festival and allows it to stand out during the tired summer circuit.

We mentioned summer, but it’s perverse bad luck that Bluedot, during the hottest week that the UK has ever experienced, had mostly dismal weather of rain, cloud and mud. Those fearing the worst at Glastonbury would have been triggered by some of the weather threats during this weekend, and just before Bjork appeared on the sunday evening, the crowd could be heard cheering when the bright sun finally shone upon the grateful festivalgoers. Walking around the festival site, amidst the interesting talks in the tents or the smaller musical acts, it’s very apparent that the site is child and family friendly as part of its aesthetic; and it feels cosy and small to walk around.

As for the main draw, Bjork, complete with orchestra, entered wearing a very unique-styled Moncler outfit that had the crowd murmuring to themselves. Such was the uncompromising and unflinching performance by Bjork, that you could sense half the crowd were bemused, baffled and underwhelmed in direct contrast to the ecstatic and delighted other half crying with joy at the setlist. You did feel sorry for the poor children bored-out-of-their-minds whilst their parents watched - and there were sometimes arguments when those talking were firmly told to “shut up”. In fact, it did seem that the sound levels were too quiet in places, but it was a blustery day here in Macclesfield. It didn’t help that there were no screens or any visual video to accompany the show - which meant that for the most part those who were not at the front just saw an orange blob on stage. Bjork’s people even asked the crowd not to take photos during the performance, whilst Bjork herself congratulated the audience at the end and informed us that she was inflicted with Covid just five days prior. It would have added to the bad luck of the weather had Bjork pulled out - but thankfully she gave the festival a quintessential Bjork performance to cap a successful Bluedot 2022.

Weekend tickets for bluedot 2023 will be on sale from 6pm, Monday 24 July 2022 from discoverthebluedot.com.