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Very few festivals are free, and most of the free festivals are filled with no hope bands that attract absolutely no attention whatsoever.

Thankfully the Godiva festival is one of those rare free festivals, that actually has a decent line-up, somehow the booking agents for this event seem to have a good grasp on who is likey to make it big in the near future. In past years they have had Newton Faulkner, The Fratellis, Polly Paulusma, Kasabian all playing before they made it into the mainstream music ether.

This year it was all change for Godiva festival, this time around the mainstage was an outdoor stage, and the main arena was a few minutes walk away from the stages. This was to accommodate the increased capacity of 30,000.

Another noticeable difference this year was that there was no alcoholic drinks allowed to be brought into the arena, apparently to stop drunken yobs ruining the event, however alcohol was still on sale for extortionate prices in the arena, and guess what? It didn't stop the drunken yobs! Who ever thought that idea would work clearly has the intelligence of a brick!!

With the arena being enlarged this time around, it made things difficult when you wanted to walk from the main stage to the fun fair and then come back as security had decided to create a one way system which they didn't tell punters about until we tried coming back to the main stage using the same way we had come.



This years line-up was headlined by The Enemy, Inner Circle, and Get Cape.Wear Cape.Fly. Other acts included Gabriella Cilmi, Art Brut, Pint Shot Riot, Glasvegas, and Six By Seven to name a few.

This festival offers so much to do, it even has a parade, which starts in the town centre and meanders its way upto the memorial park.

The weather was murderous. One minute nice hot sunshine, then the next torrential rain, which left your clothes soaking for days. For once this heavy downpour had a good effect, it made the usual morons that come to watch the Enemy stay away as they scurried to the nearest shelter.



Some of the highlights of the weekend include Gabriella Cilmi's set, in which she exceeded all expectations. I was expecting another pop princess with cheesy singles and stage moves. But no, credit where credit is due, she has a fabulous vocal talent, and reminds me of a young Tina Turner with a sprinkling of Amy Winehouse. She also won the crowd over with a respectable cover version of 'A Whole Lotta Love'.

Glasvegas requested no photos be taken and didn't want any publicity, so we shall say no more (You will have to pretend that those photos in the Gallery aren't really Glasvegas).

The Enemy once again attracted a lot of idiots to their show, with people freely taking drugs in full view of everybody. Just another rock n roll cliché.



The tragic thing is The Enemy were brilliant live, and have certainly come a long way in such a short time. Even in the amazon like rainfall, it was worth being drenched to see such a superb band.

One artiste that did look very impressive and hasn't really had much attention yet, was Julian Velard. He was definitely an unexpected pleasure to listen to.



This year's Godiva festival was enjoyable, fun, and more importantly a pleasure to be at. Without a doubt it is still the highlight of my festival calendar, and is one of those festivals that if you go with an open mind, you are definitely going to find some thing that takes your fancy. But above all that, its absolutely free!!

Once again I'm counting down to the next Godiva Festival, and will be there regardless of who is headlining.

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