Escape Into The Park 2003

In the beautiful leafy setting of Swansea's Singleton Park, 21,000 got to dance in the sunshine.



Inside the tented venues was sweltering, but they were still packed with a mad-for-it crowd. It was too hot for this lightweight, with the extra high humidity from the damp ground driving me straight out again while the sun shone, although they were much more comfortable when the sun sunk below the trees.



So, for those outside those tents, there was lounging on the grass in the sun soaking it all up, the fairground rides and the reverse bungee-ball, and the Main Stage. Unfortunately, due to events held in the Park the previous weekend and despite the sunshine, stage front was sticky (but not slushy) mud. This didn't encourage dancing, and most of those taking it in were towards the back where grass still existed.



Chicane delivered live from that stage to a not too enthusiastic crowd, and – even they admitted it through the microphone – they weren't at hot as the weather. Perhaps the most memorable aspect was some comic shouting "off-core" (rather than "encore") between a couple of songs. But they kept trying, and perhaps improved as time went on.



Dave Pearce was waiting patiently at the back of the stage to start spinning when they finished, and when he did, the crowd suddenly appeared. This was what they'd come for – happy tunes in the open air. As people ran down towards the stage, the atmosphere lifted and the party really began – helped by the setting sun and a more reasonable temperature. The crowd kept on building into Judge Jules, and the last half hour up until the early end (compared to other dance fests) at 11pm was rounded off by Danny Slade and Big Al back to back.



Since announced as a great success by Escape, we're sure it will be back again next year.

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