battering Welsh weather eventually wins against a resilient Festival No.6

We arrived on a beautiful sunny September's eve at the Festival No. 6 park and ride station, based at Porthmadog rugby club. Anybody wishing to enter the festival without a live in vehicle pass must park their vehicle here. With a well organised queuing system in place to swap your ticket for a wrist band, we are soon on our way to port Meirion village to enter the magical world of Festival Number 6 thanks to an fleet of shuttle busses.

 

We arrived into the village just in time to catch the last 10 minutes of The Showhawk Duo's performance on the Piazza stage, deep in the beating heart of the festival. With a quick fire burst of acoustic dance floor classic covers, the village broke out into a giant impromptu rave, this was exactly what I needed to kick start my weekend after a long day's work, followed by the 3 hour marathon drive to get to the festival. 

 

After a good singalong to the Showhawk duo, we went for a good stroll around the village to see if much had changed in the 3 year period since I had last visited. Many things were still the same but had been refined to give a more polished edge, this meant that events held in the village hall were no longer a free for all, instead there was now a civilised queuing system in place.

 

This did lead to a lot of disappointed punters over the weekend, with people finding they often had to sacrifice 1-2 hours of their festival in order to be able to get in for the acts they wanted to see. Notable queues over the weekend were for Friday's performance by Charlotte Church and Saturday nights performance by Blossoms. Both sets with resident composer Joe Duddell and the No.6 Ensemble, always a number 6 favourite.

 

However disappointed the masses that missed out were, it is never far to travel to the next treat. A mere 50 metres away playing to a rammed piazza crowd were the ever loyal Brythoniad Male Voice Choir fresh from winning the top prize at the national Eisteddfordd of Wales.With a mixture of traditional Welsh hymns and covers of contemporary hits, they still demand the same respect from the crowd after all these years. After listening to a great cover of the Muse hit 'Uprising' we got a head start in front of the crowds up to the site which held the main stage, next to the Castell Duedraeth. On the way we went through the much improved middle of the site, full of foods from all corners of the world, and where many a good pint could be found! 

 

The main site was beautifully decorated, and there was a new addition in place since I had last visited. They had replaced the old main stage tent with a large outdoor stage much to my delight. This was one of my main reservations on my last visit, as I do enjoy watching on an outdoor stage more.

 

We arrived at the main stage just in time to catch Bastille. Having seen them touring their first album and been severely underwhelmed I have to admit that the boys have really learnt the art of stagemanship in the intervening years, and with the addition of some strong new material, really earned their headline status. And, after a long day we decided to retire for the night before the rain could set in.

 

Following a great night's sleep we awoke to the thundering sound of what sounded like a monsoon pounding the tent and every hard surface in the audible distance. But, quite smugly we smiled and revelled in the fact that once again our trusty, quick pitch 4 pop up tent had proved it's worth and weathered yet another storm. We caught the park and ride bus back down into town to get a few supplies for the day, had a spot of lunch in a delightful cafe in Porthmadog, before heading back into the festival. We left the supplies at the tent, got changed and made our way out for another days revelry. It wasn't long before the torrents started to drive in again, we took shelter under anything we could find. On one occasion finding our way into the custom Dr Martens shop, this proved to be a rather expensive rain storm for my sister!

 

Whilst the rain really set in for the day, accompanied by gale force winds, we finally got to the piazza stage after being refused entry into the packed out gate house for performances and talks by Ricky Tomlinson, and Johnny Vegas respectively. On arrival we caught a stirring performance from Bellatrix, not often are the words graduate in jazz double bass, and world beatbox champion uttered in the same sentence, well Bellatrix breaks the mould!

 

Taking listeners on a musical exploration, the crowd watch on mainly in stunned silence, I caught a few people trying to recreate the huge array of sounds she manages to create using just her mouth. With the weather turning for the worse yet again and the wind really whipping up, a few of the venues safety were compromised so the festival had to cancel some of their schedules. These indcluded the estuary stage that had to halt their programme, and the woods were made off limits for the afternoon. The knock on effect of this lead to other smaller venues being even more over subscribed. There was barely room to shake a stick in the village especially for Johnny Vegas' second show of the day on the Piazza stage. Though the weather was kind and ceased the downpour for the whole of his comedy set, we decided to head to the upper festival site to watch Blossoms. Theirs was a name I had often heard great things about, but one of those bands that have skimmed in under my radar. I really enjoyed their performance, they had one of the bigger crowds of the weekend, and I'm sure will rise on to bigger things. The young Stockport lads seem to have fused together a heady mix of obvious influences - the Arctic Monkeys, a pinch of Oasis and lashings of The Coral. 

 

Following them, in possibly the worst weather conditions I've ever witnessed/endured at a festival, was the inimitable Roisin Murphy. With a whole trunk full of fancy dress to get through, she put up an admirable fight against the weather! Going through 3 brollies in her hour long set, slipping on stage in her heels on a unplanned water feature, and having items of her repertoire destroyed by the wild weather. Ever the professional she just sprang back to her feet each time to continue unfazed. Ending her set with a very jazzy cover of her Moloko hit single 'Sing It Back' she received a huge round of applause from the crowd full of admiration.

 

Rounding out the day on the main stage were the critically acclaimed crowd pleasers Hot Chip, everyone's favourite electro nerds. Tonight's set was a triumphant headline set packed full of crowd pleasers, with particular highlights coming in the shape of 'Ready For The Floor' and a floor shaking bass heavy rendition of 'Over And Over'.

 

With decorations and flags from all around the site torn and looking battered, and the weather closing in yet again, we decided to head back to the tent to ride out the coming storm. However when we returned to our tent it was plain to see the weather had won, after surviving the night before, the ground had been left saturated by hours of monsoon like weather. Unfortunately the ground was soft when the gales set in, leaving the pegs free to shoot out under the extreme force of the wind. Everything in our tent had been either soaked through or ruined, and faced with no other options we decided we would have to pack up our soggy kit and head home. 

 

After arriving home cold wet and tired, it seems the weather worsened even more over night and throughout the morning, and some of the car park had been left submerged. Festival Number 6 as an organisation, did everything in their powers to help people and to keep everything running as smooth as possible bringing in an army or tractors and mechanics. I was gutted to have missed the closing day with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Super Furry Animals, and Halle Symphony Orchestra being conducted by Joe Duddell to perform a tribute to David Bowie. 

 

I will return next year, as this really is a superb festival in such a perfect setting, but unfortunately the weather won this year.