Victorious is a very family orientated festival supporting a host of good causes

The only reason I know about Victorious Festival is a band I adore (The Joy Formidable) played there a couple of years ago and I wished I'd have bothered to go, but in essence I had covered Boardmasters that year, so that was a bonus.

After researching the festival beforehand it looks like a family based festival and has something to please everyone, very family orientated. A kids play area, the craft beer and real ale area, the market boutique and food market, and then there's free entry to all of the Seafront Attractions (including The Blue Reef Aquarium, D-Day museum, Southsea Castle and Southsea Skate Park demos) AND that's not all, there's all the music which boasts 8 stages throughout the site, including the two main stages, the Common Stage and the Castle Stage, boasting some real big name acts.

This is a bank holiday bonanza, based at South Sea, Portsmouth and raising good money for great causes too boot, what more could a festival do?

Talking about good causes, this year the festival intends to give charities nominated by local residents a slice of the profits, which is approximately £100K. Giving back to the community is something Victorious wanted to do, so in its wisdom has given local residents, who are in close proximity to the site, a vote on whom they would like to nominate to be beneficiaries of the monies. Causes to benefit from the £100,000 those behind the festival hope to generate are the water fountain at Southsea Castle, Southsea Skatepark and the Teekpah Village Project in Liberia.

Let's get back to the festival, the two main stages boast a pucker line-up. Saturday see's on the Common Stage – Flaming Lips, Primal Scream, The Fratellis, The Magic Numbers and Peter Hook, plus special guest Laura Mvula; And on the Castle Stage - Tinie Tempah, Mystery Jets, The Subways, and Rae Morris.

Sunday on the Common Stage - Ray Davies, Super Furry Animals, The Darkness, Cast, Hayseed Dixie, the Sunshine Underground and special guests Texas and on the Castle Stage - Basement Jaxx, Johnny Marr, Ella Eyre, We are Scientists and Bipolar Sunshine.

Over 8 stages to visit, we were gonna be spoilt for choice, The Seaside Stage and especially The Nevada Music Acoustic Stage was one of I was gonna be heading for as the amazing Grant Nicholas was headlining this stage.

With over 35,000 people expected to visit over the duration of the two days of the festival, it was gonna be busy. It's not just a music festival, it's a festival within a festival, I can't wait to experience it.

Market Way looked very tempting, providing mouth- watering treats including local favourite's Strong Island, Portsmouth College, Pie and Vinyl and South Coast Emporium, its making my mouth water just thinking about it.

My partner in crime, my wife was taken with the thought of the Craft Beer & Real Ale Festival, I can't blame her really especially as it boasts something to tempt every taste bud including stouts, porters, IPA's, traditional bitters and one offs from all over the UK.

After a three hour drive down to Portsmouth we finally reached the site, luckily parked right outside where we needed to be, the press tent was right inside.

The weather forecast for the day was quite poor, rain, rain and more rain. We came with wet weather gear, walking boots, bin bags, towels, wet wipes, you know all the normal stuff lol. Good job really as it rained non-stop for six hours, we got absolutely drenched.

The site was actually quite huge and the two main stages Castle and Common were quite a way apart, a brisk walk was needed to reach each in time to see the acts. On the way to all the stages were the most amazing stalls in Market Way ranging from Hog Roast, Homemade Pizza, Homemade Cakes, Jamaica Cake, Fish and Chips, Pie and Vinyl (Never did get to taste one of their pies!), Beefburgers, Hot Dogs, Mexican and Brazillian food, food to cater for everyone we were disappointed, think we might have put on a few pounds after sampling some of the wares.

We homed in on the Real Ales Tent, My wife's eyes lit up with pure excitement at all the beers that were on offer, she opted for Hobgoblin Gold, I think it went down well. Unfortunately I'm not a big beer fan so the tent was wasted on me. Live music and a crafty pint, the tent was rammed with people shaking their fivers in the air for a pint. It was a nice touch for sure and loads of beer drinkers appreciated it.

Victorious reminded me of 'Carfest', very family orientated, something for Mom and Dad, and something for the kids, there was even a kids area, a skate park, loads of market stalls selling antiques and clothes, even old vinyl records, a couple of photo booths, a fun fair, candy floss and doughnut stalls, you would be at a loss to find something that didn't appeal.

I loved the vibe throughout the weekend, it was epic, the music just put the icing on the cake for me to be honest, my wife thought so too. Everything was relaxed and chilled, and to have Primal Scream on the same bill as Tinie Tempah was epic.

It was the line-up that attracted me to this festival, mainly Texas, Tinie Tempah, The Sunshine Underground, Grant Nicholas and We Are Scientists, I was in my element.

Kill it Kid, Laura Mvula, HoneyBlood, Rae Morris, The Fratellis, Primal Scream, Tinie Tempah and Grant Nicholas all on the Saturday.

I've seen Kill It Kid before eons ago and they were cracking back then, they didn't disappoint either of us, banging out a 30 minutes set of stonking tunes, it was a fabulous warm up for the rest of the day.

The lovely Laura Mvula graced the stage next with a full band, looking very glamorous and wearing shades throughout her performance. Such a talented women, and so stylish too. Her set was silky smooth, her voice was like velvet, all Guiness-like, something you could listen to all day and be happy.

Double act Honeyblood were over on the Castle Stage, so off we trotted, glad we did. A duo with a lot of punch and vitality, lush tunes, shame they're set was a bit short.

We stayed over at the Castle Stage to see songbird Rae Morris,  very tiny and petite, but boy her voice packs a punch, another amazing female vocalist from the UK that wowed the fans.

Vintage Scottish rockers The Fratellis were up next, another shufty on over to the Common Stage, my feet were throbbing at this point, It was still raining, was it ever gonna stop!!

A 45 minute set didn't dampen the crowds spirits, it made them wanting more and they were gonna get that with Primal Scream. The crowd seemed to get deeper and wider for this band, you could see them as far as the eye could see, on the horizon.

Bobby Gillespie was in his element, the set was astounding, just under an hour of pleasure.

Last two acts of the night were firecracker Tinie Tempah and Feeder front man, now doing his solo thang, Grant Nicholas.

I think everyone had come over to the Castle Stage, unless you were of a certain age and actually knew who the hell The Flaming Lips were.

Lots of pushing and shoving, vying for a prime position at the front, a couple of ugly scenes where a few girls too great exception to each other and started battering each other, all the mobile phones were out recording it, shame really that there's always a small minority that spoils it for everyone else.

I seriously love Tinie Tempah, even at my age, Yes I'm 46, I find it hard to stand still once the beats kick in. The crowd went absolutely mental, even I was dancing in the pit with my camera.

Hit after hit ensued and it was just one big party, it was truly epic, one of the acts of the day for me.

I've been a long-time admirer of Feeder and Grant Nicholas and there was no way on earth I was gonna miss his set.

A bit of a faltering start with technical issues but then we were off, Grant's new offerings are sombre and make you realise what an epic songwriter this guy is. Song of the set for me has to be 'Soul Mates' makes me think of how much I love my wife.

This guy is so down to earth it's unreal, always has time for his fans, even much so tonight after the set he was up the front chatting and signing for fans.

Today was amazing, a family fiesta, shame it rained and put a lot of people off, BUT not us.

Roll on Day Two.

Latest Updates