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Parklife festival review: Muddy but mesmerising weekend

Parklife 2017/FANATIC
Parklife 2017/FANATIC

You can always count on Brits to defy the weather and put on a brave face on wintry summer days, and this spirit was out in full force at Parklife this year.

Just two weeks after the horrific attack at the Ariana Grande concert, the youth of Manchester descended on Heaton Park, five miles out of the city centre, to celebrate music once more.

Though the skies were predominantly grey and it chucked it down for the majority of the weekend, it was a thoroughly colourful affair.

(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )
(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )

The majority of guys were wearing ironic Hawaiian shirts and bandanas, and the girls were mainly in next to nothing, accessorised with bright rain ponchos and more glitter than you'd find backstage at Strictly. Of course, everyone who'd looked at the weather forecast was in wellies too.

And if you felt your festival look wasn't quite on point, you could improve by purchasing something sequinned from the vintage clothes stall or getting some glitter or face paint done.

(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )
(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )

Naturally, it wasn't long before the ground resembled a swamp, but that didn't stop the Parklife revellers - who seemed to be mainly of university age - letting their hair down.

With eight stages and over 160 artists, there was a lot going on.

On Saturday, George Ezra was the first of the big names on the main stage. He looked like he was loving it, which meant the crowd did too. Performing a mixture of new music and well-known hits, including the ironic Did you hear the rain?, the crowd was kept in great spirits despite the downpours.

Everyone over the age of 23 came together for Two Door Cinema Club, who were brilliant performers. And Chaka Khan brought the party spirit too.

Before the final act of the night, mayor Andy Burnham and a selection of the city’s emergency services came onto the main stage for a touching tribute to the Manchester attack. Many were moved to tears.

(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )
(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )

And before they performed, The 1975 frontman Matt Healy prompted epic applause when he told the crowd we’d had our moment of silence and it was time to make some noise. So make noise we did.

The sun came out and duly went down as The 1975 performed, making for a mesmerising show. They were clearly honoured and moved to be there, and everyone in the crowd felt the same.

(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )
(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )

On day two, the main draw was Frank Ocean, who went down a treat given it was his first performance at a UK festival since 2014.

Zara Larsson also kept everyone in good spirits with her high-energy set, complete with sassy dance moves, huge voice and hair flicks.

And if you fancied a break from the main stages (or just wanted somewhere to take cover), you could go into one of the DJ tents for a dance - our favourite one felt like a jungle disco, complete with palm trees, vines and disco balls hanging from the ceiling.

We were as spoilt for choice when it came to food as music: burgers, Greek street food, noodles, vegan food, milkshakes and chicken katsu curries were all on offer.

(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )
(Parklife 2017/FANATIC )

The queues for the bars got long at times, and the fact that people were drinking sweet berry cider, Smirnoff ice and Jägerbombs probably says a lot about the age of the crowd.

Parklife is a festival full of good vibes - if someone bumps into you, they'll likely turn round and say, "Sorry, love" before having a little boogie with you.

As a non-camping festival, everyone duly left the site around 11pm, whether to go home for a shower and bed or on to one of the numerous after-parties.

It may have been more pondlife than Parklife, but it was fantastically good fun.