Y Not Festival returned to the Peak District this weekend (28th-31st July) for the first time since 2019, and the fifteenth edition of the North’s essential music festival was worth the wait. The weekend headliners Stereophonics, Courteeners, Blossoms, and Thursday's headliners The Kooks were joined by a host of brilliant acts across the four days including: Manic Street Preachers, Nothing But Thieves, Kelis, The Vaccines, Laura Mvula, Amy MacDonald, The Big Moon, Alfie Templeman, Yard Act, Dream Wife and many more.
The Kooks set the exciting tone for the weekend, starting the night with ‘Seaside’ from their critically acclaimed debut album Inside In / Inside Out - which recently celebrates 15 years since its release just as Y Not celebrate its own anniversary. Friday night saw one of Britain’s best live bands Stereophonics, electrifying the crowd with their massive hits including, ‘C’est La Vie’, ‘Maybe Tomorrow’, ‘Nice Day’ and ‘Dakota’.
Hailing from down the road in Manchester, Courteeners headlined the Saturday night, with an energetic setlist befitting the lively crowd including ‘Are You In Love With A Notion?, ‘Acrylic’ and their most loved classic, ‘Not Nineteen Forever’. Stockport’s Blossoms brought the festival to a close on Sunday with hits like ‘Charlemagne’ and a cover of The Human League’s ‘Don't You Want Me’, with their cool frontman Tom Ogden telling the buzzing crowd “This is the first festival I ever came to 10 years ago in 2012. So it’s very humbling to see all of you here and to be headlining… It’s quite the trip.”
Throughout the Saturday, artists paid homage to the legendary Kate Bush on her birthday, also known as “Katemas”. Sunderland legends The Futureheads had the crowd singing along their reimagined version of “Hounds of Love” which was released in 2005, whilst Orla Garland treated Y Notters to an eighties medley including ‘Running Up That Hill,’ joking to the crowds, “For the record... I knew this song before it was cool!”
Earlier on, Sea Girls sang a quick rendition of ‘Running Up That Hill,’ which recently shot back into the charts thanks to Stranger Things. They performed to a huge Big Gin Stage crowd on Saturday, including one very special fan, Joe. Bringing their Number 1 fan onto stage, lead singer Henry Camamile gave him a one-of-a-kind t-shirt - ‘I got on stage with Sea Girls and all I got was this T-shirt’.
On Sunday, just as the news of the England women’s national team winning the 2022 Euros came, 27,000 fans at Y Not festival enjoyed The Vaccines’ performance on the final day of the festival. The entire crowd launched into a chant of ‘Three Lions’ as frontman Justin Young asked “Is it now officially home?” He added, “The Vaccines feel like we’re finally home and we’ve been waiting 5 years to play for you, Y Not Festival!”
As the sun shone over the Derbyshire festival, Y Notters filled The Quarry stage tent to see Brighton trio Dream Wife’s impassioned set including ‘Somebody’ and ‘Sports!’ during which Bella and Alice jolted into each other whilst Rakel screamed “Put your money where your mouth is!” and chucked a wad of fake bank notes into the cheering crowds.
As well as all the fantastic music, this year Y Not Festival built its programme for families and children of all ages including the Kids Rave and family zone which offered endless hours of fun for children with all day games & activities, magic shows and much more.
