A New Movement: Welcome to YUNGBLUD'S BLUDFEST

5 months ago, Dominic Harrison shut down Camden on a regular Monday morning to announce BLUDFEST – a new festival built around inclusivity, acceptance, community and most importantly … a love of music.

After making his opinion on the music industry clear and the way access to music is so often squashed by issues such as finances, the campaign surrounding the announcement of the festival was heavily focused on the low-ticket prices of £50.

5 months later the day had finally arrived. With the weather reaching a scorching 28 degrees all day, the Milton Keynes Bowl was overtaken by thousands of the proclaimed ‘Black Hearts club community’ – the name donned by the Yungblud community.

I arrived at the venue around 11;30am as I used ‘The Green Coach’ which provided transport from different cities to and from the venue entrance, but the event didn’t open until 1 pm. Despite arriving early, the queue to get in was already snaking around the fields, getting longer by the second and there has been much discourse coming out alone about the handling of the queue by Milton Keynes Bowl security due to insanely long wait times and lack of care or concern for people overheating and dehydrating.

Personally, I didn’t have these issues and had a rather pleasant que experience – yes it was dangerously hot and there was a considerable lack of shade. However, I heard Dom and other acts soundcheck, made new friends and linked up with the group I ended up spending the whole day with. I still didn’t gain access to the venue till nearly an hour later.

I think is important to highlight the financial aspect of the whole festival. We all know that festivals are not cheap: vendors who sell and set up at festivals charge upscaled prices for basic needs such as food and water because they can get away with it and people have no other option but to pay for it. However, for a festival that was built on the foundation of accessibility to all – specifically financially accessible – and saying, “fuck the corporate bullshit” (Dominic Harrison, 2024) people were not expecting and was disappointed at paying prices such as £12 for 3 slices of garlic bread.

This opens up a wider discussion: despite the good intention behind the creation of the festival, it is still an event that needs to be profitable, as sadly in many instances money does make the world go world.

Let’s jump into discussing some of the kick-ass acts that donned the stage.

Nessa Barrett:

The pop-rock princess took the main stage mid-afternoon, working the stage in sparkling boots and leopard-print shorts and serving the aesthetic and vocals of a modern-day Y2k Kesha mixed with Lana Del Rey. The set was a blend of her upbeat pop-rock hits which got the crowd singing along such as ‘I hope you're miserable til your dead” and emotional ballads such as ‘die first’. As expected, she delivered beautiful soft airy vocals throughout her time on stage. She expressed a vast amount of excitement and gratitude to be in the UK performing at the festival which fans lapped up with constant support and cheers. This was the first time I had seen Nessa perform and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I was pleasantly surprised at the vulnerability she was able to express through her performance and it is no surprise that with a stage present like that, fans feel a deep connection towards her and her music.

Soft Play:

Soft Play, the two-man punk band from Tunbridge Wells provided a fresh, fun and downright funny set as the evening time drew closer. From the opening intro of The Vengaboys’, We Like to Party, straight into the contrasting pelting tune of their song ‘Punks Dead, the duo tore up the stage and pulled out every punch they had. The music is loud, aggressive, and chews up the punk rulebook and the crowd eats it up. Pits opened up; men’s shirts came off and people rioted alongside the boys. Their witty banter, both with each other and the audience, is sharp and consistently engaging, drawing everyone in while seamlessly balancing it with a mellow, laid-back vibe, preaching their beliefs of acceptance and appreciating those in your life and the moment you live in. Overall, in my opinion, Soft Play delivered the best performance of the night other than the main act himself, Yungblud.

NOAHFINNCE:

Closing the second set for the night was social media influence and rising pop-punk star NOAHFINNCE. Despite his set happening just before Lil Yachty's at the main stage, the second stage area was packed dense with fans eagerly anticipating Noah’s BLUDFEST debut.

Noah perfectly executed his time on stage from start to finish bringing joyful chaotic energy, campy pop-rock tunes and chit-chat sprinkled in between. He’s known for outspoken opinions on the LGBTQ+ community with many of his discussions being focused on transphobia and his experience of living life as a trans man himself and despite his songs adorning that generic campy pop-punk sound that is making it resurface in the music scene currently, his lyrics don’t shy away from addressing the harder topics.

The crowd ate up his performance – there were countless people on each other’s shoulders, circle pits opening and crowd surfers flying over the barrier – that he had them in the palm of his hand

“I believe music should be for everyone, fact. It should be for everyone, or at least accessible to everyone” – Dominic Harrison, 2024. Channel 4 news

With the sun setting and Sunday evening drawing to a close, the moment had finally arrived. The air buzzed with anticipation as thousands flocked to the main stage, ready for YUNGBLUD to make history by closing out his very own festival. As the big screens flickered to life, the crowd erupted in screams, watching Dom backstage, making his way to the stage. The show kicked off with a burst of energy as pyro lit up the sky for the opener, “superdeadfriends,” signaling that Dom was pulling out all the stops for the night’s performance.

The set oscillated between the high-energy YUNGBLUD everyone knows and loves, mixed with moments of pure awe as Dom took in the magnitude of what he had achieved and the crowd before him. Despite this being his moment of glory, he continuously reminded the audience that this was a shared victory—a community effort. He made it clear that without everyone in that arena, none of it would matter.

“BLUDFEST, this is fuckin’ history, this is our movement,” Dom declared, reinforcing the unity and shared purpose of the night.

The setlist was a masterful blend of Dom’s most popular tracks, like “Parents,” alongside old fan favourites that hadn’t graced setlists in years, such as “I Love You, Will You Marry Me,” and emotionally charged songs like “God Save Me, But Don’t Drown Me Out.” The selection of songs was perfect, creating an intoxicating energy that radiated from the crowd from start to finish.

There was something truly special about being in that crowd—it felt like a genuine community. It was magical to witness thousands of people, from all walks of life, rallying together for the sake of one man and one movement. The night was a powerful reminder of the impact music can have.

In conclusion, while BLUDFEST has sparked discussions about broader issues within the industry—issues that should not be ignored—it’s undeniable that, for its inaugural year, the festival was a roaring success. Both for YUNGBLUD and his fans, it was a beautiful celebration of the unifying power of music and a testament to the fact that no matter who you are, there’s a community out there ready to accept you.

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Images: Bethan Miller, YUNGBLUD

Words: Georgina Richardson