From the Back Stage to the Food Stalls: Our Honest Review of Summerfest

We were the only local newspaper offered backstage access to the Summer Fest at the Beach weekend where crowds in their thousands were able to watch some amazing artist perform such as Craig David, Blue, Five, Feeder, Madness and Dizzie Rascal.

This is what we experienced.

Photo: Weston Independent News

To get it out the way, the wind.

We all know the seafront in Weston is very open to the elements, and if the unpredictable British weather takes a turn for the worse like it did on Saturday where it certainly was windy, organisers can only do their best which from what we saw they did; by ensuring the crowds could have a safe and enjoyable festival, which at times meant access to some elements of the sites were temporarily suspended, but this was for justified reasons and understandable based on the conditions.

The artists that performed were by far the most impressive lineup that the town has seen since the days of T4 on the Beach and visitors clearly had a great time, with plenty of food, rides and community stalls to entertain them as well as the music.

We know Sophie Ellis-Bextor received some criticism for not performing, but when we spoke with her, she was genuinely dissapointed at not being able to perform because at the time she was scheduled to, the winds had significantly increased making it unsafe, and with her having more performances to go onto, it meant that she wasn’t able to delay her set. It was unfortunate but it was understandable.

Sophie Ellis Bextor chatting to us after she was told she wasn’t able to perform due to Health & Safety (Photo: Weston Independent News)

All in all from our backstage perspective we think the organisers did a great job, especially taking into consideration the fact it was the first time they had organised such an event in Weston and the weather was against them.

Tens of thousands of people turned out to watch and listen to some absolute bangers, and seeing crowds dancing and singing along to their favourite artists greatest hits really did make it feel like it was a popular event for the town.

The organisers should be commended for having the vision to chose Weston-super-Mare for this event and it certainly will put the town on the map as the festival grows year on year, which when coupled with the plans for the Tropicana and Live Nation’s development of the site, will make the town a leading light of the live music industry.

Photo: Weston Independent News

The food and drinks that was on offer was as you would expect from this kind of event, easy to eat and a broad range of drinks, all a bit pricey, but affordable.

Does this mean there’s not room for improvement?

Of course not.

Any organiser of an event of this size will assess retrospectively what they got right and what they got wrong and we expect some changes will be made to elements of the festival that organisers and visitors weren’t happy with

For what it’s worth, we think one improvement would be having the festival deeper involved with local businesses, charities and community organisations, as it would go a long way in ensuring that the next years festival has the contacts and knowledge of the local area that help an event like this thrive.

We can’t wait for Summer Fest at the Beach 2027, and whilst some visitors weren’t happy with some parts of the event, we think this weekends festival has set the foundations for what we hope will be many years of some of the UK’s greatest artists visiting our wonderful town and creating happy memories for all those that take the chance to see them.