The festival that shook Victoria Park with its debut last year was back this weekend with not only two weekends of incredible musical performances – but 10 days of community events as well. Music fans gathered to see The Chemical Brothers, The Strokes, and Christine and the Queens whose performances, were in no way dampened by the downpour that preceded them. The weekend after saw impressive headline sets from Bring Me The Horizon, Mumford & Sons and Bon Iver. Curated by AEG Presents, this year’s impressive music line-up, and peropheral activities, consolidated All Points East’s position as one of the most coveted places to be in London for summer.
On first impressions, the festival did feel a little more subdued than the sheer storm of sound of its debut year – but this quickly disspated when we heard the live acts. Héloïse Letissier aka Christine and the Queens in particular utterly blew us away. There were, additional subtle reasons that we were glad that we were able to make the most out of the second iteration of East London’s new favourite festival. Firstly, of course, the food. This was top-notch as always. Stalls from a selection of local street food including Holy Cow, Wingmans, BBQ Dreamz, E8 Fish, Biff’s Jack Shack and Hanoi Kitchen kept us satisfied (full album on insta).
Drinks-wise, we mainly spent time in the Jägerhaus east London brewers Truman’s, Redchurch and Five Points were granted pouring rights free of charge throughout the festival. More than 20 local breweries also took part in the new Craft Beer Fair on Bank Holiday Monday. Another plus – the clear-up effort was very noticeable this year, to preserve Victoria Park. Increasing recycling rates, achieving zero waste to landfill, using biodegradable food packaging and cutlery, and banning plastic straws are just some examples of the festival’s impressive green credentials. The ‘leave no trace’ policy means that every item brought into the festival site was taken, accroding to organisers.
This year, engaging with the local community was key, and AEG Presents worked with Tower Hamlets council, local organisations and suppliers, to hold a four-day community festival in between the two music-focused weekends, In the Neighbourhood.
In The Neighbourhood gave the public the chance to enjoy outdoor cinema, sports, crafts, children’s theatre and live music for free, as well as showcasing local talent. Local partners included MoreYoga, Museum of London Docklands, Chisenhale Dance Space, Hackney Arts, Rich Mix and Tower Hamlets Tennis, to name just a few.
One thing is for sure, if next year is anything like the previous two, we will be first in line to experience it.