The boys and girls of the good ship Bestival sprinkled their stardust on Southampton Common to give those present at the inaugural Common People a weekend to remember.

While Southampton Common does not have the contours or the nooks and crannies of Robin Hill Country Park, the creative team have still managed to create something special. A mini fun sized version of their larger award winning festivals.

One of the main attractions of the festival was the price of the ticket, to make the event affordable to all without scrimping on the line-up or other entertainment on offer. An adult weekend ticket was £55 or £30 for a day ticket, with teen day tickets priced at £15 and 6-13 yr olds could attend for just £10 a day.

If you wanted there was also the chance to purchase an upgrade to the V.I.P area, The Nook. A tented area with beds to chill on with a side of stage view, dedicated bar and bacon and egg butties on offer. Plus clean loos and no portable loo in sight. 

Common People caters for all ages with a Kids Area which included a bus for you to hone your graffiti skills, traditional fairground attractions and chance for general some tomfoolery.

The food area was small but perfectly formed offering a selection of Street Food, plus some festival favourites including chunky chips and burritos, plus Southsea’s Pie & Vinyl, truly a combination made in heaven where you could also enjoy a hot drink.

The Big Top was hosted throughout the day and evening to a stellar line-up of top DJs which we wandered in and out of over the weekend, but it was the Main Stage which pulled the biggest crowds.

There was also the Uncommon Stage which looked like a cows shed, with a rustic real ale bar which played host to many local bands and up and coming acts some of which had won a prized slot at the festival through a battle of the bands competition.

Alas due to the vagaries of the M25 and M3 we only just arrived in time to see a great set on the Main Stage from the ninja that is Jaguar Skills. The DJ of the MP3 Player age, not only has the art of mixing multiple genres seamlessly, but doing it as if he was skipping through his iPod.

DJ Yoda was next on the agenda, today without his AV set. Always a great set from the master we were treated to a range of mixes from across the board from Chic to the theme tune from Seseme street.

Next up was De La Soul who it’s hard to believe released their debut album more than 25 years ago. They maybe older but the attitude remains unfettered, if they have something to say they will say it, today it was the VIP Area who took the brunt of it. As usual there was huge level crowd participation throughout the set. Even the photographers and journalists were asked to stop what they was doing and put their hands in the air.

As the sun sets over the Main Stage a choir walks on stage and starts performing a mash up of some of Fat Boy Slim’s finest moments which slowly leads into Eat Sleep Rave Repeat before the man himself, hits the decks with a BANG, the crowd bounce as one, this is the start of 90 minutes of an old skool rave. Lasers fill the night sky as Norman hypes up the crowd even more, for the finale the choir are back for Right Here Right Now. To top off the day the crowd were treated to a firework display, a fitting end to day one with everything still to look forward to tomorrow.

The weather Gods were also on our side for Day two as apart from a chill in the air of an evening the weather was pretty much perfect all weekend.

Sunday morning had the feeling of err Sunday morning, it’s fairly subdued the joyful feeling of the night before seem a distant memory that is until the beats of Stevie Wonder’s Superstition are booming from the Main Stage. The crowd flock to the front of the Main Stage to hear a 90 minute set from Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show. If ever there is man who enjoys his job its Craig Charles, singing along with every track, grinning and posing for photographs, his set includes some funk & soul classics by James Brown, Marvin Gaye plus a unique mix of Bob Dylan’s Man of Constant Trouble.

Next up on the Main Stage are Bestival stalwarts The Cuban Brothers, the guys are on form, with great soul, hip hop plus amazing choreography. Miguel is being as politically incorrect as ever, and there is the joy of looking at parent’s faces trying to determine if their kids should listen or even watch the set!!

Quick pit stop to refresh at The Day of the Dead Caravan for cocktails and an extra dollop of music, another area that proved popular over the weekend before the next act on our agenda.

Years and Years took to the stage for what they stated was their first Main Stage performance, we was even treated to a live version of their new single. The band proved very popular by the size of the crowd and Olly Alexander delighted us with his unique and beautiful voice.

Any ideas of a relaxing afternoon are kicked out by punk duo Slaves their set is full of angst and aggression. There is no sitting around here with a full on set from Issac Holman and Laurie Vincent. Their songs are great ‘life’ observations of which their latest single Cheer Up London is a great example. There was even some crowd surfing!!!!!

Locals, Band of Skulls kicked off their set with guitarist Russell Marsden performing a Hendrixesq performance of When the Saints Go Marching In, just to ensure they had the whole crowd on side. Band of Skulls are different to most rock bands they can’t be pigeon holed into a single genre (unless of course bloody good is a genre) as they flit between, blues, indie, metal and classic rock often in the space of one track.

It was evident that Clean Bandit were the band that the majority of the ‘Common People’ had come to see on Sunday. They enthralled the crowd and ‘Rather Be’ was clearly a song everyone had been waiting to hear.

The headliner Grace Jones closed the inaugural event in style as always and you have no idea what’s in store. Apart from you getting to hear ‘La Vie En Rose’, ‘Pull Up To The bumper’ and ‘Slave To The Rhythm’ and possibly witness some of her now famous hula-hooping. She is truly a force to be reckoned with and a legend of our time. What other way to finish the weekend but throw in some more fireworks into the mix.

So all in all another thumbs up to Rob Da Bank and crew and their winning formula who start our festival season in style and who will no doubt bring it to a close.

Common People does essentially what it says on the tin and proves that great things can come in small packages.