Being my first festival of the year, Happy Days festival seemed ideal to break myself in easy to this year’s season. With headliners such as UB40 and The Real Thing, the festival seemed set to take me back to my younger days, sitting in the back of my mums ford fiesta listening to hits such as ‘Red Red Wine’.

A short 45-minute jaunt in the car and we were there. The festival is within easy reach off the M25, meaning access is fairly easy from the southeast, with plenty of parking on site, and reasonably priced at £5 (if you had the VIP ticket it was free). If you’re not a driver it can easily be reached by public transport, with the closet stations being Thames Ditton and Esher.

The festival appeals to all ages, with many families attending the day. With the sun being out and the temperature being in the late teens, spirits were high.

With a passion fruit cider in hand, I revelled in the hot sunshine as The Real Thing performed 'You to me are everything' and 'Can you feel the force'. The Amoo brothers Chris and Eddie got the crowd on their feet ready and warmed up for the next act which was Imagination.

Imagination performed some of their new material due to appear on their upcoming album along with one of their classics 'Body Talk'. Throughout the set Leee John interacted with the crowd by throwing out free merchandise and posing for pictures, as well as signing autographs to the die hard fans whilst still performing at the same time.

The finale of the night was the live performance from Ali Campbell of UB40. The band started off their set with a cover of 'Paint it Black' by The Rolling Stones as well as others such as 'Would I Lie To You' by Charles and Eddie. They also played some new tracks due on their upcoming album which they report is coming out in August. To finish off their set they performed classics 'Kingston Town' and 'Red Red Wine'

Overall, the event was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who attended. Spirits were elated as the night carried on to the after party and saw many fans relive their younger days with their families and friends. Unusual for a British weekend the weather remained nice (somehow even managed to get sunburnt!)

Review:Mark Beaumont