In just four years Love Supreme has established itself as a premium festival presenting a blend of jazz, soul and funk and celebrating its influence on contemporary music.

Set in the stunning surroundings of Glynde Place, a beautiful country house which overlooks the festival in the beautiful South Downs valley. Love Supreme brings a festival experience to those that may otherwise steer away from three days in a field. A vast array of premium experiences are on offer from luxury accommodation to a Supremium wrist band offering a posh poo and VIP lounge area and bar.

Just twenty minutes from Brighton and around an hour from London, Love Supreme is a delightful escape for the weekend, or welcomes Saturday and Sunday day guests. Glynde village is picture postcard perfect and those arriving by train are just a short country walk to the festival (or hop on the courtesy shuttle bus).

With premium festivals you certainly get a premium service. The facilities and staff at Love Supreme are unfaultable. Disabled access at the music venues is offered with large viewing platforms and easy access, and toilets and staff are super helpful. The cleanliness of the festival as a whole is clearly taken very seriously. Toilets are cleaned constantly, the showers are hot (so I’m told), and litter is picked day and night.

Slight personal bug bear of mine at festivals, the disposable cups at the main bars, cocktail bars and champagne bar could so easily be replaced with a simple cup deposit scheme - but you can’t have it all I guess. Recycling on the whole was good with bins to separate your plastic, metal and other waste.

We visited the first Love Supreme festival in 2013 and were amazed to see how it had grown, matured and settled in to its gorgeous countryside location. Not only has it increased in size but the appeal of the event has clearly reached a broader market. Yes, there are still the real dedicated Jazz heads at the festival, but there’s a much broader spectrum of guests, giving a real festival feeling to the weekend that it lacked in 2013. Much less of a music concert, Love Supreme has developed in to a true festival experience.

As with many premium festival that attract a more mature guest, the rows of camping chairs at the main stage are unavoidable. Thankfully, this was our first year ditching the pushchair so I was far less bothered by this than normal. The main stage and two big tops are large enough that you can always get as close to the music as you wish. For an extra special view of the main stage, a ride of the big wheel or climb to the top of the helter skelter both give a spectacular vantage point for the £2.50 fee. Various other traditional funfair stalls and a flying chair ride were a welcome change to the intensely loud, overpriced modern fairs at some festival.

Other kids entertainment was provided free all day in the ‘Higgidy Kids’ area. My Mini Disco spun top tunes from the converted VW Bug Bar van, while the kids danced and tried out hula hooping and bubbles. Great to see free face painting without long waits, and the free bouncy castle was a hit all weekend with our six year old. We’d love to have seen some craft, clay, or more relaxing have-a-go kids activities in this area. Something the festival lacks as a whole to be honest, but perhaps we are just spoilt by others family festivals. Maybe next year? Love Supreme doesn’t bill itself as a family festival so it’s great to see anything offered to keep the growing number of kids attending occupied while parents chill.

Favourite with our ten year old was the swing dance lessons, the yoga, and the traditional sweet stall. Our six year old was in ice cream heaven with the delicious Purbeck stalls on what seemed like every corner. She also loved the woodland disco area ‘Blue in Green’ with some lovely huge trees to climb.

Love Supreme has four stages: The Main Stage which hosts headliners and more contemporary artists with a soul and funk lineage; The Big Top show casing the cream of international and UK jazz artists; The Arena presenting younger artists and where jazz, soul and funk sit in the modern day; and The Bandstand which has the best local hosted by the Verdict Jazz Club.

Although the main stage doesn’t open till Saturday, weekend guests started the party early with the festival co-founders Jazz FM’s Funky Sensation show presented from The Arena live on the radio. The woodland Blue in Green club evening carried on well in to the night with funky dance tunes from the house DJ’s.

Absolutely highlight of the weekend for us was Riot Jazz from Manchester who enthusiastically opened the main stage on Saturday. These guys absolutely rocked and I can’t wait to check out more from them. A real twist of jumpy funk with a banging brass section influenced by hip hop and drum and bass. Look out for their new album ‘Incoming’.

Saturday saw showers and wind and the amazing Esperanza Spalding provided shelter in the Big Top. In the afternoon Skye Edwards and Ross Godfrey brought the sunshine out with classics from Morcheeba and a selection of fantastic new tunes sent a rainbow across the sky. Headlining the Big Top was the award winning Stanley Clark Band followed by the packed out St. Germain, and on the main stage was the truly unbelievable Grace Jones. Wearing several totally flamboyant costumes then eventually nothing but body paint, the 68 year old is just unstoppable. Explaining to the kids that she was the same age as their grandma took their level of respect up a notch or two. Legend!

Sunday would have been complete for me if I discovered nothing more that the totally stunning Mahalia. Bringing tears to my eyes with her honest poetry and lyrics she is another shining star to follow. After a rather late night on Saturday we were on go slow so flopped down in front of The Brand New Heavies then Kelis and soaked up the sunshine that filled the sky. Headline acts we unfortunately missed due to school and work were Caro Emerald and Burt Bacharach.

Adding to the chilled festival vibe the ‘Supreme Being’ area offered excellent massages and other treatments. Beautiful lotus and bell tents circled a very special corner of the festival with the green landscape backdrop of Glynde Place and the drifting sounds of the band stand. Treatments were £25 for half an hour and even on Sunday when you usually find these areas fully booked there were still slots available. The afternoon yoga session looked very popular with limited space and we didn’t make it out in time for any of the early morning ones. Next year!

Beyond the healing area and nestled between the festival and the manor house, the premium camping area looked rather special. A huge selection of options from gypsy caravans to hobbit huts.

Another premium experience on offer was The Lazy Bird Banqueting Kitchen. A new addition from Caiger & Co, the banquet experience brings the finest seasonal ingredients from local artisan producers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner all looked very special and I’m told was excellent quality. This sit down fine dining experience was £25 per person but wasn’t something we felt necessary with so many excellent festival caterers on site.

The food at Love Supreme pretty much covers anything you desire. For a medium sized festival the number of caterers was vast. From Goan fish curry to crispy duck, sushi to shaken udder milkshakes, you’re spoilt for choice. Average meal £8.50 with a pint at the bar £5, jam jar cocktails £7.50 and glass of Chandon at the champagne bar £8 (£40 for the bottle).

As there were no programmes being sold at any of the gates we totally missed the gorgeous looking Glynde Pool Secret Swim experience. A chance to head down to one of the South East’s oldest outdoor pools for an hour long secret swim (£10 adults / £5 kids).

We were really impressed with the service everywhere. The bars were efficient and helpful and we never waited more than 5 minutes for food or drinks. There’s a selection of shopping stalls but not so many that the kids are emptying your pockets all weekend. There was a ‘Fix Up’ hair salon offering make overs, a phone charging stall, festival corner shop and a vaping bus (sign of the times unfortunately).

Improvements? Although the bars are very efficient they are pretty faceless and there is work to be done on their eco policies. Considering the Sussex location there was little ‘local’ drink and there was a bit too much sponsorship to give the real festival vibe. I struggle to pay £5 for a can of cider (no draught) and there is no food and drink allowed on the site so it’s expensive as a family weekend.

Love Supreme is billed as a full weekend camping jazz festival but it has grown quickly to deliver much more than that. A premium festival in a stunning Sussex countryside location, Love Supreme is a hidden gem on the luxury festival scene.

Review & Photos by Sarah Ryman

Read Sarah’s top tips for taking kids to festivals.