Love Saves The Day 2021 – The festival we’ve all been waiting for
Year after year we cover festival season and as while many weren’t able to reopen this year – we were very excited to see that ‘Love Saves The Day’ would be. While the festival is not often uttered in the same vein as some of the UK’s more long-running festivals – LSTD continuously prove themselves worthy to be praised and so we headed down to see what all the excitement was about.
Taking place outside of its usual bank holiday weekend timings, in a new location and out of regular practice due to the pandemic – we were unsure how well everything would come together but as you’ll soon learn LSTD is regularly full of pleasant surprises.
Drawing a crowd of 50,000 visitors over the two days – festival-goers were clearly drawn in by this year’s stellar lineup. We attended on the Saturday and the headliners all lived up to their names. Crazy P set the tone for the event with their electric set – making a welcome return from when they last played the festival in 2017. Festival-goers were particularly excited during Little Simz’s set, with her track ‘Venom’ setting the mosh ablaze. Rounding off the night with the smooth vocal of Mahalia proved to be the winning formula, met with an ever-growing crowd of thousands of listeners our once FAULT cover star commanded the stage and put on a festival stopping performance.
It wasn’t just the main stage that had all the fun however, we found ourselves glued to the wonderfully designed Centre Stage hosted by Love International for an endless rotation of DJs serving up house, disco and electronic vibes. DJs such as Ben UFO, Shanti Celeste, Craig Richards and Nicolas Lutz had us bobbing away for hours and without a doubt was a fan favourite among our fellow festival-goers.
Over on the Brouhaha stage, Shy FX and P Money had the crowd going wild while D Double E, Millonz, and Tiffany Calver quite literally set the stage on fire over on Paradiso. One of the great joys of LSTD is seeing how eclectic and diverse the line-up is each year and this year was no exception.
Not often included in festival reviews is the important part crowd atmosphere plays in making for the best possible experience. While it might sound hyperbolic, of all the festivals we attended this year, Love Saves The Day by far took the top spot on the good vibes register. Despite delays due to the necessary Covid-19 screening, once inside, the outpouring of joy could be felt in the air. From festival rides to haircuts in the guest area provided by Daniel Rymer Salon, to great food and on-location ice cream van – it’s clear the festival put the wellbeing and enjoyment of their attendees above all else.
All in all, Love Saves The day once again proved that they know how to put on a show. Despite being faced with tighter regulations; when the people cried out for an event to brighten up what has been a difficult year – LSTD was there willing and waiting to lift our spirits and for that, we will always be grateful. A wonderful day out, great music and an atmosphere like no other, we can’t wait to see what they pull out next year.