Review: 10 things we saw and loved at Isle of Wight Festival 2015

Fashion and lifestyle blogger, Sarah Nunn, headed down to Isle of Wight Festival 2015 for the Ticketmaster blog, and if her top 10 moments are anything to go by, she had a rather lovely time!

1. Rocking out to Fleetwood Mac

Standing in the crowd, metres away from the absolute legend, and my ultimate style icon, that is Stevie Nicks, was amazing. I’ll never forget the whole crowd rocking out and singing along to the most epic two hour set from Fleetwood Mac. Everyone went absolutely crazy for the band, there was a lot of dancing involved and of course the very emotional encore set to a backdrop of fireworks. Simply wonderful.

2. A crowd full of Jimi Hendrix

To commemorate the 45th anniversary since Jimi Hendrix performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, the organisers set out to break the world record of the most Jimi Hendrix masks worn simultaneously in one place. The idea was not only to celebrate Jimi Hendrix’s life, but also to raise money for the Well Child charity. Seeing a crowd full of Jimi masks was an interesting experience to say the least and the atmosphere was great.

3. Gourmet mac & cheese

The food at the festival was particularly wonderful, with everything ranging from burgers and chips, to Thai noodles and even a hog roast. My favourite food stand was The Mac Shac, serving the most delicious baked mac & cheese with gourmet toppings. Think streaky bacon, shrimp, chilli, ratatouille, the list goes on. It really seemed only appropriate to share all our overexcited feelings about the Fleetwood Mac performance between friends over a pot of freshly baked ‘mac’ (ahem…) & cheese.

4. Soulful singing from James Bay

Another of my favourite performances from the weekend was the wonderful James Bay. His stunning soulful singing was mixed with charming chat between songs, and of course his famous hat also made an appearance during the set. Let It Go provoked a particularly emotional response from the crowd and overall it was a very exciting performance.

5. The cocktail bar

Anyone who knows me knows I love a cocktail, and everywhere I go I seem to stumble upon a cocktail bar – it’s a gift of mine, what can I say? Whilst a fair amount of beer drinking was occurring throughout the weekend, there was nothing a good Bloody Mary with a hot Tabasco kick couldn’t fix.

6. Pharrell Williams

Now here’s a man who knows how to entertain an audience. With incredible dancers, members of the audience getting up on stage and Pharrell’s unrivalled stage presence, this was an hour of crazy, upbeat, good old-fashioned fun. Pharrell was also joined on stage by the winner of the Well Child competition, a young boy wearing Pharrell’s famous hat and absolutely beaming as he walked across the stage. It was a heart-warming moment.

7. Bubbles!

There were many things I enjoyed about the aesthetics of the festival; the paper lanterns and balloons brightening up the inside of the music tents, and the lights of the funfair rides as the sun set. But nothing beat the sight of hundreds of bubbles floating through the air amongst the crowd in the main arena, incredible!

8. Transfer tattoos

Fun festival fashion was out in full force over the weekend, but one thing I kept spotting that really stuck in my mind was the new metallic transfer tattoo craze. Acting in place of bracelets and necklaces, or as a shiny alternative to face paint, the addition of a pretty gold or silver tattoo was the perfect accessory for every girl’s festival outfit.

9. Paolo Nutini

Another favourite amongst the crowd was of course Paolo Nutini. Singing all the classics such as Jenny Don’t Be Hasty and New Shoes, and even granting us our Last Request with an encore to finish off his set. Nutini was a great act to watch, he really connected with the audience and was beaming with joy throughout his entire performance which made it all the more special.

10. Strawberries

After three days of sausage and egg baps, burgers, pasta and copious amounts of alcohol, a little pot of fresh fruit on a sunny day was just what the doctor ordered. A refreshing snack of strawberries was available at one particular food stand and in typical British fashion you could even have them with cream, too. For a moment there I thought I was at Wimbledon, not the IOW festival!