Reminiscing on Isle of Wight Festival 2014
If I had a ridiculous amount of money, I think I’d spend all of my time at music festivals. There’s just something so wonderful about spending a gorgeous day/weekend outside listening to great live acts, surrounded by people who are (usually) friendly and have the same interests. When planning my post-grad Europe trip last summer, I knew that I really wanted to attend a foreign music festival. So once we had our dates I started to research music festivals and found Isle of Wight Festival in England. A music festival on an island off the southern coast of England? Um….sign me up please!
Because of our schedule (and, let’s be honest, budget) we decided to only get a Saturday day pass to the Isle of Wight Festival 2014. But it worked out great because Saturday had an amazing lineup and the weather ended up being PERFECT.
How we got there
1. We took a 2-hour bus from London to Southampton on Friday and stayed at a hotel near the bus station called Ibis Budget, which was affordable, conveniently located to the bus station and the ferry port, and was everything we needed.
2. On Saturday morning we took a ferry through Red Funnel Ferries from the Southampton harbor to the West Cowes at the Isle of Wight. (Which was included in the round-trip transportation we bought with our day ticket bundle.)
3. Once on the Isle, a bus that brought us to the festival grounds (Also included in our bundle).
That ticket bundle ended up being worth it because transportation to and from the festival was, well, a bit of a bitch. But the Isle of Wight Festival website gives you lots of options to plan how to get to the festival.
On the bus ride to the festival, it started drizzling, and I was upset because A. I hadn’t dressed for that weather because I was too busy trying to look *cute* and B. Music festivals are so much more fun on a sunny day. But when I tell you that 5 minutes after we stepped off the bus and started walking to the entrance, the rain stopped and the sun came out. And it stayed out for the rest of the day! (Not before one of my friends spent money on an over-priced rain jacket, of course.)
When we first got there, we spent the morning wandering around the festival grounds and taking in the scene. There were carnival rides, gardens, hidden paths, tons of food/drink vendors, sitting areas, beer gardens, tea rooms, and decorated wooded areas. There was so much stuff to do besides just seeing the musical acts.
Our Day at Isle of Wight Festival 2014
The festival had 2 stages — the Main Stage and the Big Top tent. Most of the acts we wanted to see that day were at the Main Stage. So, once we had a thorough walk around the festival grounds, and of course ate some lunch, we headed there. I had intended to wander back and forth between the 2 stages, and around the grounds more. But when we got to the Main Stage, we ended up not leaving again.
We had such a blast, and the wait time between acts wasn’t too bad. So we literally stayed at the main until midnight after the last act finished because we were having such a blast. We saw Nina Nesbitt, The Pretty Reckless, John Newman, The 1975, The Specials, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers! But even better, we made so many friends and had the best time. We only left the crowd to use the bathroom or get more drinks. The crowd got bigger as time passed but it was never aggressive or annoying. We couldn’t have asked for a better day!
But….there was a negative about the festival…
And that was getting back to Southampton after the festival was over. It was definitely the worst part of the day. Although our transportation was included, we had to wait in a long line with everyone else also trying to get home, since only ONE ferry was running. We headed out of the festival around midnight, and ended up not walking into our hotel until after 4 AM. So needless to say, we were ZOMBIES. We ended up paying to check out late the next day because we just couldn’t wake up! Oops!
But despite that, all in all, it was a pretty perfect day at the Isle of Wight Festival 2014.
I had been to a few music festivals in the US, including Voodoo Festival and Buku Festival in New Orleans, but something about being at a music festival abroad made the whole experience so much more exciting. Hearing thousands of British people yelling “Chillies! Chillies! Chillies!” was amazing. I was literally FRONT ROW for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. No complaints here!
Sorry for the picture overload! I’ve been waiting SO LONG to share about this glorious day, but I figured waiting until the one year anniversary!
Although I’m sad that I won’t be able to attend the festival again this year, I’ve got some great music festivals happening in my near future! Ireland has its own share of cool festivals, so I can’t wait to go and share my experiences with you guys!
