Reviews / Big Love
Review: Big Love, Usk – ‘A festival that feels like a family’
After Nozstock’s decision to scale down from their original three day programme after 2024 we had been on the look out for a festival that would work for the whole family.
We wanted something small enough that the kids could roam freely, didn’t involve parents having to be glued to a children’s area and had enough good music to keep the grown ups entertained.
This year we gave Big Love, a small festival in South Wales, a crack.
is needed now More than ever
Situated outside the picturesque market town of Usk just across the bridge in South Wales, Big Love is a mere 45 minute drive from Bristol, a big tick in the box before we’d even set off.
Big Love is an intimate festival in South Wales with a big heart
Our van’s engine had recently exploded on us, so we filled the time saved on the short journey with extra faff including working out how to get our bell tent and considerable festival provisions into a borrowed car and various friends’ vehicles.
When we did finally arrive on Friday evening we were warmly welcomed by some of the small team of volunteers who make this intimate festival tick.
Others from our group who had arrived earlier had left a message with the ‘boys on the gate with the flowery shirts and glittery beards’ to point us to the corner of the campervan field with the code word ‘umbrella’.
They were happy to do so with a knowing smile that hinted at their interactions with those from the umbrella group who had come before.
It combines a picturesque location with family activities and enough music to keep the big people happy too
Our camp had a view over the rolling hills of Montmouthshire. A herd of Friesian cows on the next hillside seemed unconcerned by the 2,000 colourful revellers across the valley.
It was immediately clear that this is a festival with a lot of heart. It’s friendly stewards, DIY decor, smiley punters and the bimbling flow of people immediately gave us confidence to let our kids (a gaggle of six girls between our group on this occasion) free range to roam by themselves during the daytime.
They were instantly immersed in festival life, exploring the sites and stalls and setting up their own glitter stand where they did a surprisingly brisk trade.
Live music finished relatively early which placed more focus on the daytime activities that could be enjoyed by all ages
It took the adults slightly longer to get into the full festival spirit. Without any big headline acts and having missed much of Friday’s action we strolled between stages, caught a delightful sunset over the hills and witnessed some strange cabaret acts in the big top tent.
The main music finishes at 1pm with the last three hours filled with silent disco. While the competing DJs on each channel on the headphones both played great sets on Friday night I always find silent discos a bit weird.
The divided dancefloor, the lack of bass vibrations and the choice of channels all undermine the collective dancefloor experience and connection with the DJs. But needs must and, despite my low level grumbles, I still found I had happily whiled away an hour or two in amongst it.
Even silent disco sceptics found themselves occupied after hours
As with much of the music at Big Love there was a decidedly Bristol feel to proceedings on the mainstage on Saturday. Junior Jungle had drawn a small, mainly adult, crowd by the time we arrived in the sweltering afternoon heat, but they still managed to bring their usual zany energy and lots of d’n’b crowd pleasers.
They were followed by Laid Blak whose slick blend of reggae, hip hop, soul and drum’n’bass was perfect afternoon fare. Their rendition of Tanya Stephen’s It’s a Pity into Ace of Bass’ All That She Wants was a particular crowd favourite.
Our roaming gaggle of kids ended up on stage as the band’s impromptu dance troupe, an undoubted highlight of their weekend and one that may have sparked some creative career aspirations.
Hippo Sound System, with their easy going blend of Afro-Latin rhythms and bass music is great festival fare and had the crowd smiling and bouncing as the evening draws in.
Laid Blak put on an entertaingin show as always and even got some young dancers up with them
By Sunday we had definitely all got the Big Love bug. One of our group was so carried away that he decided the main stage would make the perfect location for a marriage proposal. This was delivered by Lady-and-the-Tramping a sausage with the engagement ring (someone’s gaudy festival bling) concealed inside.
High on love and laughter with faces embellished by make-up artists ranging from the ages of six to 12 years old we roamed the festival site and enjoyed the best music of the weekend.
The always reliable Mungo’s Hi Fi had the Woodland Dome stage wobbling to their mix of low end frequencies, seamlessly moving between dub, reggae, dancehall, dubstep and d’n’b. Ngaio’s set on the Fire Engine was raucous, joyous and high energy.
She wasn’t expecting that… – photo: Natalie Sayer
The undoubted live music highlight of the weekend was back at the mainstage, however. Honeyfeet, led by the spellbinding Ríoghnach Connolly, were an absolute joy.
Their commanding frontwoman plonked herself on a chair at the front of the stage, where she remained, wisecracking, cackling and fanning herself between songs like an old school soul queen for the whole show.
She, the band, their musicianship and the whole infectious performance were mesmerising. They worked their way through tunes that straddled soul, blues, swampy jazz, folk and hip hop, moving seamlessly between soulful grooves and raucous celebratory stompers, all interspersed throughout with good humoured banter and honest social commentary from Connolly.
Honeyfeet are a perennial festival favourite
While having the main music finish earlier wasn’t always popular, it did move emphasis to the festival’s daytime activities and enjoying what it had to offer to all generations.
This isn’t just a family friendly festival but a festival that feels like a family. And a family on a good day. Fun, familiar, comfortable with itself and full of love.
All images (except where stated): Adam Tatton-Reid
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