Review: Shindig – ‘A new vigour and energy’

2024 was a year that saw a big number of mid-sized festivals hold their last ever events.

This was due to ever rising costs, a lack of government support and delayed ticket buying, to name just a few issues.

Shindig, sadly, was one of these festivals, but like a phoenix it has risen again to find a new home on the beautiful Charlton Park estate, the regular home of WOMAD festival.

They said 2024 would be their last, so the announcement there would be an 11th Shindig was a big surprise – photo: Dan Cadell

Now in its 11th year, it started out with less than 1000 people back in 2014 (which I attended), growing to 10,000 attendees in 2024 (a year I also attended, along with several others).

This year’s festival had a slightly smaller crowd, but still the same friendly vibe with bunches of shiny, sparkly people.

Shindiggers embraced this year’s ‘love is the answer’ theme – photo: Nathan Roach

Arriving late on Friday, there was still plenty of space in general camping and the walk from the car was short and flat making it easier than previous years.

We camped up and headed to the arena area and familiarised ourselves with the layout.  As well as the stages, bars and artworks to check out, for those into it there was a wellness area and sauna, crafty corner and, of course, the playground.

Shindig prides itself on its art installations, and this year there were plenty of impressive pieces on display – photo: Nathan Roach

Not having a child with me, a quick visit to these areas explained why families keep coming back to this festival. Whatever the age of your child they were catered for with soft play, circus skills, climbing wall, music, theatre, graffiti and crafts.

With such great camping and facilities all ages of the family are kept happy.

Families had the opportunity to hang out and do yoga together, as well as a ton of other activities and play areas available – photo: Nathan Roach

We then headed down to the bottom of the site to Shimmy Disco which was tucked away in its own little woodland space paradise where the party was in full swing.

Dress up day for this year’s theme ‘love is the answer’ was Saturday, but the love hearts and costumes were already out and the friendly, vibrant atmosphere was oozing from this area.

Festival goers were fully hyped and ready for dress-up and dancing – photo: Nathan Roach

Swinging by the Dig Inn we caught a little of British dub band from Leeds, Gentlemen’s Dub Club, who were energetic, engaging and fun as always.

Gentleman’s Dub Club are a familiar face at festivals and always get the crowd jumping – photo: Dan Cadell

Eager however to check out one of the new venues, we headed to Halcyon where Friday night was wild with breaks and beats.

Its decoration, lighting and lasers were some of the finest on the site. We couldn’t bring ourselves to leave and ended the night when the music finished at 4am. Time to rest.

DJs ensure the party doesn’t let up until the early hours – photo: Nathan Roach

During the day on Saturday we rested up in our tents during the rain showers.

The Mini Rig Sub Bus, another new venue this year, could be heard clearly from our pitch up as the first venue on the arena site. The all day takeovers were an eclectic mix of all types of electronic music, funky vibes and even some pop thrown in for good measure.

Shindig upped the ante with its eclectic mix of live and electronic music this year – photo: Coal Poet Media

Asian Dub Foundation at the Dig Inn started Saturday night with a great set, mixing old and new tunes, their unique blend of musical styles still sounding current after over 30 years in the music industry.

The rain ceased in time for a Sunday of fun – photo: Nathan Roach

Sunday saw the sun shining again and there was lots to get excited about. Sunday is my favourite day of a festival, everyone squeezing the last ounce of fun out of it.

The energy was still high even as Sunday came round – photo: Nathan Roach

One of the acts I had been looking forward to the most was Dub FX. Never seeing him live before I was not disappointed as he chatted to the crowd in between tracks old and new.

His energy is infectious and most of the set was played with local legend Mr Woodnote who I first caught busking in Bath back in the early 2000’s.

Gilles Peterson was one of the biggest names at Shindig this year, appearing alongside artists like Moonchild Sanelly, KOG and Ibibio Soundmachine – photo: Nathan Roach

Following that we spent the night again at Halcyon with the old school crew and sets from Vinyl Junkie through to the Altern8 Crew. Just the sounds to end the weekend.

The 11th iteration of the festival did not disappoint – photo: Nathan Roach

As a seasoned Shindig goer this year’s event had a new vigour and energy in its line up.

The venue inside the arena and on the campsite gave a spacious, chilled feeling with families camping, cooking and laughing. Strangers chatted, new friends were made.

Thank goodness that Shindig made its comeback and I am looking forward to 2026!

Early bird tickets for Shindig 2026 are on sale now at shindigfestival.co.uk

Main image: Coal Poet Media

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