A Look Back At The Leopallooza Festival Last Weekend

Eliza Doolittle

Hollaboxx TV

Leopallooza Festival

The King Blues

One of the highlights of the Cornish summer took place over the weekend, The Leopallooza Festival which is now celebrating its fifth year and takes place annually near Bude provided its best line up to date. We sent local journo / reporter / festival fan Amy Dennis, who was covering the event for us and our friends at Hollaboxx TV along to check it out.

Dozens of tents were set up at the Leopallooza camping area by the time I arrived Saturday morning, and the party had already begun. Young and old alike battled with tent poles and the odd rain shower, and soon crowds started to form in the bottom field by the stages.

Leopallooza, near Bude, is home to two stages, a colourful music marquee, a flammable car for warmth when the evening grows cold, and various bars and food vans.

Situated next to each other, the Beaver Bandstand and the Optimus Prime stage became the home of constant live music for the weekend.

Saturday kicked off with Dartmoor band Designer Trash, followed by Gecko, with their impressive cover of Ms. Jackson, by Outkast.

Bang Bang Eche, one of MTVs top 25 new bands in the world, also played. It was a family affair when Thomas Ford and the Dirty Harmonys took to the stage, and Jamie Lawson filled in for The Winter Mountain Band.

Highlights from the rest of the day included Bude band The Sum Of and Crazy Arm, but the best part of Saturday, for me at least, was Man Like Me’s energetic display in the evening, drawing a huge crowd to the main stage.

The music carried on well into the night with bands including the popular The King Blues, but soon it was time for everyone to get their heads down and grab some sleep.

The Sunday of Leopallooza was dubbed the Sunday Soother, with stunning performances from Samuel Powell, Steph Newton and Company B, among others.

Louis Eliot and the Embers played us their single Runaway Night, which is due for release in September.

The afternoon went all too quickly, and soon it was time for the biggest artist of the festival to make her appearance.

Eliza Doolittle is currently commandeering our airwaves with her hits Skinny Genes and Pack Up, and she didn’t disappoint the Leopallooza crowd.

Festival organisers should have felt proud when Eliza said ‘this is the cutest festival’, and brought a great end to an amazing weekend, playing out with her two hits.

Sadly, it was then time for the crowds to ‘Pack Up’ and leave The Wyldes of North Cornwall for another year, (apparently the goats needed to be back out on the fields by 7pm), but a fantastic 5th anniversary for Leopallooza. Roll on year 6.

Reviewed by Amy Dennis

Visit leopallooza.com for further images and news