Bludfest - My review

Back in August 2024, I went to Yungblud's first ever Bludfest. As someone who has a lot of respect and time for Yungblud, I was of course excited to attend and got my tickets as soon as I could. I had high expectations for this, as anyone would attending a festival, Bludfest did not disappoint. With general admission tickets coming to less than £60 and free tickets becoming available through giveaways and mailing lists, Yungblud make this event as inclusive as he could, doing all he could so people of all backgrounds could attend, of course there's only a certain amount artists, their teams and venues can do to make events inclusive. Fans with disabilities where annoyed about the lack of accessibility at Milton Keynes Bowl, which is completely understandable in this day and age every music venue should be accessible but it seems to be an occurring problem and no one can understand why.

A few days before Bludfest, I travelled up to London to meet up with some friends who where also attending the festival. I visited some of my favourite places in London such as, Camden Town, The Hawley Arms, the Amy Winehouse statue in Camden Market and Vivienne Westwood's Worlds End in South Kensington. With Bludfest being in Milton Keynes, which is only a 30 minute train ride from London it made sense to spend some time in London a few days before the festival.

When I arrived at Milton Keynes Bowl for the festival, I made my way to the guest area/VIP queue with some friends who where also in that section. Granted, I later heard that the general admission show was an absolute shit show, fans missing acts because it took so long to get in, people fainting due to not drinking water. Now, people obviously ran to social media and started complaining and blaming Yungblud for this. Surely the staff at MK Bowl should be to blame for not managing large events properly, what did they expect Yungblud to do? Come and personally give them water, manage the queue himself? I get his name is attached to the festival so all blame goes to him, but MK Bowl have been known to have terrible queue managing skills in the past at large events. Despite this, Yungblud still put out an instagram story apologising for the mess of the general admission queue and assured people they where doing everything they could to get people in quickly and safely.

Once I had gotten into Bludfest, I noticed so many different food and drink options, including vegetarian and vegan options. The first thing that caught my eye was the pop up Hawley Arms pub made by Spacial installations. I thought this was a great touch as Yungblud has held many fan events and parties here, it was a cute little nod to his community. There was an AU vodka trailer which was a personal highlight for me, further into the festival grounds near the second stage there was a Nando's which sold Yungblud's very own burger. In this area there was also theme park rides, a personal standout for me was the 'Bash a Tory' attraction. As well as his own burger, Yungblud was also selling bludbeer! There was even a Bat Rat mascot running around the festival site, what more could you ask for?

What about, an exclusive fashion brand designed by Yungblud himself and Jesse Jo Stark. The launch of BRAT completely stole show for me, as a lover of fashion I had to go and check it out. BRAT had its own pop up store made again by Spacial Installations where fans could pre order the pieces. The pieces of clothing included socks, hats, trousers, hoodies, jumpers, mesh shirts, t shirts and more. The standout for me was the cropped leopard print jacket. You can tell Dom and Jesse Jo put a lot of time and thought into these creations, their first collection 'Gobshite' is a great start to the brand and I really recommend checking it out.

The lineup of the day included, Lola Young, Nessa Barret, Jesse Jo Stark, Soft Play, The Damned, Lil Yatchy and more. All put on a great performances with great sound quality and energy. By the time Lil Yatchy came to perform, the main stage area was filled with thousands upon thousands of fans.

Yungblud was of course the last act of the lineup, the headliner. His set started with a 2 minute long introduction in which he spoke about his career, his fans, community and why he wanted to launch Bludfest. I thought this was a great touch and really added to the suspense of his raw and emotional set. Fans all around me where singing, dancing, laughing and crying out of joy and raw emotion through the entirety of Yungblud's set. It was beautiful to see groups of friends and even strangers hugging and crying together and making connections to last a life time which is what Yungblud has said he's all about and that's what he hopes his music does for people. Yungblud's energy throughout his set was completely unmatched, you can tell he puts his all into every aspect of being a musician and I'll never get tired of watching him live. By the time Yungblud's set was half over the entire venue felt like it was filled with love and emotion, there was also a sense of respect between Yungblud and his fans and the respect his community has for each other.

Yungblud has said Bludfest is going to be an reoccurring thing every year. I recommend going to Bludfest even if you're not Yungblud's biggest fan, you never know, it could completely change your mind on him, and if it doesn't, the festival is still a very well priced festival for everything there is to do there. With rumours of an iconic lineup such as the Cure for Bludfest 2025, I can safely say I won't be missing it and I suggest you don't either.

All photos taken by me

Photo of Jesse Jo Stark from lenanabanana89 on X