Line ups have landed and the early bird ticket sales have finished, which can mean only one thing… Victorious Festival is getting CLOSE!

I’m personally looking forward to seeing DJ and global dance music legend Pete Tong (MBE, no less) on the Friday. The last time I saw Pete Tong in Portsmouth was at the original Mutiny in the Park event, way back when it was in Victoria Park in 2014. I was drinking a cup of tea – on some migraine medication or other at the time – and dancing my arse off at the front barriers because that man knows how to drop a tune. 

This time Pete will be accompanied by conductor Jules Buckley and 50-piece The Essential Orchestra for an epic sundowner set on Southsea seafront. Jules, a Grammy Award winner has collaborated with loads of big names including past Victorious favourites Basement Jaxx, Paul Weller and and Dizzee Rascal. The ensemble’s records regularly top the Album Charts and they continue to tour, with gigs booked in several major cities through the coming winter.

It’s the first time that Victorious Festival has opened for a full day on the Friday, promising an unforgettable 3-day extravaganza.  

Originally created as a one-off for the Proms in 2015, Ibiza Classics mashed beloved electronic anthems with orchestral instruments to celebrate 20 years of Radio One in the White Isle. 

Pete explains “The original core of the idea was to reach those ravers for whom going out to clubs all night was no longer a realistic option. “Life catches up,” says Pete. “But it doesn’t mean you fall out of love with the music. Those songs; ‘Promised Land’, or ‘Your Love’, ‘Cafe Del Mar’: to some people they’re just as important as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. If you were there on the dance floor at, say, Space in Ibiza, they’re in your soul for the rest of your life.”

The folk at Victorious tell us we can expect anthemic dance tunes like ‘Right Here, Right Now’, ‘Insomnia’, ‘Galvanise’ reimagined on the Castle stage and I can’t wait to see what guest vocalists join them on stage (I’m not one to speculate or read too deeply into things, but Katy B and Raye are on Friday’s line up, right?). It’ll be a true taste of Ibiza on Southsea’s seafront with the backdrop of Henry VIII’s favourite spot; magic.  If you’d like a sneak preview, you can watch a 2019 performance at the O2 over on YouTube. It gave me goosebumps.

For over 30 years dance music has been a big part of my life and I don’t think I’ll ever fall out of love with it. So I’m making sure that nothing’s going to go ‘Pete Tong’ (sorry, not sorry) with me getting to dance to some bangers at the Ibiza Classics performance this August. 

Website: victoriousfestival.co.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/VictoriousFestival
Twitter: twitter.com/VictoriousFest
Instagram: instagram.com/victoriousfestival