A weekend which traditionally signifies the end of Festival weekend for me, but never a weekend that disappoints! 

If you were in Southsea this weekend you'll know what I mean when I say it was a weekend of wild weather! Between the gale force winds, the dust storms and the downpours we definitely had our fair share of it. But that didn't deter people and the seafront was full of people enjoying themselves and singing along to some absolute classics! 

Friday bought us the first day of the festival, and will forever be known as the day of dust! Unfortunately due to the dry weather recently, accompanied by the high winds. We had a lot of dust storms! After a little wander round site, my day started on the main stage with the first of the afternoon special guests! Rudimental started the weekend with a bang, getting the crowd dancing playing a mix of their own hits as well as great remixes! 

Lots of site exploring on Friday as Victorious always has a great selection of stages as well as other bits going on including the infamous Henry's House in the evening, the Skate park and activities all over the festival site! 

Special mention of course goes to local legends, Crystal Tides! Coming out in Pompey's third kit which they were a part of the release for, and pulling a huge crowd over on the Castle Stage! 

These guys have just announced their biggest ever headline show at Portsmouth Guildhall! So if you wanna see them again, go get yourself some tickets for their show as tickets are selling fast! 

My absolute guilty pleasure of Friday though was of course Venga Boys....! 

I grew up listening to these guys in school, and their songs will forever remind me of school discos and nights out at Popworld (IYKYK!) !  

The Castle Stage was absolutely heaving for these guys, with lots of variation in age but everyone absolutely buzzing to see them and hear some cheesy classics! 

It's incredible how many songs you remember every single lyric to, despite not hearing them for a number of years! 

Saturday rolled round and so did the rain! Hats off to the festival team, that managed to keep everyone safe on site despite the ever changing weather and also kept the majority of the stages open! Unfortunately they had to close Twisted Tea Rooms and The Bandstand stage, but the updates were swift and regular across site and the app and everyone was kept up to date! 

Station favourites The Lottery Winners were one of my absolute highlights of Saturday for me! These guys never ever fail to put a smile on my face, and always put on the most incredible show! No matter the weather, they always bring the energy! Despite the pouring rain, a huge crowd still formed and was singing along to near enough every song! Front man Thom Rylance is a larger than life character who brings comedy value to their sets as well as the band being incredibly talented! They have a new album coming next year, and are currently out and about on tour supporting Robbie Williams! Here's hoping we get a new headline tour to go with the new album asap! 

My other personal highlight of Saturday has to be Bastille! Although they started off late due to some technical difficulties, that didn't take away from their set! There was always questions about whether they were going to be going ahead, due to his vocal rest earlier in the week! 

Although they did have to cut their set short due to the aforementioned technical issues, they still smashed out all of their hits including "Things we lost in the fire", "Happier" and "Pompeii". 

Sunday saw the final day of Victorious for another year and despite the delightful weather we experienced this year... A weekend of memories as always! 

A beautiful part of Victorious is the smaller stages, and Sunday had one of my favourite local artists playing on the Little Johnny Russell stage! Ines Rae is a rapidly rising singer songwriter, who I cannot wait to see on bigger stages during festival season next year! She's sold out her own tour, supported bands like Bastille and I'm excited to see where she goes from here! 

Main stage Sunday pulls for me were always gonna be The Streets and Kasabian! 

There isn't much I can say about The Streets set which hasn't already been said. The album is absolutely unbelievable, Mike Skinner is a talented man who brings a theatrical stage performance with him! 

A grand don't come for free is a masterpiece of rap opera and one of the best concept albums of it's time! Seeing the whole album live, in my home city surrounded by people I hold dear was a core memory for sure! 

Final performance of the weekend was by festival heavy weights Kasabian! 

They might've been a headliner already got Victorious in the last few years, but they always bring a big rowdy crowd and are so much fun to watch live! Opening their set with the absolute classic Clubfoot (which if you've ever seen them live, you know gets people singing!) and running through all of their best live songs with an encore close of Fire! 

The crowd was absolutely bouncing, including walking down the middle of the crowd and onto a platform! 

A phenomenal live band who I hope we see back again at some point in the future! 

Overall, not the strongest year for Victorious line up wise! But, as always the festival is a strong end to the season! Victorious is a staple, and an institution, especially if you're from the local area. From small local beginnings, to the behemoth it is now.... I'm excited to see who they bring to the stage next year and where we go from here! 

2027 early bird tickets are already on sale if you wanna get your tickets for the best price before they rise! Let's see who they get down on the Common next year!