Equinox Festival – the last big outdoor festival of the year. A festival with a very special feel — one I haven’t seen elsewhere in England. The event, put on annually to celebrate the sun crossing the celestial equator, is a wild and free celebration of anarchic punk culture.
With many of the festival’s attendees making up the crew and performers at other festivals throughout the year, the event leans neurodiverse, pagan, silly, colourful, and extremely anti-authoritarian. At Equinox, one learns the true meaning of the word “alternative,” with the rest of the metal, dance music, and even punk world looking positively businesslike in comparison.
It feels like what a free party should be. I loved it so much last year, I had to come back and bring my friends to boot.
Equinox Festival takes place in an incredible natural bowl, high up in the Lincolnshire Wolds. While it might not match the wooded beauty of some of the UK’s prettiest events, it has a stark, impressive quality that sets it apart.
The site is lit up with fairy lights and covered with bunting, which jaunt and dance in the breeze, while art is scattered across the grounds, spreading anarchic, peaceful messages to everyone exploring. Giant mushrooms pop up across the site, emphasising the already psychedelic feel of the landscape.
Up on the higher points—whether in the campsites or as you enter the festival arena—the Wolds give you the sense of being on top of the world, with views stretching far over northern Lincolnshire out to the massive wind farms in the North Sea.
For most of the festival this year, we were blessed by a wonderful blanket of fog, which gave the site an even more magical feel, and also offered a sense of protection from the otherwise almost hungry sky. On a windy, clear day, it feels like you could almost be plucked from the hills and swept into the wide-open sky by a high breeze, never to be seen again.
Musically, I did what has proved fairly typical of me this season — I avoided the muntiest drum and bass Lunar Stage entirely, not even entering the tent, so I can’t actually report on that. I mostly stayed away from the other two dance tents as well. While I did pop into the Sunrise Stage and the John Street Soundsystem a bit, generally, I kept myself at the top of the hill, focusing on bands.
Starting on Thursday, the live offerings Equinox dished up were impressive – opening up the touring Soundscape Solar Stage, two great little ska bands played. First was Headgames — somehow being very punky without being abrasive. Their high enthusiasm and unusual use of samples at points got me well enthused.
After them came Snipit and the Hot Rocks. Now, these guys were a tiny bit cheesy, yeah, but I won’t hold it against them. With great use of the violin, a few horns, and a bouncing bassline, I have to say, this piratey ska band is kinda sick.
On Friday, we managed to catch Lara Fairy Love opening up the Solar Soundscape Stage, which served as Equinox’s second live music stage. Every day, she was the perfect start to the festival! Her uplifting and whimsical songs, accompanied by ukulele, were all you needed to bring you back to life in the morning. You could feel her love and joy through her music, and her relaxed performance style made you feel like you’re hanging out with a friend.
The first band I caught that day were Equinox regulars Fidget and the Twitchers, still on the Solar Soundscape Stage. I’d describe them as an anarcho-ska band with queerpunk characteristics. What does that mean? Well, they’re a big group with driving drums, powerful horns, and strong punk vocals. Sometimes they’re pretty harsh or heavy, while sometimes they’re funky, swingy, and almost a little bluesy.
They were followed by One Eyed God, another group of Equinox favourites — throwing together Celtico-Norse inspired folk and ska punk elements. They were the first band with a truly pagan feel. The flute in the background, the extended folk-rock jam outs, the sudden transition to a ska beat — One Eyed God were always solid, fun, and tight.
After seeing the pagan punks rock out, I made my way over to the Crispy Disco, Equinox Festival’s main stage, to see Italian psydub producer extraordinaire Gaudi play some wonderful nonsense. Sampling folk, reggae, and psy, all with his usual overdramatic stage style — no one pushes a button quite like Gaudi.
Next up were The Girobabies, a Scottish punk band with slight hip hop elements and less slight left-wing views. Delivering sung-spoken lyrics with their trademark Glasgow energy, backed by a psychedelic organ almost reminiscent of The Doors, the band had a fantastic stage presence, and I’m extremely glad I got to see them.
Festival legends Tarantism were next, and personally, I was a little surprised they weren’t on the main stage. With as big a reputation as they have, and three decades in the scene, their incredible folk-rock fusion set was perfect festival music, dancy enough to get even the more suspicious and tired crowd members going.
Lots of flyers went out for the Tarantarti Party too. I didn’t think they’d be a festival that makes me question if I’m going to Boomtown next year, but despite sharing a weekend with the second biggest party of the year, the Tarantarti Party has me tempted.
Closing the night were Nasty Fishmonger, with a massive mixture of slightly queer, ocean-themed folk punk music. Playing some sea shanties, some singalong originals, and some melodious mandolin, they’re a fantastic, happy, cheery band I really want to see again, and they make me think the revolution might actually happen. Their Welsh folk song was an interesting choice, although I am assured it was, in fact, a standard, and it did bang, so fair cop.
Beyond music, Equinox’s incredible landscape hosts a smorgasbord of creativity, with a density of walkabout shows and itinerant craftspeople rivalled only by the very best festivals in the industry. You could learn metal or wood crafting, join a tap workshop, or attend one of countless wellness sessions — all before an incredible mobile piece of art passes you by.
Much of this art is inspired by nature. Whether it’s the beautiful, flowing jellyfish of Cirque Du Bleurgh, or Jodie at Animus, with her lifelike puppetry which mimics natural movements and mesmerises her audience, there’s always something visually extraordinary happening somewhere on site. This fails to even mention the acrobats and fire dancers carefully choreographed routines down by the campfire.
Beyond the incredible, there was plenty of humour too. Being told by a raving granny to “respect your elders” before she handed me a Werther’s Original “to shut me up” will never stop being funny. The towering Raving Robots — giants of cardboard and tinfoil — have their robot rave surrounded by brightly coloured engineers with giant spanners at the top of the hill. While I must admit the sound was awful, the ambiance of the automata’s party made attending fun, even if I couldn’t tell what tunes they were playing at all.
Hell, even after a whole summer on the festival circuit, I actually saw something new: a group of cultists had somehow created a giant, ten-metre-long slug that slimed its way all around the Equinox Festival hillside!
On Saturday, I woke up incredibly late and took a long time getting myself going, so in the end, the first thing I saw was Boom Boom Racoon in the mid-afternoon! The UK’s premier jobbing folk punk band, surprising no one, the Racoon’s (yes, one c) played three sets throughout the weekend, with the one I attended being a request set. Noticeably tighter than last year, I’m excited for these guys to release some new material.
After them came Featherteeth. Surprisingly conventional for a folk-rock, punk fusion band, a little plodding, they came to life when led by their fiddler, who absolutely soared. Pity about the rest of their material.
Duck Thieves, next, were absolutely silly. As I arrived, the frontman was riding on an exercise bike, and it only got madder from there. With a poppy, fun, almost Talking Headsy feel to it, it was a little bit of a shock when the mood switched, and they wheeled out a very serious and deep song about the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarianism.
Next, I saw Legs on Wheels, a fun psychedelic rock band who I am quite annoyed I got no photos or videos of — if you have any, please send a link to Tim@Thefestivals.UK.
Wandering over to the main stage, dub legends Mungo’s Hi-Fi were deploying the big tunes. Approachable and silly, they made their love of cannabis absolutely clear multiple times throughout their set, merging dancehall, techno, pop, and hip hop with a fantastic approach to MCing.
Post-Mungos, I crossed back to the Solar Stage to catch Kangaroo Moon. Glasto regulars, I discovered Kangaroo Moon last year at Equinox and was really excited to see them coming back. Fusing psychedelic rock with folk influences from seemingly everywhere, they included elements from flamenco, polka, indigenous, and Celtic music, and for a while really let loose with the Irish-inspired reels. Sure, they’re maybe not a band for trad purists, but the Kangaroo’s are loads of fun for nearly anyone else.
Fancying a little bit of a change, I wandered down the big hill towards the Sunrise stage, where psytrance legend Ed Tangent was delivering the goods. Sadly, as I had a friend with a doggo with me, I couldn’t really get involved, but it was almost exactly what you’d expect from the psy legend, and people were bopping around like happy little magical creatures.
Eat Static, or at least the part of the set I saw, surprised me. I’m used to them being a very interesting, creative act, more like Shpongle than a traditional psytrance producer, but what I saw of their Equinox set was, well, very dugga dugga. I guess this makes sense for a ravey festival, where most of the audience just wants to dance the night away, but it had me a little disappointed, so I left and headed up to the Tarantism Acoustic Disco in the Big Dub tent.
Featuring two members of Tarantism performing chart-topping songs from the ‘70s-‘90s live on acoustic instruments, the disco couldn’t have been further from Eat Static. Very cheesy, but the vibes in there were exquisite nonetheless.
Waking up early on Sunday, I had a mission — track down a band called Engineering for Seagulls. Based solely on their name, I had to see them. I mean, who wouldn’t? A name like that promises something out there, something experimental, something utterly bizarre. But, sadly, I walked away disappointed- they were a little odd, sure, but definitely still a rock band, albeit a bluesy, slow one. Sure, Engineering for Seagulls is an absolutely brilliant name, but to attach it to a rock band? Unforgivable.
I was expecting some strange ambient soundscapes, no traditional instruments, no rhythm, just pure sonic oddity. It was 10am, after all — after a night of raving, rock music wasn’t what anyone needed. A bit of sonic weirdness would’ve hit the spot, but instead, we got guitars and drums. Dont get me wrong- They were a good band, just not at all what I wanted or expected.
Old Boy of the Fens though — that was more what it said on the tin. With a melancholic sound, this slow, peaceful blues act had haunting lyrics and an amazing acoustic bass tone — much more suitable for the early morning. (Editor’s note: Your notes say this was at midday.)
The next thing I saw was Reality Attack Collective. With harsh, rough vocals, and an almost slapdash style, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed this band. Singing about special brew for special people, and human rights and human wrongs, I wonder if tightening this band up would improve them or if their wild approach is actually necessary to their aggressive punk feel.
After them, I headed over to the Peace Love and Unity Takeover at the Big Dub Tent. Now, while I’m not a true connoisseur of dub and roots, I know when I’m being played gold, and for the most part, these selectors did an amazing job giving us some silky, delicious roots, which almost made up for the apocalyptic-looking weather.
Wonk Unit, on the main stage, were sadly not wonky enough. I was expecting something with, like, donk or hardstyle influences, or something, or anything, but sadly nothing of the sort — not even any ska — just a guitar punk band, and a pretty conventional, albeit tight one at that. Bands need to be more cautious of coming up with good names that don’t fit them — I keep giving them ‘eh’ reviews because of it.
Keeping on the Negative Nancy vibes for a while — why did the same samba band play in the same place at the same time every day? I’m not saying they weren’t great, and the first time I saw them, I stopped and enjoyed a substantial portion of their set, but after three days of it, I really felt like the performance space they were using was kinda, not wasted, but I’d have rathered it if someone else had performed there, and the drummers had a day off.
After the slight disappointment of Wonk Unit, I went to see Spacehopper, a band who I’ve got to know quite well over the last few years. Well, they’ve evolved yet again — starting out with their more dubby material, they pushed on into their acid trance stuff before absolutely smashing it with their new triple guitar setup. They finished the banging set, which had everyone at the Sunrise Stage dancing like crazy, by bringing on a vocalist who smashed out a flaming cover of I Feel Love. Unexpected, but absolute fire! I reckon they should be on the Crispy Disco next year.
Moving back up from psytranceland to the main stage, it was time for P.A.I.N. — the Propaganda And Information Network— fusing dub, reggae, and punk, this female-fronted band were something pretty special — tight, fun, and with great stage presence, they’re not one to be missed.
Following them were China Shop Bull — fast, frenetic, and wild, fusing ska, jazz, punk, nu-metal, rap, and brass, they smash through genres like, well, a bull in a china shop, all wild horns and interesting tight beats. One should expect to be impressed by this band: Their cover of Holiday in Cambodia was a particular highlight, but don’t take that to mean their originals are lacking.
Ending the night, and the festival, were the Inner Terrestrials. Now, somehow, this band gets better and better and tighter and tighter each time I see them. I don’t get how this is possible because they’ve been playing for, like, 28 years, done thousands of gigs, and had the same drummer for the last ten years? They surely should have technically maxed out a while ago, right?
Honestly, at this point, I’m approaching superfan status, and sing along with most of their tracks, so I probably can’t objectively review these guys. But also, they’re an absolutely bloody fantastic band. Muddy traveller ska punk, revolutionary music at its best.
Now, Equinox isn’t a perfect festival. The toilets, kinda appropriately, were the worst I have encountered this year. They looked cool, and, unlike many of their competitors, had lights, but they were long drops with nothing at all done about the smell. They would be massively improved by a bit of wood chipping or sawdust.
The music, while sublime in parts, is also occasionally disappointingly conventional — just guitars, drums, and a slight lack of creativity, or the dugga-dugga-wub-tss of fairly mainstream DnB or the less interesting sorts of psytrance. I kinda wish for more experimental stuff- and I feel a lot of the people at the festival would kinda benefit from the DnB and Psytrance being switched off for a bit, so they had to explore (Editors note: Lets be real here, you just want them to listen to hardstyle, happy hardcore, and psydub).
The variety of food, also, leaves something to be desired. I couldn’t find a burger, and while vegan options are available, they aren’t that widespread. The energy too, is kinda chaotic — people are really really nice, don’t expect any fights or anything, but also, some of the crowd gets really really wrecked, and don’t pay as much attention to themselves as they probably should. Don’t expect to get to sleep early without ear plugs- thats for certain.
But despite these little niggles, or maybe even because of some of them, Equinox is special. Nowhere else in England quite matches its wild free party energy. For an end-of-summer rebellion against the normie world, a crew party for the whole festival season, Equinox simply cannot be beaten.
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