Ibiza Comes To Chichester in First Of Three Day-Long Festivals

The Ibiza Orchestra Experience arrived at Westgate Fields on Friday for the first of three day-long festivals in Chichester.

We arrived around an hour after the event started and was pleasantly surprised by how great the set-up was. Chichester is not a usual target for festivals due to apprehension from local residents around noise levels and therefore my expectations were not high but they should have been. Once inside the event walls you could have been anywhere, it was great.

There were two ‘stages’, the main stage and a smaller big-top style tent. After grabbing something to drink we made our way to the main stage to be greeted by the brilliantly named ‘Fatboy Tim’, a tribute to the DJ, Fatboy Slim. He played some of the more well known tracks and it was a great way to warm the audience’s energy. He was actually pretty good and his name will live rent-free in my head for at least the next week.

Fatboy Tim

The next set was by N-Trance, and by this time more people had began to arrive and the atmosphere had really livened up. This was particularly the case during one of their biggest tunes, ‘Set You Free’, which is quite an impressive claim to say you heard live from Chichester!

Next up was the main act, The Ibiza Orchestra Experience, a full 26 instrument ensemble alongside live vocalists and a DJ performing ibiza classics. Everyone was on their feet jumping around and at this point it was packed. The atmosphere was immense with banger after banger being performed.

The Ibiza Orchestra Experience

We decided half way through to go and check out the other stage as there was mention of a silent disco. It was included with the entry ticket and turned out to be probably the highlight of the evening. The DJ, Dan James kept the energy high with a mix of classic tracks and nostalgic anthems that kept everyone dancing carefree till the very end of the night.

There is another two days lined up with ‘The Sausage & Cider Festival’ on Saturday and ‘Summer In Nashville’ on Sunday.

Overall, it was an evening very well spent and I’ll be on the look out next year to see if it makes a return. If it does, I’ll be there.

Dan James