WMT guest review for Leopallooza 2022 – thank you to Katt Downes for attending and writing this review for us!
Getting there
Our plans for Leopallooza 2022 were last minute but we were so buzzed for a good party. This gorgeous festival is right at the start of the 6 week school summer holidays, it really signified the start of summer for me as a teacher, and with fabulous weather on the run up and on the Friday that made it all the better. The Wyldes is set in a wooded valley in North Cornwall and really is nestled deep in the countryside in a small village called Week St. Mary.
Originally Leopallooza was a house party in a field intending to get friends together, from there it has grown into an annual party that locals and festival goers look forward to, and it really does have an inviting, friendly, community feel to it. There were stewards in the lanes to direct you to the entrance from the winding lanes, and once we were there we headed straight to our pitch to set up camp which was a beautiful little spot on top of the hill in the corner.
Camping – Sleepy Hollow – Family Camping
We had 6 tents to pitch and a caravan in Sleepy Hollow which was the ‘family camping area’, and the bays for pitches were sectioned off with spray paint which made it super easy to make a camp for the weekend with everyone we needed to. We found 4 pitches were enough and we were able to fit everyone on with a gazebo too. Stewards allowed us to drive right up to our pitch and park which made things so easy!
As soon as we were pitching up you could feel the excitement in the air as people were letting loose getting ready for night one of Leopallooza. We set up camp and then cracked open some cans in the sun, collected our wristbands and then everyone spent some time catching up with one and other. I stayed with my sister and her friends which was a mix of ages and characters, really great to meet new people and share the experience.
I was worried staying in family camping at Leopallooza, but actually it was not too tame but not too rowdy (aka perfect!) and because we were out of the way, we were able to have nice loud camp moments during reasonable hours, it was quite relaxed. Also people came to visit from other areas making it easy to extend the group as new friendships were made. We weren’t overlooked because of the sectioned out pitches, and everyone was proper friendly.
The kids in our group literally roamed, the festival was small and easy to get around so they could just run feral and find us easily. There was a halfpipe and outdoor games near Raven’s Fury, a small funfair with rides for small children, the Rouge Wood area had entertainment where they could do different crafty activities and see theatre shows. We wandered round and so many families and kids were working together making things and bonding in the woodlands on blankets. It was lovely with the sound of main stage in the background. The Pearl Exchange is where we spent some time painting a tile for the collaborative mural, which led to a very exciting time on Saturday evening when we saw through the trees that it had been completed. We saw someone propose on the stage on Friday which was super sweet and was a heart-warming moment.
Food and drink
The hits were the World Foods Van with their giant naan wrapped kebabs, or the Loaded Fries tent with a selection of hot toppings and sauces, and the Hot Dogs. I had the chilli loaded fries plate a few times and it was great because they did a smaller size too. I heard mixed reviews about some of the other foods and I did notice there wasn’t a huge selection for veggie/vegan options. The prices definitely had increased too but I think that’s across the board at festivals post-COVID.
The bar staff and security were brilliant and lovely and a big shout out to them for keeping it flowing all weekend with big smiles and banter. Everyone had their old Leo cups, or this year they bought out The Wyldes cups to refill and usually on a bungee strap so as not to lose it when grooving on the dancefloor which was a great help. The selections were good and cold and reasonably priced. You were never far from a bar.
The different festival Areas and Music I loved
All very different vibes but definitely something for everyone, and laid out well. It was so easy to bop across from one place to another.
Ade Burt Memorial Stage –
Metronomy on the Friday – amazing set and it was a lovely pleasant summers evening, and everyone was ready to go for day one of Leo. It was magical seeing the electric performance in such a perfect setting with people rocking up front loving life, and in the back chilling and unwinding taking it all in amongst the perfect setting of twinkly trees and a burning car fire.
Saturday evening Henge were rocking the stage as the car fire was lit and every one was getting revved for another evening of getting lively in the woods.
The Big Moon on Sunday were really enjoyable and a highlight for me as the rain was easing off after a pretty drizzly camp based morning. They had a good vibe and were perfect for the moment. Made friends during this point just chilling next to a bar.
Hero Stage –
Trousdale on Saturday were my vibe, they had really beautiful voices and captivated all those in the area.
The Funny Side Stage and Silent Disco –
Russell Kane was popular and bloody funny. The Elvis Dead on Sunday was interesting, I went in to eat my fries and dry off from the rain. It was a bit odd… not my cup of tea but I think it hit the spot for some people.
The Silent Disco was the place to be after everything shut down and usually where you found the last remaining hardcore members of your crew. I went there on Sunday with some new friends I had made and ended up finding more people I already knew, that was the beauty of it being a smaller size. They played a good selection of cheesy songs and crowd favourites, and in the valley as you walked back to your tent you would hear the drunken singsong of the silent disco with belters like Sex on Fire or Don’t Look Back in Anger echoing in the air as you fell asleep.
Mono Stage –
Mother Vulture were so full of energy and everyone was really looking forward to seeing them. The Mono tent was rammed when they came on and they put on a brilliant performance for the masses. A new firm favourite for me!
Treeline –
This was the place to be for me and a good meeting point. On Friday Hong Kong in Pong Club took over, and they played some really funky tunes that grooved us into the start of the weekend. They usually had their own stage at the festival in previous years I was told, but to the locals disappointment they had a smaller slot and only did a takeover on the Friday. Still, everyone was on such a good level at Treeline and it was a really amazing vibe. It was quiet at the back if you weren’t inside the dome, you had to get right in to fully appreciate the sound.
Raven’s Fury stage –
Played a good chilled selection during the day near the food stands. It was a hand built Pirate ship, which is of course pretty fitting for Cornwall! The families loved it in particular.
My experience of the Leopallooza festival weekend
Leopallooza has most certainly upcycled its way to create a really charming and magical space for everybody to enjoy. With seats made of, well almost anything(!) and the structures and bars created using recycled materials, you can see how they have tirelessly and lovingly pulled it all together behind the scenes for the party. By nightfall the lights are twinkling and the fire is burning and it feels like an adventure moving through each area in the wooded valley. For me it is an unforgettable space that I look forward to returning to.
The best part about Leopallooza was the simplicity of it all. Everyone wanted to have a good time, families, young farmers, festival goers, locals, teens. People had the time of day to be polite and say hello and have a chat, just such a good vibe. No matter how you wanted to spend your time at a festival, it was there! Chilling near mainstage in the twinkly lights next to the car fire, getting creative at the pearl exchange doing some collaborative painting or stomping around inside Leopallooza’s Tiny Nightclub Experience. “Dinkies” is essentially a jazzed up garden shed but I saw at least 20/30 people jamming inside – we made lots of new friends here!
Friday night was a bit of a blur. But from what I can remember I kept telling everyone how cute it all was, and how brilliant it was that it didn’t take any time to walk anywhere. If you needed to ‘pop’ back to your tent it was actually no time at all. The only problem was signal was quite bad in the arena, so if you lost your friends it was almost impossible to call them. Next year I will take some walkie talkies. It was a case of going round to the favourite spots to find anyone if you get lost, but luckily because it is a smallish site, it was still pretty easy.
Saturday was an early start because of excitement, popped back to my sisters to freshen up and then got straight back to the fields. By the evening the rain came, but it didn’t dampen things! Everyone was bopping around in rain macs and powering through, the sets of excellent tunes and flowing alcohol helped, and everyone was in great spirits.
Sunday was groggy and wet. Luckily I had packed my 2 man tent just in case, and managed to pitch up on a new friends plot and continue the rave in the rain. Unfortunately, my dinky 2 man dome tent hadn’t been used and it hadn’t occurred to me that my lilo wouldn’t fit in it. I pitched up with hope that it would be fine and pushed the lilo in at an angle as best it could and marched off into the valley in my Crocs and socks. When I returned half way through the night the lilo was floating downhill! It was rather funny, we were all so drenched at that point I didn’t even care. Luckily for me, I had made friends and there was room in another tent for me to sleep so it all ended up perfect in the end. Since I opted for crocs and socks instead of sensible wellies I had a slippy and slidy night stepping it in the rain, landed on my bum too many times to count but I still loved it, it was bloody fantastic. It says a lot about Leo that no one batted an eyelid!
Roger Sanchez was a highlight for me, the energy and atmosphere was awesome and I really had such an amazing time. It was the end of Leo, the rain had been relentless, and it had been a rather soggy evening but the mood of the crowd was just electrifying. As I was making my way to the front at Roger Sanchez, I had a proud auntie moment as I realised the young lad next to me who was on someone’s shoulders living his best life was my nephew. Age doesn’t matter at Leo, everyone’s there to party and socialise and have a bloody good time.
Thank you to Katt for sending us this review of her experience of Leopallooza 2022! I definitely love the idea of a Cornish festival, hoping I can get there one year myself!
Have you been to Leopallooza? What did you think? Please let me know your thoughts, stories and experiences in the comments!
