Stereophonics, Courteeners, Blossoms, The Kooks, Manic Street Preachers, Nothing But Thieves, Kelis, Gabrielle, The Vaccines, Laura Mvula, Amy MacDonald, The Big Moon, Alfie Templeman, Easy Life, Yard Act, Dream Wife and many more top and up and coming bands and artists performed at the sold out 2022 edition of the Peak District festival – the event returning for the first time since 2019.
The 15th fifteenth Y Not Festival was a huge success. Headliners Stereophonics, Courteeners, Blossoms, and Thursday’s headliners The Kooks delivered storming sets.
The Kooks set the exciting tone for the weekend, starting the night with “Seaside” from their critically acclaimed debut album, “Inside In / Inside Out”, which recently celebrates 15 years since its release- just as Y Not celebrates its own anniversary.
Friday night saw one of Britain’s best live bands Stereophonics, electrifying the crowd with their massive hits including, “C’est La Vie”, “Maybe Tomorrow”, ‘”Nice Day” and “Dakota”.
Hailing from down the road in Manchester, Courteeners headlined the Saturday night, with an energetic setlist befitting the lively crowd including “Are You In Love With A Notion?”, “Acrylic” and their fan favourite, “Not Nineteen Forever”.
Stockport’s Blossoms brought the festival to a close on Sunday with hits such as “Charlemagne” and a cover of The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”, with their cool frontman Tom Ogden telling the buzzing crowd “This is the first festival I ever came to 10 years ago in 2012. So it’s very humbling to see all of you here and to be headlining… It’s quite the trip.”
Throughout the Saturday, artists paid homage to the legendary Kate Bush on her birthday, also known as “Katemas”. Sunderland legends The Futureheads had the crowd singing along their reimagined version of “Hounds of Love” – which was released in 2005 – while Orla Garland treated Y Notters to an eighties medley including “Running Up That Hill,” joking to the crowds, “For the record… I knew this song before it was cool!”
Earlier on, Sea Girls sang a quick rendition of “Running Up That Hill,” which recently shot back into the charts thanks to the hit TV show Stranger Things.
They performed to a huge Big Gin Stage crowd on Saturday, including one very special fan, Joe. Bringing their Number 1 fan onto stage, lead singer Henry Camamile gave him a one-of-a-kind t-shirt – “I got on stage with Sea Girls and all I got was this T-shirt”.
On Sunday, just as the news of the England women’s national team winning the 2022 Euros came in, 27,000 fans at Y Not festival enjoyed The Vaccines’ performance on the final day of the festival.
The entire crowd launched into a chant of ‘Three Lions’ as frontman Justin Young asked “Is it now officially home?” He added, “The Vaccines feel like we’re finally home and we’ve been waiting five years to play for you, Y Not Festival!”
As the sun shone over the Derbyshire festival, Y Notters filled The Quarry stage tent to see Brighton trio Dream Wife’s impassioned set including “Somebody” and “Sports!” during which Bella and Alice jolted into each other whilst Rakel screamed, “Put your money where your mouth is!” and chucked a wad of fake bank notes into the cheering crowds.
Jason Oakley, Managing Director at Y Not Festival, says “After over two years away, this edition of Y Not Festival was the celebration that everyone deserved. We are incredibly grateful for the support and goodwill from our customers over the past couple of years and hope that each Y Not attendee has enjoyed these four days of live music and entertainment.
“Thank you to the brilliant artists from across the weekend, our incredible headliners Stereophonics, Courteeners, Blossoms and The Kooks, and the rest of this year’s top line up. This was our biggest year yet, a sold out festival with 27,000 in attendance – so we thank you for sticking with us. See you all in 2023.”
- Y Not Festival Super Early Bird Tickets for 27th – 30th July 2023 are now on sale (from 6pm 1st August) www.ynotfestival.com
