A bit of a short-notice request landed at RGM. Would anyone like to cover the Roundhay Festival next weekend with an image that said something about an Orchestra? A quick check of the diary, and I was free for most of it, so why not? It was only after agreeing that I was asked to fill out the accreditation form that I saw who the other 2 headliners were.
Now, I’m no fan, but actually I knew some of Lewis Capaldi’s stuff, but Pitbull? I can honestly say I have never actively listened to him. Why would I, I’m now nearer to my 60’s than I am to my 50’s so I am absolutely not in his demographic audience – what the hell had I agreed to…
Now Roundhay Park has been hosting gigs for decades, with some massive names at those gigs eras, the likes of Robbie Williams when he was at his peak of popularity, drawing approx 90k on both nights he played, Madonna, U2 – twice, the Stones, Springsteen and even Michael Jackson, so it’s not anything new bringing in the talent to the city of Leeds but you’d have to go back over 30 years to when it hosted a Festival so was this a foolish or brave decision?
Heading into a brand-new festival can always lead to asking more questions than knowing the answers. I spend a lot of time in Leeds; I am used to driving around the area, so at least I knew where I was heading and how to beat the official routes to get parked up somewhere sort of nearby that wouldn’t have the dreaded cones or the road being closed. I’ve also done a few gigs up there over the years too, so I was familiar with what sort of setup it probably would be.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the sheer amount of bald caps to be seen on the walk up, not just on the blokes but on the women as well, not to mention the drawn-on pencil taches and beards… Indeed, the party atmosphere was already in full flow before I’d even made it to the box office to pick up my wristband and tickets. Even though it was a late Friday afternoon, the site was already filling up nicely.
Due to being delayed getting to the festival (pesky day job) I missed Lil Jon but I could hear Tinie Tempah fire up his set as I was walking up to the massive Roundhay Bowl, I could already see people stood on the top of whats called the Roundhay west bank but what amazed me when I got to the bowl itself was the amount of people I saw down below me! Pitbull wasn’t due on for another 3.5 hours, but the floor was already rammed; the people of Leeds really were clearly up for a good time in the sun.
It’s a fair old-sized venue for the festival; it’s not as big as it used to be, coming in at 70k when it has been as high as 90k, but there is plenty of space.
Good job really as the crowds continued to swell as the evening drew on, it was pretty mad during Jason Derulo, though not quite as mad as what was going on on stage, especially during Wiggle when presented with several “Big Fat Butt”’s on full display as the scantily clad ladies bent fully over (Oooo there’s a News Of The World type editorial right there..) and by the type Mr Worldwide entered the stage it was VERY busy indeed.
Now as I’ve already said, Pitbull as never been my thing, hadn’t ever “listened to him” but as the night moved on, it was surprising how many of his songs I’d actually heard over the years, I knew of Fireball, which was obviously present as was Hotel Room Service but the rest were all “new” yet I would have said 50% of his set was surprisingly familiar such is the way hes got himself into popular culture. Would I rush out and see him again? Probably not, but I couldn’t help but feel entertained.
Saturday
After feeling it due to Friday being a long day, doing the day job then shooting straight up to cover the festival, I arrived in time to catch Jacob Alon on the main stage, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t find him that memorable.
Ber, however, on the smaller East Stage, was something of a little delight when I was checking out the acts for the festival. I initially noticed, as it appeared from the listings that there was no Leeds connection from any band performing over the weekend, bar they might have played a local venue at some point, but here one was.
Ber might originally have been from Minnesota and is now London-based, but she studied music at Leeds Uni so finally there was a connection. Ber possesses the type of personality that’s easy to warm to quickly, a very likable person who can put a decent tune together ttoo, so her set was somewhat of a surprise delight and one to try and catch again at some point..
Jessie Murph
Couldn’t help but feel there was a lot of style over substance with Jessie, a bizarre slow march of the band walking on stage that was being filmed by several people in front of them whilst covering Animals, The House Of The Rising Sun started the disconnect and I don’t think it actually improved from that point – too much whimsical spinning, clearly choreographed routines left me cold to her performance and the whole “Temu” Lana Del Rey vibe going on with it for me.
Nieve Ella
The crowd turned up for this lady, definitely the biggest I saw for the weekend at the East Stage, and she did well, decent energy, good songs, and an enthusiastic band that didn’t let her take all the limelight.
Arriving slightly late and with an in-ear monitor problem, it wasn’t the greatest of starts for the young man but he took it well and thanked the crowd for turning up after leaving it late to buy tickets, joking that at one point he thought he might be playing to just 500 people.
The crowd, whilst nowhere near the numbers for Pitbull the previous night, was a decent amount, enough to have been the biggest crowd of his career to date he’s headlined, as it was announced shortly after. He talked candidly about his well-known mental health breakdown, calling it his Menty B, that was meant to be early on in the set and he seemed comfortable in his skin on stage whilst doing so, with no visible tics or shakes he was displaying before his much-needed withdrawal from public life for a wee while.
Now, even by his own admission, his songs are miserable, and he promised that his next album will be more cheerful, so the atmosphere was nothing like the previous night, but it was clear there was a lot of love in the fields for the guy and his songs, but for me after 45 minutes, I had heard enough, The DJ, Mark Radcliffe said on his recent Mark and Lard conversation tour with Marc Riley that 3 or 4 songs is probably enough when seeing someone live and I have to say, I’m slowly coming around to this train of thought…
Sunday
You’d normally find The Hallé Orchestra 50 miles down the road and over the border in Manchester, but let’s not hold that against em eh?.. Together with Alfie Boe, they became All Things Orchestral, and it was magical.
Performing what I would call accessible classical music and opera by choosing music from the movies and more well-known works the afternoon passed by in a flash, I just wished we had heard more music and less Myleene Klass, who was the compere for the afternoon as it ruined the flow of the music but from the start with the theme from Star Wars A New Hope, a bit of Les Mis, a splash of Nessun Dorma amongst several pieces and a finish with John Williams theme from Indiana Jones this somewhat oddball decision to go withby the festival was my personal highlight of the weekend, just a shame that it was by far the least attended.
DJ Yoda then wrapped things up with a 90’s mixtape afterparty that could have been better supported too, but I guess it was a difficult day to market this one compared to who they had booked the days before.
So, Roundhay Festival 2026, hit or miss? As first-time attempts go, I’d go with a hit. Was it perfect? Far from it, the East Stage wasn’t easily accessible for half the crowd on site, and putting nobody on between the final support and the headliner up there was a bit of a headscratcher too, as was the wasted space on the west side that was crying out for a performance area of its own.
I read moans on socail media about the queues for food and drinks, but if you’re going to what essentially is a series of day festivals and you rock up around 5-6pm expecting to get fed and watered quickly, then you’re part of the problem, and that isn’t the festival’s fault. Nor is another complaint from people stood on the West Bank that they couldn’t hear the sound.
Unfortunately, that has always been a problem at Roundhay, if the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, then the sound gets lifted away from the bank- again, not something the festival can control – the solution is to move to the back or east of the stage.
Plans are already underway to bring it back in 2027, lessons will have been learned and tweaks will happen. Personally, I’m excited for what’s to come, and people of Leeds and the surrounding villages/towns/cities should be too, roll on next year!
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