Review: Y Not Festival

I was kindly provided media access for this event, but all thoughts are honest and my own! 

Nestled away in the rolling, picturesque hills of Pikehall, Derbyshire, Y Not Festival returned for another massive weekend, bringing its signature blend of indie nostalgia, chaotic energy, and breathtaking Peak District views. From Thursday’s early entry mayhem kickstarted by The Libertines right through to Sunday night's closing anthems with The Streets, the 19th edition proved yet again why it’s a stalwart of the northern festival calendar.



Upgrading the Experience: Staying in Paradise Peaks

If you’ve ever done standard general camping at a multi-day festival and spent Sunday morning questioning every life choice that led to a soggy tent collapse, you’ll know that accommodation upgrades can make or break the weekend. This year, escaping back to Paradise Peaks felt nothing short of an absolute luxury tier upgrade.

Positioned as the festival’s premier camping escape, Paradise Peaks delivered on its promise of a sanctuary away from the relentless, 24-hour thumping of the main campsites.

  • The Facilities: Let’s talk about the holy grail of festival survival—the toilets and showers. Having access to clean, well-maintained, posh loos throughout the weekend completely changed the game. No horror stories, no emergency toilet roll rationing—just a civilized experience. The hot showers were a morning miracle, washing away the dust, glitter, and exhaustion from the night before so you felt human all over again.
  • The Vibe: The pamper tents complete with mirrors, sockets, and hair-styling gear were a absolute lifesaver for getting festival-ready without battling a foggy phone screen in a cramped two-man tent. More than just the amenities, though, it was the crowd and the atmosphere. It felt relaxed, secure, and quiet enough to actually get a decent night's sleep before doing it all over again the next day.

The Charm of a Smaller Site: Enter TONY’s

One of the best things about Y Not Festival is that it completely rejects the exhausting, endless trek style of massive, sprawling weekender festivals. You aren’t spending forty minutes hiking through industrial wastelands just to get from the campsite to the main arena. Instead, it retains that cherished, intimate, community-driven spirit—you can easily bump into mates, bounce between stages on a whim, and never feel like you're losing half your day just getting around.

Right in the heart of that compact, manageable arena footprint sits TONY’s—the ultimate exclusive hangout area.

If you want a break from the main crowd without retreating all the way back to Paradise Peaks, TONY’s is the place to be. Tucked neatly into the action, it acts as a brilliant little pocket of breathing space within the festival site.

  • The Perks: It features its own dedicated private bar (meaning zero-fuss queueing when you just want a swift drink), proper flushing toilets, and handpicked food traders serving up top-tier festival grub.
  • The Vibe: When the sun goes down and the main stages wrap up, TONY’s comes into its own with exclusive late-night DJs keeping the energy high in a lively, intimate setting. It captures everything great about Y Not's small-scale magic—sociable, vibrant, and effortlessly easy to navigate.

The 30-Something Rookie Verdict: Why Paradise Peaks Made All the Difference

Let’s be honest: stepping into the festival circuit when you’re in your 30s—and when your past festival CV is practically blank—comes with a very specific kind of anxiety. Gone are the days of rolling up with a battered tent, surviving on lukewarm cider, and sleeping on a deflated roll mat for four days without a second thought. I wasn't entirely sure I was built for the mud, the noise, and the sheer endurance test of a full weekend.

For a while, I wondered if I was simply too old, too out of the loop, or just too fond of my creature comforts to really enjoy it.

Turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Any pre-festival nerves completely melted away the moment I realized just how welcoming, vibrant, and fun the whole atmosphere was. But the real game-changer? Being tucked away in Paradise Peaks with such close proximity to the arena.

Being able to casually stroll back to the campsite for a proper sit-down, a quick refresh, or a much-needed sanctuary break whenever fatigue started creeping in completely unlocked the experience. No massive treks across muddy fields, no dragging heavy gear for miles—just a five-minute hop back to peace and quiet before diving right back into the action. It proved that you don't need to suffer through standard camping to earn your festival stripes, and honestly? I'm officially converted.


Beyond the stages, the food lineup at Y Not proved you don't have to survive on miserable, overpriced burgers for a whole weekend.

​Festival Food Highlights

​Gourmet Street Eats: A stellar rotation of wood-fired sourdough pizzas bubbling with hot honey, towering loaded fries dripping in cheese and pulled meats, and authentic Greek souvlaki wraps packed with garlic sauce.

​Late-Night Fuel: Essential carbohydrate stations serving up massive portions of mac and cheese and loaded loaded nachos that saved many a festival-goer staggering back to the campsite.

​Sweet Relief: Independent churros stalls slathered in thick Belgian chocolate and local artisan coffee trucks that were absolute lifesavers for shaking off the early-morning Paradise Peaks condensation.


Absolutely heavenly cheese toasties were also on offer!! 


The Music 

Catching Vanessa Carlton was a true full-circle moment. Having her as a cult hero since the age of 15 meant expectations were high, and while she leaned heavily into her newer material rather than resting entirely on nostalgia, hearing that immortal opening piano riff to "A Thousand Miles" live in the Derbyshire fields was worth everything.

​Moving through the weekend, Scouting for Girls and the Lottery Winners proved why they are absolute masterclasses in festival programming. Scouting for Girls delivered a masterclass in crowd-pleasing, effortlessly getting thousands of people shouting every word back at the stage with pure, unadulterated pop-indie joy. The Lottery Winners brought that exact same infectious energy, combining proper heartwarming anthems with brilliant stage presence that had the entire field hooked from the first chord.

​The heavy hitters brought completely contrasting styles of massive field control. Dizzee Rascal turned his set into an absolute high-octane rave, firing through timeless grime bangers that sent the crowd into absolute chaos. The Streets offered something much more poetic and communal; Mike Skinner commanded the masses with gritty, sweat-drenched storytelling that blurred the line between the stage and the audience entirely.



​Meanwhile, the Kaiser Chiefs operated like a well-oiled stadium machine. Ricky Wilson remains a relentless frontman, scaling speakers and working every corner of the stage while firing off hit after unstoppable hit like "Ruby" and "Everyday I Love You Less and Less" that are



practically engineered for festival singalongs.

Rizzle Kicks and Scissor Sisters injected pure, flamboyant pop euphoria into the weekend. Rizzle Kicks rolled back the years with a set packed full of feel-good, bouncing hip-hop hooks like "Down with the Trumpets" and "Mama Do the Hump," turning the crowd into one giant, grinning singalong. Right behind them, the Scissor Sisters brought unmatched theatrical disco glamour to Pikehall. Jake Shears and the crew delivered an absolute masterclass in camp, high-energy pop, turning the festival site into a glittering dancefloor with anthems like "Take Your Mama" and "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'."

​It's safe to say Pikehall delivered an unforgettable weekend of live music!

Tickets are on sale for 2027's 20 year celebration! Grab yours here.

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