Hedonism, cityscapes and immersive theatre: Why everyone was flocking to Boomtown instead of Glastonbury this year

As an avid festival-goer and longtime Glastonbury devotee, my friends all had one question for me arriving back from Boomtown: how does it compare?

As someone who, admittedly, goes to not for the music specifically but for the theatre of festivals in general, after catching wind of Boomtown from excited friends who had been, it seemed right up my street.

A bit of background for those that aren’t familiar with Boomtown: The four-day, Hampshire-based music festival (which runs from 8th – 12th August this year) has made a name for itself since its launch in 2009 for its unique mix of immersive theatre elements. To clarify, that includes incredible districts designed around the theme, film set-like stages and hundreds of actors dotted around the festival that populate the pop-up city.

Each year is referred to as a ‘Chapter’ and reflects its ongoing theatre narrative. For 2018? Enter ‘Chapter 10: The Machine Cannot Be Stopped’.

Arriving for my first ‘Boom’ – as it affectionately became known – on the festival’s ten-year anniversary was special in itself: the organisers pulled out all the stops for the milestone year. The opening ceremony at Lion’s Den – a near-Biblical crater scooping down into the festival grounds set to a stage and surrounded by a far-reaching sound system – set the tone. Thousands descended to watch a ShyFX set, not letting the torrential rain (and I mean torrential) stop the free flowing happy vibes.

Rain went and sunshine came as constant (as is the way with British weather) but it’s really impossible to even notice when there’s an entire city to explore.

Take the Hidden Woods, a sandy area surrounded by tall trees that hosted live reggae bands all through the day and night; Paradise Heights, the playground of the rich and famous, where actors would perform mind-twisting shows amid the dizzyingly-high towers; or the Old Town where you could sponge your mate, get your fortune told, or flirt with a pirate in the turn of a dime.

Perhaps my favourite district was Copper County: an old Wild West set up which would see you caught up in impromptu shoot outs, jumping over hale bales and talking in depth with a lady of the night through her emotional traumas.

All of the immersive actors would never break character – throughout the entire festival, it’s worth noting – which just added to the engrossing experience.

When we were done with exploring the districts, we’d end the night staring at the mind-blowing lasers and pyrotechnics occurring at Bang Hai towers: a towering structure, with each light display, creepy VT and fire show as trippy as the next.

Yes, only at Boomtown can you bop to reggae under a canopy of sparkling lanterns, have a conversation with a gun-wielding bar wench and rave to world-class techno all within the same hour.

And when it all gets too much, you can retreat to the festival’s many diverse camping areas. If you want to add a touch of luxury to your stay, think about shacking up in Boomtown Springs, a new addition to the camping roster, which includes showers, a beauty parlour, a ‘hotel’ reception area and an £100 drink voucher all included in the price. Not to mention a mansion, swimming pool and a bubbly staff of society people ready to deliver you face masks in the morning and force you to partake in risqué games come the afternoon.

For me, Boomtown deserves its stake as one of the UK’s leading festivals: a hedonists playground, it not only provides the world-class music but the theatre element sets it apart from anything else on the festival drum.

The answer to my friend’s question about how Boomtown compares to Glasto? All considered, it could well top it, I said.

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