Review: Community Festival takes over Finsbury Park

Catfish & The Bottlemen headlined the festival's inaugural event.

What Community Festival might lack in size, it more than makes up for it with atmosphere and ambition. London’s newest one-dayer delivers its inaugural event and entertains each and every one who walked into the stylish surroundings of Finsbury Park, North London on Saturday afternoon.

Time for a bit of @thehunnaband at @communityLDN.

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Central London festivals traditionally cater for the achingly hip (Field Day), the Capital Radio listener (Wireless) or basically mum, dad, gran and grandad (BST). It’s refreshing then that Community from Festival Republic (those behind Latitude, Reading, Leeds and Wireless) should bring to London N4 a lineup that was cool but accessible with some of the best new talent currently winning the hearts of British teens and twenty-somethings in 2017.

The revelers of Finsbury Park are welcomed into the compact but colorful festival spanning the park, with choice of two stages of perpetual entertainment.

There are main stage turns worthy of the Glastonbury Pyramid from likes of The Hunna, Nothing But Thieves and headliner Catfish and the Bottlemen. Each group gives the crowd ample opportunity for singalongs atop their mates’ shoulders.

The true mark of Community though is its secondary stage. Boasting a bill of relative unknowns, the mood remains high throughout with crowds growing in number with every song. The audience is more than happy to give newbies Anteros and Stereo Honey a shot – and boy they are glad they did; both bands proving their stripes as future festival favourites.

We're having a great day at @communityLDN. Who is with us? #twitter

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A gloriously sunny day feels like a divine gift for everyone who make the trip through the stylish bronze and black gates. Bands walk casually through the crowds, hugging and high-fiving the very audiences they’ve just entertained. It really does feel like a special gathering. A new crowd. A community even. So not just a clever name then.

For more from the world of festivals, check out our guide at Ticketmaster.co.uk.

Words by John Talbot