Y Not 2024

This is my first time at Y Not Festival. Held annually in Pikehall, Derbyshire since 2005, Y Not has seen a plethora of incredible acts over the years, including Two Door Cinema Club, Snoop Dogg, Blossoms, and Catfish & The Bottlemen. This year, I’ve been fortunate to enjoy lovely weather for the second festival of the season.

This year’s lineup is absolutely stellar, with big names like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Snow Patrol, and Jamie T headlining, plus we’ve got the Kaiser Chiefs, The Kooks and Declan McKenna among many others, who are set to deliver some unforgettable performances.

Day 1 #

Picking up my ticket from the box office was a breeze, although I somehow ended up in the wrong entry queue and had to backtrack to the right one. The security was easy to get through, just a cursory check of my bag then my wristband was on.

My day was off to a rocky start as one of the wheels on my trolley decided to give out, so I resorted to carrying my things to the site in 22 degree heat — not fun! After a quick pit stop for a water refill I promptly set up my tent and headed over to the arena.

My day started with Ruby J at the Quarry Stage, who brought an incredible amount of energy (and a crowd!) to the performance. She was very well received by the audience. Next up was Black Honey on The Big Gin stage, who first made their appearance at Y Not back in 2015 opening the same stage. Their setlist included a mix of their popular songs such as “All My Pride”, “I Like The Way You Die”, and “Beaches”.

Yard Act were up next for me, and their set was a hit! They performed some fan favourites including “Dead Horse”, “The Overlord” and “100% Endurance”. Their performance was full of energy and dark humour! Soft Play were my next act on The Big Gin again, some of my favourites include “The Hunter” and “John Wick”. They absolutely brought the energy midway through today’s programming. I followed this up with The Kooks on the main stage, then I caught the first half of The Lottery Winners who have supported some major acts over the past couple of years, including Tom Jones, Richard Ashcroft,and Paul Weller. They put on a great show and the frontman, Thom Rylance, has a tradition of giving the middle finger to a random photographer every show which I’ve been told makes for a good photo.

To end my day I caught the first half of Snow Patrol, who have been going since 1994 (which is long before my time!) They opened to “You’re All I Have” from their fourth studio album “Eyes Open” — they sound absolutely sensational live. I then walked over to The Giant Squid to watch the second half of The Mysterines. I first saw them when they opened for Arctic Monkeys during their tour last year and I instantly fell in love with them. Their quirky alternative rock is incredibly exciting to hear live. I also managed to catch a couple of their songs from their latest album called “Afraid of Tomorrows” which was released only a couple of months ago.

Day 2 #

The day started off a lot cooler than Friday which was very welcome. No shorts for me today though, mostly because I’m incredibly skinny and get cold very quickly, we’ll see if that was a silly idea later on in the day (hint, it was).

The day started with Mr Motivator who got everyone moving in many different ways. He’s 71 but it certainly doesn’t seem that way when you see him on stage, the crowd were absolutely loving it! And if you think it couldn’t get better than that The Lancashire Hotpots were up next, they had the whole crowd going for their song “Egg Sausage Chips & Beans”. All their talk about food got me really hungry. I mostly brought my own food this year, but it’s always customary to try some festival food at some point, which is typically overpriced and not great, however I find myself indulging in a really nice sweet chilli wrap.

Next for me was The Blooms in the Hog & Barrel. I’d met them the night before and they invited me over to their set. They only have a couple of songs released, but they really got the crowd going and had a very commanding stage presence. I caught Overpass in The Quarry next, they are a great up-and-coming band from Birmingham who have gained a very loyal following since their first single “One Night Lover” released back in 2020. I then head over to The Big Gin for Pale Waves who are a brilliant rock band from Manchester. They’ve been around since 2014 and have released 3 studio albums in that time, some of my favourites were “Perfume”, “Eighteen” and “Fall to Pieces”.

I then catch the last few songs of The Snuts after taking some needed rest to continue writing my review. I’ve listened to quite a bit of their music in the past so I was very excited to see them, they brought an incredible amount of energy and so did the crowd. Another favourite for me next, Declan McKenna. I first saw him a couple of years back at Glastonbury, his live show is always incredibly compelling and cohesive. His most popular song “Brazil” really got the crowd growing, he was a great warm-up for Jamie T, who closed the day’s programming on The Big Gin stage. He was another act I was really excited to see this weekend, and I was not disappointed. With how many great tunes he has we were privy to a cracking selection. “Zombie”, “Sheila” and “Stick ‘n’ Stones” really got the whole crowd singing along, a real highlight of my weekend.

Day 3 #

This was the final day at Y Not for me this year. The day starts off with a few very long trips to the car with all my stuff for a quick bolt post headliner. The weather again, very forgiving today but still gently breezy so it’s cargo jeans again for me.

I started my day with Raised By Owls who are a death metal band from Derbyshire, aptly named they came onto stage dressed in priest outfits. Like they were about to give a sermon, they then launched into their first song “I’m Sorry I Wore a Dying Fetus T-Shirt to Your Baby’s Gender Reveal Party”. Yes, that is really the name of the song, in fact most of their songs also have what you would describe as batshit crazy names. They brought an absolutely incredible amount of energy and commanded the crowd the whole time, even Mr Blobby made an appearance waving a dildo around — I really wish I was joking, but I’m not. After that I had to have a quick time out, in the form of fleecing the people giving out free cans of coke for a few. No time to rest though as the paint fight was up next, which is always held on Sunday at 2:30. I stayed well away at risk of ruining my clothes, however it looks really good fun.

After a bit of time sitting down catching up on the past two days, I saw Holly Humberstone on The Big Gin. I first saw her when she supported Sam Fender when he did his St James Park shows last year. Holly is a really great artist, some of my favourite songs from her setlist were “Dive”, “Scarlett” and “Into Your Room”. The Vaccines were up next, another highlight of my weekend, their indie rock really got the crowd going. Some of my favourites included “All My Friends Are Falling in Love”, “Post Break-Up Sex”, and “If You Wanna”. They were a great warm-up for the final act of the weekend.

Y Not wrapped up a weekend of incredible performances with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, this was my highlight of the weekend by a long way. “4-Minute Warning” by John Paul Jones plays as Noel and the band take the stage, opening the show to “Pretty Boy”. Noel’s crowd work is full of dour humour too, a fan handed Noel a note asking if they will be back in 2025 or 2026 to which he replied “neither” and that they’ll be making a record before they are back. And of course there are timeless bangers aplenty with a one-two of “If I Had A Gun” and “AKA ... What a Life!” After that, Noel asked if “anyone liked Oasis” to an inevitable roar from the crowd. Noel played some of my favourite Oasis songs “Little By Little”, “Half The World Away” and “Stand By Me”. Noel is an incredible live artist and he really shows how timeless his solo music is, everyone from pensioners to young children were singing along to every single word.

And with that my time at Y Not was over, I had such an incredible weekend discovering some new music, listening to some stuff I already know and getting really stuck in to what Y Not had to offer. It’s a really fun family-oriented festival, with plenty of things to do for all ages. A huge thank you to Caitlin, Suzie & Lily for having me this year, here’s to 2025!

Pros: The weather was nice to us over the weekend, making for a very enjoyable time. The paint fight on Sunday is incredibly fun. Getting in and out of the arena is very smooth, I was only given a very cursory search most of the time, and didn’t wait more than a couple of minutes at a time over the whole weekend.

Cons: Toilet queues, especially during the day, were pretty long. The signage around the site isn’t brilliant, which meant I was frequently checking the app. The sound bleed, especially from The Big Gin can sometimes be a little intense, especially near the tents.

Highlight of the weekend: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.