In Review: Hospitality in the Park 2019

By Carly Hacon
The sun was shining, faces were beaming and the bass was booming. The ultimate combination for a scorching London day fest and an idyllic recipe for Hospitality in the Park 2019.
With a big turnout, over 16,000 drum and bass fans headed to Finsbury Park on 21 September to see out the season in classic raver style. Now in its fourth year, the south London festival was set for another belter with several stages and an incredible line-up which included Metrik, Kings of the Rollers and Camo and Krooked.
Hospital Records is one of the biggest drum and bass labels with a talented pool of genre-spanning acts, and whether you had a thirst for liquid or were bang into bassline – this festival had you covered with something for everyone’s taste.
On our arrival, we headed to the press entrance and to our surprise DnB producer Grafix stood behind us in the queue. After surprisingly bumping into one of Hospital Record’s noteworthy names, we were already buzzing before walking into the grounds. With top DnB elite performers, loads of food stalls and glitter stations, it was clear to see that the festival had everything you could ask for.
Being a massive DnB fan and living in London for the last four years, I could only ask myself, “why on earth hadn’t I attended before?” Instead, I’d been a yearly attendee of We Are Fstvl and Norfolk’s Sundown festival, where I’d spend my time routinely clockwatching and running from one side of the festival to the other to scope out bass busting sets. A massive bonus of this festival was that I didn’t have to do that here – every stage was a vibe, so I enjoyed my time floating around the camp knowing that I’d have a mad time at any one of them.
I was stoked to see a fierce female lineup with scene faves such as Flava D and DJ Storm who both did their share of roof-raising and with striking sets and spellbinding laser shows to match. The increasing number of women on the lineup proves that, as a label, Hospitality is continually pushing in a more progressive and diverse direction.
With crowds like Hospitality’s, no one cares who you are as long as you were having a good time, and that reaffirms the label’s core family values. It’s more than just a festival, it’s a community of people who all become one through their passion for music and respect for one another. So, it was no surprise when we made an array of new friends on the day whose connections sparked from either lending a lighter, assisting with set times or by dancing in the crowds.
With our new mates in tow, we headed to see SPY at the Dubplate stage. Not only was it a top-notch set but we found great joy in being able to climb up on a raised dancefloor attached to the side of the stage. It was amazing to watch everyone on the platform loving life, throwing moves out to the audience while we felt like a part of the performance.
One of the highlights at the Royal Rumble X Run stage was when Kings of the Rollers dropped Pola & Bryson’s remix of Adam F – Circles. The crowd went mental for the modern-day twist on the golden classic. I can confirm this is still stuck in my head.
At the Outlook stage, it was a special moment to see two of the greats swapping over sets as Skeptical + SP: MC handed the stage over to DJ Marky, who then went on to show off his scratching skills which everyone lapped up.
As we transitioned into the night, I spent most of my time at the Hospitality stage because – well can you blame me? The mainstage brought out set after set of top talent including Danny Byrd and Metrik, who fueled the crowds with high-energy, straight-up fire sets. One of the stand out moments for me was when Metrik dropped Pendulum’s Witchcraft as everyone in the tent chanted the words, forming one voice and nodding their heads in unison.
As the festival came to a close, Camo and Krooked saw the day out successfully letting loose some iconic tracks whilst dropping in some bumping new releases. Never a dull moment with these two, they kept banger after banger coming and the crowd kept the energy up throughout.
Hospitality in the Park 2019 was an incredible experience overall and although festival season is over for another year, I’m already planning my follow up appointment. A massive thank you and well done to all involved – see you at the Docks!
Check out more Hospitality events at: hospitalitydnb.com