Set in the South Downs village of Glynde Love Supreme is in its seventh year and is growing at a tremendous rate. More than 50,000 guests now visit over the weekend with a large number of day guests. Weekend camping and non-camping tickets are also available with a host of premium camping options to suit your tastes.
The facilities at Love Supreme are excellent and toilets and showers were clean and plentiful. There are several campsite options with family camping just a few minutes walk from the festival and around 5-10 minutes walk from the car park. The whole site is very flat so offers a perfect spot to pitch tents and the campsites we saw were reasonably spacious. A little further away was the live-in vehicle field.
We arrived on Friday and after a short wait for tickets then we pitched up and headed in. It’s worth noting that no food or drink is allowed to be taken into the festival arena so leave picnics at camp and fill the kids bellies unless you plan to eat out. For a family-friendly festival, we were surprised how strict this policy was, even on bottles of water which guests were being asked to tip away and refill inside. Water taps were available though so on a lovely sunny weekend this wasn’t a problem.
Friday entertainment was in the Big Top, Arena and other smaller venues with the main stage starting up on Saturday. It’s a nice chance for weekend guests to get their bearings before the day guests arrive and the kids enjoyed running free in the safe setting. We discovered ‘Blue in the Green’ a hidden late night venue on until 2am and enjoyed Mr Bongo before giving in to the kids and traditional funfair rides (£3 each) which they loved.
Highlight of the weekend for us was reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff who continues to blow us away each time we see him perform over the last 20 years. A multi-generational performer he had young and old enjoying his good vibes classics including Wonderful World, I Can See Clearly Now, The Harder They Come and Many Rivers to Cross. Perfect afternoon tunes for all in the sunshine with the beautiful backdrop of the Glyde Place and a once-in-a-lifetime headliner for the kids to experience – something Love Supreme does perfectly.
Another absolute legend took to the stage on Saturday evening in the form Gladys Knight after Cinematic Orchestra but I snuck off to the Big Top to catch something a whole lot more lively. Thousands of younger festival goers packed out the tent and jumped along enthusiastically to Steam Down who showed just how Jazz effortlessly fits into the youth market. The ‘club style’ vibe was excellent in the arena so I stayed on and caught some of Louie Vega’s DJ set.
Love Supreme struck me as quite grown-up in terms of music before we arrived so we are really surprised at the number of young people enjoying themselves. It was nice to see so many taking in the music and whilst a lot of the older crowd sat and enjoyed the main stage or at the smaller jazz workshop tents the younger guests flocked to the Big Top and Arena or the late night venues.
On Sunday we chilled out at The Bandstand where more relaxed traditional musicians performed. The silky ‘Sade style’ tones of Bryony Jarman-Pinto added her as a firm favourite on my newfound discoveries. Headliners on the main stage were Jamie Cullum followed by Lauren Hill who perfectly blends rap, soul, and reggae into her unique story.
For kids
The dedicated kids area aimed at younger children provided a great retreat from the sunshine. MC Larry had the tiniest tots up rocking to some parent-friendly tunes whilst several craft workshops took place. Face painting and circus workshops plus a full programme of other activities for younger guests were scheduled Saturday and Sunday. A lovely chilled vibe situated next to the healing area.
Our youngest got stuck in making a mask with the helpful team there whilst I went to explore the spa. Rude not to!
A beautiful tipi held yoga classes all weekend and there was a full list of treatments on offer in the spa. It really is a lovely setting and the kids area sits well next to the healing area and opposite the shopping village where our eldest was in her element.
Kids could also have a go at aerial skills just opposite the Pimms bus!
Food and Drink
Top of the tastes of the weekend was the bubble waffles including one called ‘the rainbow unicorn’! There is more food on offer at Love Supreme than you could possibly try in a weekend so we were spoilt for choice. Go in hungry, you will not be disappointed!
Love Supreme is a foodies heaven and you can pretty much find every kind of food you could wish for. Halloumi fries were a particular hit with our family but it was all great.
I do struggle with festivals that still use single-use plastic in the bars and would urge the organisers to consider a more sustainable cup deposit scheme, especially as there is no option to bring drinks. This is the only negative I had and after enjoying a great weekend at Love Supreme I feel sad to point it out but I am thinking about our children’s future, the plastic problem we face, and how we can continue to enjoy festivals in a sustainable way.
Thanks for having us Love Supreme. What a splendid weekend!
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