Victorious Festival has come a long way in a short time

Just three-and-a-half years ago it was a brand new event taking place in Portsmouth’s historic dockyard.

Now it’s moved to a seafront location on the common and is regarded as a major player on the festival scene, with the clout to pull in some seriously big names.

Victorious is a fantastic addition to what our city offers.

Putting on great music in an enviable setting right by the Solent has proved a big draw.

The figures speak for themselves.

The region scooped £8.47m of economic benefits from last year’s Victorious, which pulled in 113,413 spectators over the two days.

That figure was made up of both locals and many from outside the city.

This year organisers are looking to exceed those figures and we certainly wouldn’t bet against them.

Today we exclusively reveal how they have pulled together a seriously impressive and diverse bill.

Ticket sales are already double what they were at this stage last year and will only accelerate now acts are confirmed.

Camping has been added, allowing 7,000 visitors to get the full festival experience.

At this rate, contingency plans to expand capacity each day beyond the 60,000 mark may well be put into action.

We can’t help but agree with Portsmouth Tory culture boss Cllr Linda Symes when she says: ‘Victorious has built a great reputation.

‘It’s a great day out for families. The acts are fantastic, the setting is beautiful; it’s superb.

‘The economic impact it has on the city is amazing and we should be very grateful it’s here.’

So as the rain keeps on coming down and we struggle to get through the winter gloom, let’s look forward to some summer sunshine and song and another memorable Victorious weekend by the sea.