Victorious Festival 2023: hundreds of drummers march onto Southsea Common as Batala returns to Portsmouth festival

The Batala Portsmouth Encontro, a Samba collective featuring members of Batala Portsmouth and a selection of international drummers, brought a burst of colour and energy as they arrived in formation at Victorious Festival. In the first of several performances scheduled for the festival, more than 280 drummers paraded onto the site at 11.00am bringing a taste of South America to Southsea.

NOW READ: 8 pictures from Raye's emotional performance on Portsmouth's Southsea Common

Batala featured at Victorious Festival last year in an impromptu performance with Sam Ryder. The star invited the samba drum band to perform his Eurovision hit ‘Spaceman’ on the main stage - as a completely last minute decision.

At this year’s festival, the scores of drummers also performed at the World Music village, on Castle Field and on the Common Field.

Watch the above video to see the musical procession entertain music fans on Southsea Common.