Organisers of Victorious delighted with best festival yet

Some 120,000 people flocked to Southsea Common to watch artists such as Noel Gallagher, Manic Street Preachers and Mark Ronson perform over the weekend.

With plans to make Victorious Portsmouth’s very own Glastonbury, organiser James Ralls believes they’re well on their way to achieving that goal.

James said: ‘It’s been an incredible two days and it has been our best-ever event.

‘We’re delighted that we’ve been able to attract record crowds and we get great support from both locals and people travelling from afar.

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‘When we first started at the dockyard, we never imagined we would have the likes of Noel Gallagher playing, but it shows how popular we have become.

‘If we can come to an agreement with the police and the council, we would love to increase next year’s capacity.

‘Our festival is popular because we cater for all and don’t have a niche. Around 30 per cent of the people come from Portsmouth and that’s because there are things like the family zone.

‘We’re also a big supporter of the young musicians we have on the South Downs College stage, as those are the people who potentially could be headlining music festivals down the line.

‘We’d like to thank everyone who attended and the people who have supported us from day one.’

Donna Jones, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘Victorious has gone from strength to strength and now is one of the biggest festivals.

‘The festival was runner-up as the UK’s best music festival last year and that has been shown by the amount of people who have travelled to attend the event, both from across the country and internationally.

‘The location is one of the most beautiful in the world for a music festival, looking out on to the Solent.

‘It is not just for music-lovers, but families can come down and have a great time.

‘As a council, we hope we can have events like this several times a year so bars, restaurants and hotels are busy.’

Peter Chegwyn, who organises Wickham Festival, said: ‘I go to a lot of music festivals looking for things I can criticise – I found nothing at all that was wrong. The organisers and Portsmouth City Council should be proud.’