Victorious Festival's founders look back - and to the future

It's the point during Sunday evening’s closing headline set when Andy Marsh, James Ralls and Ben Miles along with some of their trusted team can gather at the side of the stage and say: ‘Good job,’ for another successful year.

But as with so many other things this year, the three-day Southsea seafront festival has had to be cancelled because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

And so there will be no euphoric release when Royal Blood take to the main stage this year as Sunday headliners. Along with Ian Brown, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Streets, Nile Rodgers and Chic and dozens more, the Brighton-based rockers were scheduled to perform this bank holiday weekend.

As co-founder Andy explains of those Sunday nights: ‘You might not have seen anyone or talked to them on the radio for a few hours, it’s just nice to get that nod that everything’s gone well.

‘It’s almost “kicking out time” as it were, and we’ve had another successful year. I really cherish those bits, whether it’s during Noel [Gallagher – 2016’s closing act] or whoever, you can touch base with everyone because you will all have been doing your separate bits across the weekend.’

The festival has its roots in Vintage Victorious, a free two-day event in the Historic Dockyard in June 2012 – held on the parade ground next to HMS Victory.

But the founders consider 2013 their first proper year. It was again in the dockyard, but it moved to August bank holiday weekend for the first time and the bill included more well-known names, such as Level 42, Maximo Park, Katy B, The Feeling, and Charlotte Church, as well as giving numerous local acts the chance to play to a decent crowd. The latter aspect has been a mainstay ever since.

The following year they moved to Southsea Common and have continued to go from strength-to-strength.

The 2014 event, featuring Dizzee Rascal, Seasick Steve and Ocean Colour Scene was a big gamble for the team, and that year’s Sunday night is one of James’s favourite memories: ‘It was that sense of: “Wow, we’ve done it, we’ve managed to pull it off.

‘My single favourite moment was when we had Seasick Steve playing, and he’s my mum and dad’s absolute favourite band, so I managed to get them sat at the front of the stage to watch him. That kept them happy for a couple of years – I didn’t get any grief for ages!’

In 2017 they added Friday evenings – with original nutty boys Madness taking the inaugural headlining honours.

From about 45,000 in 2013, more than 150,000 punters poured through its gates across the three days in 2019 and they are now mentioned in the same breath as major players in the festival scene.

But as Andy admits, there was no grand plan. ‘I think we just did things and they worked, and it just grew.

‘I don't think anyone ever stopped to go: “Wow, it's going to be as big as the major festivals,” because when we moved it to August bank holiday, which is the same weekend as Reading and Leeds, I don't think any of us ever thought: “Well, that could be a problem”, which now it is sometimes, like we’ll get blocked on the odd band here and there, and stuff like that.

‘I think we’re quite flattered that that is a problem now.’

Having had much of the same close-knit team around them since the start, they never feel they have overreached themselves and the growth has been, as James puts, it ‘totally organic.’

‘We’ve grown as a team, and those who’ve joined us have stayed with us. We haven’t really had any staff turnover – a lot of people have been with us since day one. We took a manager from the Historic Dockyards, and some of the people from [Albert Road pub] Little Johnny Russell’s, which we used to run, but they’re all experts in what they’re doing now. I don’t think there’s anyone better at what they’re doing in any other events company in the country.

‘I’m quite relaxed about getting everything organised and done because we’re surrounded by such good people.’

There’s also pride in seeing something they created take off in their home city.

‘Where we’re all part of the community and grew up here it’s quite rewarding for us knowing that we’ve been able to do something that’s put Portsmouth on the map,’ says Ben.

But it’s not always been such plain-sailing. High winds and torrential downpours forced the team to pull several smaller stages on health and safety grounds on the Sunday of 2018. As production manager, Ben was on the main stage desperately trying to get it ready for the bands to perform.

‘Sweeping rain water off the stage while more is coming in is probably some sort of insanity. That year was testing, but rewarding at the same time. And just the logistics of getting the bands on, but it’s the old cliche – the show must go on.’

The first band to play on the stage that day were Mercury Music Prize winners Gomez.

‘They had the worst of the weather,’ recalls Ben, ‘and I had assumed there was no-one on site. But when I got out on stage to get the changeover done, I realised they were probably playing to 4-5,000 people, which was mad, considering the challenges we had with the weather.’

Andy adds: ‘It showed the resilience of everyone, and people wanted to make it work.

‘I radioed James at one point and said: “It’s a wash out’, but he was like, “There’s still 25,000 people on site!” And it was Biblical at that point.

‘A lot of people did go home and change their socks or whatever and came back.

‘That really shows it’s not just about the line-up, it shows that the festival has moved into its own where the support is fantastic, and it’s a people’s festival.’

But the weather cleared up and techno titans The Prodigy delivered a headlining set Ben rightly describes as ‘mind-blowing.’

It’s not all just about the main stages though – the festival has grown to take in comedy, literature, a world music village, an expansive children’s arena, as well as numerous stalls and vendors hosted by local organisations and charities for punters to explore.

James explains: ‘We do get so many partners coming back each year, and new partners – a lot of it is local partners, and now we’ve got the theatres [The Kings and New Theatre Royal] coming down and trying things out.

‘They get more and more confidence every year that the audience is going to be there for them, so they tend to invest more in what they're doing. So that also gives us more content, we put on more content ourselves, and we're able to reach audiences who wouldn't usually come to a festival – like the people from Portsmouth who wouldn’t normally go to, say, a Reading Festival.

‘It’s always going to evolve,’ adds Andy. ‘I think it’s starting to find its place, not just in Portsmouth but nationally with all of the other festivals.

‘You know if you come to Victorious you’re not going to have crazy drum’n’bass acts all day – it’s family friendly, and there’s a certain type of music. I think we’re finding our place in the market.

Although 2020 has been a wash out, they are promising to come back as strong as possible in 2021. James says: ‘I think that next year is probably going to be the best we've ever had. I think people are going to really need festivals and things to go to after we’ve had such a bad year, there’s going to be a pent up demand for festivals.

‘I think it’s going to exceed everyone’s expectations on how busy it’s going to be, and we’ll definitely get it delivered.’

WIN INCREDIBLE VICTORIOUS COMPETITION PRIZES THIS WEEKEND

This weekend the team behind Victorious are running a series of competitions to say 'thank you’ to their loyal supporters.

On Friday, there was a giveaway in conjunction with Strongbow, which sponsors one of the festival’s areas.On Saturday there is a ‘money can’t buy’ competition – a ‘backstage’ pass to view your favourite band from the side of stage in 2021 and premium tickets.Finally on Sunday the prizes are bundles of merch from acts who have played Victorious before, plus premium tickets.More details are on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.Early bird tickets are on sale now from £30 a day, go to victoriousfestival.co.uk.