Sneak peek at Victorious Festival site as final countdown to three-day event begins - in pictures

Thousands of people will descend on Southsea this weekend as the three-day Victorious Festival gets underway.

And this year organisers have said that they hope changes to the site’s layout will make ‘Victorious the best experience it can be’.

Richard Ashcroft, The Black Keys and Kasabian headline on the Common Stage, which this year has been moved back to its previous position in the middle of Southsea Common close to the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

The Common Stage was moved further west and closer to The Esplanade Carpark in 2023 to open up the site and create more space, with more food and drink stalls put in place where it was also located for 2024.

But last year the ongoing sea defence works made the site on Southsea Common narrower forcing more of a revamp of the site layout. Now these have been completed the event’s organisers have rearranged the site and brought the stage back to its original position, with food vendors in a horseshoe shape instead of in lines.

The VIP Hideaway and Gardens area have returned to the South side of the stage, with the accessibility platform on the northern side.

A spokesperson said: “We’re always adding and changing elements based on what our audience wants, with the aim of making Victorious the best experience it can be.

“This year, the completion of the seafront works has given us back some of the width previously lost along the sea defences, so we have taken the opportunity to rearrange the site. The main stage is now back in a more central position on Southsea Common for a better flowing site, while the area behind it will be used for a small amount of VIP parking.”

Other changes this year sees the re-creation of the much-loved Southsea pub Little Johnny Russell’s on the Common which is positioned near to where the comedy tent used to be, which is not making a return after there was no room for it last year.

The pub recreation includes old sofas, engraved tables, beer barrels and the LJR stage for a whole weekend line up of performers.

A spokesperson explained: “We retired the comedy tent a couple of years ago and focussed efforts on expanding into more immersive-led territories such as the brand-new Little Johnny Russell’s venue inspired by the iconic local pub, which will play host to a stacked line up of talent hosted by local legend Handsome Dave Rocker.”

Amd this year the Seaside Stage has been replaced with the Southsea Bandstand as part of the celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of Portsmouth gaining city status, with the Twisted Tearooms also moved to the Bandstand Field to create a more nostalgic area for festival goers to enjoy.

The spokesperson explained: “We’re making the most of the once in a generation Portsmouth 100 celebrations by focussing on the legendary bandstand to stage its 100th performance of the year with the respect it deserves, alongside returning fan favourite content including the much-loved Twisted Tearooms.”

There are other changes to the middle of the site with the World Music Stage area spread out, but the popular Kids Arena remains in its position to the east of Avenue de Caen with the Under the Trees stage and The Food Court also on that side of the road.

D-Day Story, Southsea Skatepark and the splash park also all form part of the site, with the Portsmouth Creates Hub making a return as well as the Street Market and Henry’s House inside Southsea Castle. The Castle Stage also returns to Castle Field.

Blue Reef is not part of Victorious this year, with access arrangements in place for its visitors.