Team Broke Mag rolled back into GALA this year like we’d never left – the bank holiday bash we dream of all year long. Peckham Rye Park, green as ever, was once again our stomping ground, and with the scent of jerk chicken in the air and the thump of bass in the distance, we knew we were home.
Arriving on Friday afternoon, we were met with that now-familiar rush of serotonin – sun peeking through the trees and the sound of distant laughter rising above the beats. Classic. After a quick regroup, we made a beeline for what would become the stage of the day: the Patio.
HiTech tore the damn roof off – if there had been a roof.
This Detroit-bred trio — King Milo, Milf Melly and 47Chops — brought fire, freakiness and full-blown energy to the sun-drenched Patio stage. Think: basslines so low your ribcage vibrates, lyrics bouncing off the treetops, and a crowd that came to dance. Their set was fast, fearless and absolutely filthy in the best way possible – like watching your group chat come to life under strobe lights. It was messy, it was loud, it was euphoric.
If GALA’s about freedom and connection, HiTech were the poster children of both – hype-man energy turned all the way up, and not a single person in the crowd standing still. We lost count of the number of people we saw mouthing “WHO ARE THESE GUYS?”
Just before the chaos kicked in, Moodymann had already laid the groundwork for a Friday to remember. Posted up earlier in the afternoon, the Detroit don had everyone grooving from the jump – vinyl spinning, head bobbing and a thousand shoulders shimmying in sync. It was that classic Moody blend: deep house, funk, soul, and those cheeky vocal snippets that sneak up on you just when you’re settling in. People were dancing like they were being watched by no one and everyone.
Over at 1908, another US legend, Theo Parrish, was doing absolute justice to his non-stop, all-day set. Known for his hypnotic, downtempo house style infused with jazz, funk, soul, techno, and whatever else his hands find, Theo created a rolling wave of groove that ebbed and flowed beautifully over the course of the day. It wasn’t about big drops or flashy transitions – it was storytelling through sound, deep and deliberate.
And just when we thought we’d peaked — Calibre stepped up and closed the night in full-blown style. A masterclass in drum and bass that was as emotional as it was weighty. Deep, rolling drums, hypnotic basslines — a true heads-down, eyes-closed moment to send us floating out of the park.
By sundown, the mood? Glowing. The outfits? Questionable and fabulous in equal measure. The music? Thumping through our bones until long after we’d left the park.One day down, two to go.
Saturday at GALA was a gorgeous one for so many reasons …Kicking off the day with a wander around each of the stages, the first sign that we’d selected the right place to spend our weekend, was the sheer amount of Palestine flags flying from food vendor stalls to The Cause take over at the Patio stage.
Following our ears around the festival for music that really spoke to us, we bounced from the Pleasure Dome to the 1908 stage before noticing a brand-new, vibrant yellow tent with a makeshift cardboard sign reading ‘Sunflower Soundsystem’. Making our way inside, we were met with shiny sunflower balloons, decks decorated with the radiant flowers, two massive wooden speakers cocooning us in the space and a sea of colourfully dressed bodies, all moving in unison to an endless flow of Soul, Funk & Jazz tunes – a heavenly reset amidst the zippy zappy electro extravaganza.
After soaking up the sounds of Aretha Franklin, Oddessey, Patrice Rushen and other iconic throwbacks from Floating Points, we were ready to scope out the rest of what GALA had to offer , only to be sucked into a spin around one of the wooden poles holding up the tent by a group of fellow grooving gals – more hands joined ours in the circle as a spectrum of dancers from all communities united to create a moment of pure magic.
GALA this year was about more than just an event to sesh and let loose, their dance floors became spaces of resistance and revolution spreading joy and love amid this heart-aching political climate in a way that music spaces always have.
Stumbling outside with hearts feeling full, we passed by the Pleasure Dome, where bouncy house-tech hitters were tingling our brains and, before we knew it , we’d carved out a space at the side of the tent (quickly coined ‘The Nook’.) Spending an hour locked inside DJ Courtesy’s world of sounds – which was so good we took turns getting on the ground to gasp for fresh air through the small gap at the bottom of the thick fabric so as not to miss a single second. Powering through the heat and sweat, not letting our body miss a single beat, we shook off any remaining stress and stagnant energy that we’d walked in with to the final songs of the set and slipped back out into the fresh air in search of some scran.
Weaving our way through the food stalls, we discovered ‘En Root’ a plant-based Indian fusion van where we hastily ordered a mango lassi and two Tiny Thalis (which despite their name were actually more than fulfilling). Making our way to the rainbow tyres under one of GALA’s beautifully decorated leafy trees to tuck in, we noted how well the festival prioritises nature in its design right down to their re-usable cups, recycling bins, followed by us reaffirming to ourselves that festival curries always slap.
Making a quick stop at the toilets, a raw, almost tribal electronic call to all ravers resonated from outside into the cubicle, these beats immediately told us Ben UFO had taken to the decks and was calling in his dancers from across the grounds. Skedaddling our way to the JOY stage, we spent the next hour locked into his otherworldly tunes with our bodies planted firmly in GALAs leafy setting, brains a million miles away, getting lost in the music. Coming out of our trance, we commented how we’d just found the perfect setting to witness a BEN UFO set and felt fully prepped for that classic scatty nighttime energy that we were about to indulge in.
As the tunes got dirtier and dancers moved more freely and we went in search of some wooblies and womps, stopping off at the Patio stage to witness Coast 2 Coast (Gene On Earth & The Ghost) dropping some belter tracks during their B2B , before drifting over to 1908 to sample some of DJ Fart In The Clubs wet wobs. Stopping by the Sunflower Soundsystem stage for one final groooooove, we dipped into the Pleasure Dome to catch the end of LAUNDRETTE’s set which was a stunning fusion of Jazz and House to close the night before dragging our boogied-out bodies back home on a high.
Sunday was the last dance, and our first mission of the day? Float-mode. We landed at the Main Stage just in time to be completely swept away by Suze ijó, who blessed us with a shimmering soundscape of soft synths with fuzzy and warm textures. If Saturday was all about stomping, Sunday was here to ease off the weekend right — and Suze ijó delivered exactly that.
Next, we hot-footed it over to the Patio, a space that felt like a spaceship with the lid off—decked out with leafy green houseplants and a slow-drifting haze of smoke — and Alex Kassian was in the pilot’s seat. One of the most satisfying sets of the weekend, Kassian locked in the crowd with ethereal ambient breakdowns peppered with sparkling synth runs for a perfectly crafted liveset for peak hour daydreaming.
Back over at the mainstage, Gerd Janson showed up and did exactly what Gerd Janson does and reminded us why he’s such a trusted hand for Sunday selections. With a seemingly bottomless record bag full of sunshine grooves and disco classics, each track flowed naturally into the next, with subtle gear shifts keeping the momentum perfectly tuned.
Over at The Patio, Bradley Zero brought the warmth in all the right ways. Leaning into percussive house and soulful rollers, he kept the energy in that perfect Sunday sweet spot — laid-back but still completely locked in. An inviting atmosphere that without a doubt kept the good vibes going.
Over at 1908, things got more intimate. With the booth placed right in the centre, Yu Su & DITA kept things spinning with a fluid blend of leftfield house and disco. The energy hit a full high when Gadjo’s “So Many Times (Dub Mix)” dropped — all hands truly in the air — just as they passed the baton to Hunee & Antal, setting up the final blast of Sunday euphoria.
Beyond the music, Sunday gave us pure GALA energy. Everyone looked annoyingly good. And say what you want about festival fatigue — but when the programming is this sharp, the energy this high, and the sound systems this crispy, Sunday was anything but a comedown.
Words by Reva Aurelia, Lorna Tyler, Luke Taylor & Elle Banner
Photography – Poppy Williams & Ellen Day