Get Down with GALA Festival 2024

Team Broke Mag spent the bank hol weekend back where we belong – galivanting in a muddy field with great music, gorgeous food and glowing vibes – trusty GALA festival welcomed us with open arms for the start of our favourite season.

Approaching Peckham Rye Park, a familiar, tingly feeling waved over us; we observed the crowds eagerly pacing it towards the music booming from within the festival walls. We’re back, baby! After making our way up to the grounds (Izzy biking her way on the Sunday as her step count was already off the scale) we slide in through the press entrance to be greeted by Jaz and Jaz.

Kicking off on Friday afternoon, Goya Gumbani pulls up with a selection of the finest vinyl, blessing the Cornerstone dome with the sweet and soulful sounds of Sade and Jamiroquai. His persona uplifted us while he pulled out record after record as we all shook our booties. Later that night, we were lucky to swing by Cornerstone on our way out, where we caught the JUMBI team passing free records to the remaining punters and stragglers (us) over the decks – before we beelined for the turntable at home to check out the goods.

Nestled in the depths of the Patio, Nightmares On Wax revitalised our summer spirits, alighting them with a seamless blend of grooves on grooves. His 2013 Boiler Room has been a Broke HQ go-to chillout mix for years, so it was a delight to witness the mastery first-hand. But unlike his digital set, which we obsess over, the crowd actually matched the unreal vibes of the music (which you can’t say about the renowned video on YouTube).

The first night saw an overarching Garage theme (standard on a Friday evening in London Town) with Girls Don’t Sync, Interplanetary Criminal and Joy Orbison. This vibe sprawled throughout the rest of the festival, to the point where we did a lap and heard Garage blasting from every single stage – admittedly longing for a bit of variety we usually expect to find at GALA. Anyhoo, we looked towards Saturday with excitement …

Saturday was House heavy, set to the sounds of Sally C, Michelle Manetti and Palms Trax, with Angel D’Lite whipping up some tasty treats. On a food note – we wanna shout about the abundance of delicious foods as we indulged ourselves with hotdogs, jerk chicken and a classic Mr Whippy.

Another thing we can’t gass up enough is the sustainable, earthy elements of the festival from the reusable cups and abundance of recycling bins down to the wooden wristband toggle (bc single-use plastic ain’t it), it’s always refreshing to find a festival that not only gives a f*ck about mother nature but incorporates it into the event so big up GALA for that.

Sunday = Funday and with that, GALA did not disappoint! It’s known that Sunday at GALA brings disco, funk and all things groovy, and my gosh did we need some musical joy. We were darting around the park from dome to tent to patio enjoying every little droplet of groove we could snatch. Crazy P strutted their stuff on the main stage as the sun shined down, Danielle wore a stunning green playsuit and cream cowboy hat which we were so close to pinching… shhh.

Other incredible acts on Sunday included Peach, the psychic/DJ who, just as we predicted, spun some top-tier tunes, sending everyone at the Patio into a trance, ’til a sprinkle of rain brought us back to reality and the rave continued. After bouncing around the other tents soaking up the final day of GALA 2024 we took a break in the tyres situated under a gorgeous tree adorned with red glass baubles before making our way to the Pleasure Dome ready to groove to the electrified old-school tunes of Horse Meat Disco for under the disco ball.

On a final note, we think it’s important to acknowledge the negative atmosphere created by the security team working GALA this year (which they have now parted ways with). Respect to the festival for speaking up, listening to its audience and standing in solidarity with Palestine – for any first-timers who attended this year and had a bad rub-up with the crew, don’t let this tarnish GALA, an event that actively encourages community, compassion and free speech, we recommend giving it another go in 2025.