Broke’s start to Gottwood 2024 couldn’t have been more on brand. After being way too confident in our preparations the night before, one cancelled train later, we found ourselves scrambling to make the 16:33 to Holyhead, running through the heat of London’s Underground, pouring with sweat, backpacks and Mountain Warehouse tents in tow. After admitting defeat stuck in a packed carriage with minutes ’til the train departed, and three stops to go, the universe handed us a gift, a text letting us know the train was delayed and would leave fifteen minutes late. Determined to make it to Gottwood that night, we paced it up Euston’s escalators, down to the platform and collapsed through the doors, ready to depart on a five-hour journey to Wales for a long weekend of baaa-nging beats.
THURSDAY
Arriving at the site as dusk fell, we were greeted by the multicolour lights of Gottwood, poking out of the woodland to welcome us as we descended down the rocky hill, the stress and exhaustion of the trek from London to Holyhead falling away and becoming a distant memory as a string of fairy lights and leafy overhead trees coaxing us into the festival’s cosy little world. The night began with Papa Nugs B2B KT at the Trigon, after ‘avin a boogie behind the decks, we departed in search of the reason we’d been so set on Thursday, underground DJs.
Striking gold at Ricky’s Disco we found Alicia B2B Softi mixing electrified beepidy bops with ethereal synths under the stage’s massive mirrored disco ball. Wandering over to the woodland, eyeing up the Rizzla van and crowd gathered in front of Wax Material’s mobile record shop (decorated with built-in decks, mushroom lanterns and bubbling with wobs) along the way, the music turned tribal as we became surrounded by trees – side note to say we really miss the LED jellyfish hanging from them last year – and took a moment to sink into the sofa stage winding down ready for Friday. (For any first-timers looking to do the full stretch next year, Thursday you’ll find a more studenty feel to the festival, with space to explore the stages and settle in.)
FRIDAY
The day started with rediscovering stages, after scranning a ‘Ghandi’s Flip Flop’ curry from Earth Kitchen, we baaa-ounced between a sunny Walled Garden and last-year favourite the Curve (making one too many sheep jokes throughout the day). Still hunting for our Friday highlight as the sun set, some saucy tunes pricked our ears from across the lake, as we approached the Lighthouse, gagging for a stage to commit to, Marcelina Wick pulled us closer to the decks with sexy mew mews and unexpected frequencies as sis sorted us out for the night.
SATURDAY
Wanting to see what the lawn had to say for itself, with the sun blazing and everyone sleepy from the night before, we sat ourselves down by the lily pad-speckled lake listening to the mellow, lowkey beats echoing from the Cove stage, before bouncing over to Phone Traxxx’s set for some boings to shake us awake.
Night descended and Gottwood got into full swing, the Saturday night party had started. After following our ears in search of a set that’d keep us sucked in for a few hours, we hedged our bets on Half Baked and headed back to the Walled Garden. Just as we started cosying ourselves in the crowd and our mate disappeared to get water, things got weird with some questionable BMP blends and effects thrown into the mix (maybe we missed the vision? lmao), while we didn’t get our sweaty middle of the crowd moment that evening, we did end the night creasing to the ear crippling sounds of the mystery DJ.
SUNDAY
Something was in the air on Sunday, everything from the atmosphere to music was aligned, and Gottwood was in its element. Wandering down to the Wax Material record tent (complete with turn tables) after eyeing up their £2 mystery bin, with a mixed bag of everything from ’90s acid house to undiscovered drum and bass, we followed the mood of random finds all the way to Rickie’s Disco tent spending a solid hour lost in the groovy trance of DJ Omar (aka, Trmto) and his extensive collection of vinyls.
Moving over to the Trigon for a set we’d been gassed to see all weekend, Lulah Francs did exactly what we expected, delivering the most godly drop of Gottwood 2024 with an unreleased banger by ROKAR releasing in September (for anyone desperately seeking the ID). With the final night in full swing, we bounced between Dr Banana and Scarlett O’Malley B2B Demi Riquisimo before getting stuck in at the Curve for Baby Rollen B2B Galleos, curing our craving for the inner circle of a dance floor and slapping a Broke sticker on the nearest pole to commemorate the moment. Knowing exactly where we wanted to see out Gottwood 2024, we made our way back to the first stage of the day, slipping past security as they closed off entry to the red-lit tent and cemented ourselves in the crowd, spending the last few hours lost in the funk-filled, freaky world of Voightmann.
PHOTOGRAPHY by the Khroma Collective: