Victorious Festival is so much fun. It’s one of the most chilled festivals I’ve been to, and the fact it’s in Portsmouth (a city) means there are hotels, toilets, bars, restaurants and shops within easy walking distance. Brilliant. 

I live in Portsmouth, so it’s even better for me. 

The first year I went to Victorious I actually lived about a ten-minute walk from the main gate. It was great. Last year I’d moved about two miles away, still easy. So I went again the next year, for the hat trick. The only festivals I’ve been to three times each are Glastonbury and Victorious. That says a lot. 

Whether you live in Portsmouth or not, Victorious is a great festival to go to and one of my favourites.

Here’s why…

– seeking solace from the heat of 2017 up on the hill looking out to the Isle of Wight

7 best things about Victorious Festival

1. Victorious line-up

Victorious Festival has never held back when it comes to their line-up, no exceptions. Victorious 2019 boasted sets from Indie favourites Two Door Cinema Club, Rudimental and 80s legends, New Order.

Not to mention, James Bay, Lewis Capaldi and Clean Bandit. My favourite for 2019 was All Saints, but my favourite in my Victorious history was Stereophonics. 

They have such good eclectic line ups, can’t wait to see what Victorious 2021 brings!

2. The Victorious location

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!

Another fantastic reason to attend, is due to it’s unbeatable Southsea Beach location. A stone’s throw from the sea, Victorious festival is the perfect place to spend your August bank holiday. The Guardian says it’s one of the 6 best beachfront festivals in the UK. 

We spent Sunday morning chilling on the beach with a bottle of Prosecco one year. Great way to start a festival!

3. It’s great value for money

Adult day tickets for Victorious start at £35 and weekend camping tickets are £130 – a great price to enjoy your favourite artists!

Check out today’s Victorious ticket prices here. 

– Franz Ferdinand were one of the highlights of 2017

4. Victorious is family friendly

Bringing the kids to a music festival can be quite a daunting task, however Victorious offer a designated Kids Arena which includes everything from face painting to Jedi training, there’ll also be appearances from Transformers Bumble Bee, Peppa Pig and the Octonauts cast. Plus, all activities in the Kids Arena are completely free!

Whether you’re a music lover, a foodie or looking for somewhere to take the kids, Victorious boasts a selection things to do for everyone. From an Acoustic Stage, a Champagne bar, the Market Way, Real Ale Village and Kids Arena, you’ll find something for all the family.

5. It boosts the local economy

Victorious boosted the local economy by £10 million last year and the majority of festival goers revealed that they had a more positive view of Portsmouth since attending the festival. I’ve had people on Instagram telling me they want to come back in the future, just to hang out in Southsea. 

Seriously, it’s a great location. 

6. Victorious is sustainable

Sustainability is a huge topic for festivals. Last year, Victorious revealed that they used 0.23% per litre of fuel (per person, per day), scoring significantly lower than the industry average of 0.58%. They also have an initiative for festivalgoers to pick up cups and sell them back to the festival to afford more one drinks.

I heard one mum telling another that their kid was making a nice little profit from it. 

7. It’s a good size for a festival 

By this I mean you can get near the front of the stage, without being squashed Glasto style. You can get real close to your favourite acts. The Victorious capacity is now 65,000, meaning about a third of that of Glastonbury. 

I was about four rows back at All Saints and had plenty of space. You don’t get that at other UK festivals!

Sleeping at Victorious

There’s camping available although I don’t actually even know where it is, given I live so close. There are loads of hotels and guest houses in Southsea, which I’m sure were all hiking their prices in entrepreneurial / greedy joy. You can stay at the Best Western, Ibis, Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, or look up any of the hotels in Southsea.

You can also stay nearby in Gosport, Hayling Island or Havant, and just get an Uber in (expect a massive surge fare). Or get the train – it’s about a 25-minute walk down to the festival from either Fratton or Portsmouth and Southsea station.

Toilets at Victorious 

Have to say, the toilets were dreamy. Fragrant even.

Well, in VIP. Totally worth the upgrade.

I don’t really remember a bad toilet experience throughout the rest of the festival. Although I did have to queue for an exceptional amount of time at one last year. Top tip for you, the toilets in the D Day car park are properly plumbed in and actual, real toilets. Bit of a queue, but worth it. 

Also, try the Champagne bar in the castle. 

The queueing system

The only thing, only thing, I didn’t like about Victorious was the ridiculous queuing system. They’d installed snakeing barriers so you had to queue round rather than behind, it was stupid. Queuers would lose time in being told they could go and it felt like you were at an airport rather than a festival. See those barriers on the right below, that’s what I’m talking about.

– The calm before the craziness at the main stage

I asked one of the security guys on the Saturday night why they’d installed it, and what was the thinking behind it and he replied (aggressively) “It’s how we queue. Haven’t you ever been to a festival before?”

Errrrr, YES. Never in all my 46 different festivals have I ever seen one that made people queue like this.

If the guy hadn’t been so rude and obviously harassed I would’ve told him aallll about this blog of mine. I can only presume he’d been asked by everyone who’d queued that day.

I’ve since been told that this is how they queue at Reading Festival and Leeds too. Don’t like it.

– Me and Fi loving life in 2017. The fact Victorious is in my home city means I can even do my hair!

I’ve seen some Tweets from people complaining about how long they had to queue but the ones I was in were never longer than five minutes, which kind of made the snakeing all the more annoying as you just had to walk round them to reach the front.

Why make it so difficult?

They did this again in 2019, so it’s obviously working for them. And just to note, the queues at the Castle Stage bar were just insane. Get your drinks before you go in. 

If you get your Uber to drop you off on Palmerston Road you can get some nice bar drinks in before you go. I live in Southsea, I know what I’m talking about.

READ MORE: Where to Eat in Southsea

What else is at Victorious?

There’s a lot to discover at Victorious, for such a small festival. You can tell the organisers and curators have really made the effort to make it a cool space too. You can read more in my post on the Coolest Things to Do at Victorious Festival to see what else is at Victorious Festival beyond the main stage.

Sitting up by the Victorious sign was awesome – you could see out to the Isle of Wight on the other side, and over the festival grounds below to the Castle Stage.

It’s a great festival to bring your kids to as you can get tickets for 5-15 year olds for £8, and under 5s for £1. There’s a big kids area and Peppa Pig was the star attraction one year.

There was a whole street of food stalls with anything you could possibly want. I had a craving for falafel so had that in a pita, while most of my friends went to the Pie and Vinyl pop up. Pie and Vinyl is one of the iconic places to eat in Southsea, you can listen to vinyl while eating… wait for it… pie.

How much is Victorious Festival?

• Tickets £35 early bird / £42 last minute
• Cider or beer £🍺 6
• Return train ticket London to Portsmouth £25
• Falafel wrap £5
• Water £2

8 things to do at Victorious other than the music

1. Enjoy some retail therapy

Not your usual fruit and veg affair, Market Way is a row of stands and stalls between the Common and Castle Stages. It’s got loads of crafty items, local goods, knick knacks and great food all luring you further away from your budget, but we all need a festival momento, right?

2. Knock back a beer

Beer isn’t exactly a rarity at a festival but what makes Victorious so great is that there’s lots of it and while you’re run of the mill brews are around, so are the craft numbers and authentic ales. This can all be found in the Real Ale Village and with three days, I reckon you can make your way through the list, or at least a good dent in it all.

READ MORE: The Big Victorious Festival Review 

And you can buy your Victorious tickets for 2021 here!

3. Sip back the Champers

Seeing as Victorious is a city festival, you can definitely leave the dirt and grime behind and make it more of a classy affair. Start off by sipping on the Champs at Southsea Castle. A top spot in the seaside city, Victorious adds a touch more class to Henry VIII’s former spot by pitching up a Summer Champagne Bar. Definitely one of the more unique things to do at Victorious, so I hope you’ll indulge. 

4. Run away with the circus

After seeing Happy’s Circus at Victorious, no doubt you’ll be straight online googling trapeze classes near you and wondering how good you’d look in a leotard. This troupe have all the bells and whistles of your traditional circus but pitch up for the crowds to see at Victorious with their acrobats, sword balancers and fire eaters. Take a break from the live acts and enjoy entertainment of an entirely different kind.

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READ MORE: Why We Should All Go To Victorious Festival 

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5. Relax on the beach

For a festival, we’re usually packing the wellies but for Victorious make room for the flip flops because it’s goodbye fields and hello beach. Right on the coast, Victorious backs onto the Southsea Beach meaning you can combine a little sunbathing and toe dipping at the same time as listening to some great music.

And seeing as Victorious Festival takes place on August Bank Holiday weekend, it can be a scorcher. That sea breeze is very welcome.

Read my Ultimate Guide to Southsea Beach here. You might want to come to Victorious a day or two early or late to really make the most of the location.

READ MORE: The Best Restaurants in Southsea

6. Visit the kids arena

If you’re bringing your kids or just fancy being a big kid yourself, check out the kids arena. This is an entire zone dedicated to the wee ones that doesn’t cost a penny. While the CBeebies big names and cartoon heroes might not be the acts topping your list, Ready to Rock School, BellaCrafts and a crocodile assault course might succeed in making you a little envious at all the cool things the kids can do.

7. Get adventurous

Again proving Victorious a family affair, the Kingswood Adventure Zone has loads of activities for all ages. Here you can burn off some of that festival energy by trying your hand at fencing, testing your strength at climbing or go for the tamer side of things by crafting a dream catcher.

There are loads of great things to do at Victorious for children, as well as adults.

8. Travel to another world

With your feet firmly in Southsea, prepare to be transported across the globe in the World Music Village. This area plugs in the coolest and quirkiest acts from all over but mixes it up with sessions of spoken word and tai chi — random combination but it works. Inside the village, you’ll also find The People’s Loung