Zoo Project Festival review

It might be mid-September, but the sun is still attempting to break cover and the rain has held off for just one more weekend, as if summer is holding itself open with a hefty door wedge. So what did we do? Donned our shorts (albeit with leggings underneath) and headed to the first ever Zoo Project Festival, which set up shop for three days in a real life safari park.

The site

The organisers have gone all out to ensure that festival-goers get the full 'animal experience'. Set in Port Lympne Wild Animal Park (well, next to – you’re not actually camped with the giraffes), entry price includes unlimited access to the park, where you can see a plethora of animals that grace the savannah, including lions, Siberian tigers and the largest herd of African rhinos outside their home continent. For the measly sum of £5, you can hop aboard a camouflaged truck and get up-close and-personal with Africa's finest, although be warned that the trip is almost an hour and a half.

The actual campsite is your average fare; for an extra few pounds you can upgrade to VIP, although the difference between this and 'normal' camping does not appear too marked. The organisers have tried to integrate the animal theme as much as possible throughout the site, with stages named Savannah Arena, Birds of Paradise and The Lion's Den, a giant robotic giraffe that roams the festival arena and stilt walkers donned in mounds of white feathers.

Music

Isn't this what what we all came for? In typical Zoo Project style, the organisers have put the best names in underground electronic sounds on the bill, courtesy of 10 stage hosts, including DJ Mag, Cocoon and Secret Sundaze.

Friday saw back-to back sets from Eats Everything, Julio Bashmore and Pearson Sound on the Savannah stage, providing six hours of unrelenting bassy treats. Competition for our time came in the form of a 4-hour block of Visionquest goodness; to make sure we got the full musical experience we ended up dipping in and out of each tent each time we needed to come up for air.

Saturday proved to be house night, with DJ Sneak ripping up the Savannah stage. This was followed by a dash to the Birds of Paradise stage, where Cocoon Heroes gave us Ilario Alicante to bounce our feet to. Then it was a dash back to the Savannah, where the night was finished off with 2-hour sets from Sasha and Scuba. Superb, especially when surrounded by stages filled with dancing gorillas, fire-eating peacocks and pole-dancing lions (people in suits, obviously).

Crowd

In testament to Zoo Project's popularity over in Ibiza, a large percentage of the crowd got into the festival spirit, donning animal costumes that wouldn't look out of place in a charity fun run. Giraffes, butterflies and lions dot the crowd, with more flamboyant costumes including a leopard-print Deadmau5 and a full-blown polar bear outfit. It seems most people are eager to let their mane down.

Cons

Like any fledgling festival, things are a bit rough around the edges. There are no taps in the campsite, meaning that water bottles cannot be filled up; this either means you have to bring a hefty supply with you into the site or purchase £2 bottled water.

Also, more variety could be added through the addition of more stages, although one assumes this will come with time.

Overall, the first ever Zoo Project Festival was a resounding success, and Skiddle will definitely be back in 2013 to see how it has grown.

Words: Wendy Davies

Photos: Tom Horton

Festival reviews

Ibiza reviews

Club reviews

Tickets are no longer available for this event