With summer feeling like a distant memory, and a more autumnal feel, my penultimate festival of the summer (and the year) finds me back at Portmeirion for the sixth Festival No.6, and my fifth visit to this beautiful spot in North Wales for one of my favourite festivals.



Portmeirion, a rich and colourful Italianate village designed by the late Architect, William Clough Ellis and built overlooking the River Dwryryd estuary was home to the 1960’s cult TV show “The Prisoner”, the lead character played by Patrick McGoohan who was the “No.6” that the festival references.



The “village” and the wider Portmeirion estate hosts a myriad of acts over the festival weekend, and it is physically impossible to see and experience everything unless you were able to be in six places at once. As well as the usual festival style stages in the main arena, almost every nook and cranny in the village and the surrounding woodland filled with something to delight the senses.



Numbers of festival goers this year were considerably lower than last years overstuffed event, which made getting around much easier, but affected the vibe somewhat, which at times seemed a little subdued, although when the bands were playing, the crowds were up for a good time.

Despite the rain (which was heavy at times) and the inevitable mud, there was still plenty of sunshine on Friday and we managed to dodge a lot of the showers over the rest of the weekend. Sunday looked particularly bleak in the morning, but the afternoon and evening treated us to some sunshine, showers and a rainbow.



There were many highlights of the weekend, far too many to mention, but Manchester band 'Pins' were a joy to shoot and listen to, and The Bootleg Betales with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra celebrating 50 years of 'Sergeant Pepper' and 'The Summer of Love' were great fun.

Rag 'N' Bone Man was a revelation to see live, a wow with the crowd, a big guy with a big talent.

The Flaming Lips closed the festival with an insane show, starting with Pyrotechnics, Confetti cannons, large rubber balls, and Wayne Coyle (lead singer) shooting streamers into the crowd.



The set included a large inflatable pink robot, Wayne Coyle riding a Unicorn, and 'Zorbing' (but not very far due to the wind conditions) whilst singing David Bowie's 'Space Oddity', all of this with beautiful graphics on the LED screen at the back of the stage.

Friday

Flyte



Pins



Honeyblood



Toy



Palace



Steve Mason



The Cinematic Orchestra



Mogwai



Saturday

Two Tonnes



Slow Readers Club



Superfood



James Vincent McMorrow



Wild Beasts



The Heliosphere



Brythoniaid Choir



Illuminated Procession




Bloc Party



Sunday

Bootleg Beatles




Laura Mvula



Rag 'N' Bone Man



The Flaming Lips






The Flaming Lips were a fantastic close to 2017's No.6.

Last year's festival suffered some problems due to heavy rain and larger crowds, but these seem to have been addressed, and certainly the smaller number of tickets have definitely helped. The 'Park and Ride' car park is no longer on a flood plain, but a little further out of town on a nearby hill. It didn't stop me getting stuck in the soft ground of car park at the end of the festival, but to their credit, the attendants had me on the road inside a couple of minutes.

Peace and Love No.6, Peace and Love.

Be Seeing You in 2018



For more great pic from No.6 check out our Flickr page.