My Experience as a Fresher at Boundary Brighton Festival 2019
We asked the latest member to join the ROX family, Molly Openshaw, to recall her experience of our flagship festival Boundary Brighton! A permanent fixture on both Brighton & Sussex Universities Freshers weeks calendar, find out first hand what all the fuss is about and why 20000 people attend every year.
Imagine this, it is September 2019, months before the clubs were forced to close and events cancelled. As a fresher starting at the University of Sussex, I was excited to attend the many events planned throughout September and October. The highlight of these events was undeniably Boundary Festival.
With the tents being set up a few minutes’ walk away from most accommodation on campus, this event was a fresher’s dream. For the fourth year in a row, this festival had an incredible line up including Chase and Status, CamelPhat and Wilkinson. With the three stages offering different types of dance and bass music, there was something for everyone and a great introduction to the Brighton music and party scene.
As this festival took place within my first week at Sussex, it was one of my first big nights out with my flatmates. It was a great opportunity to get to know my flatmates in a party environment whilst also being so close to campus and having a multitude of music and entertainment options in one place. I think that this event was a little bit of a shock to the system as I had only turned eighteen a month before and had not really experienced nightlife in Brighton yet. After coming from quite a small town in Surrey and only having gone to one festival before this, I was so excited to see some of my favourite artists perform live. On top of this all it was exciting to go to an event like this with my flatmates who I was still getting to know and it was definitely a bonding experience for us all!
On the day, my housemates and I were ready by 9am and downing cans of Strongbow before our breakfast. If you have ever been to Stanmer park before you will know that it is surrounded by other fields and is home to quite a few cows, this made for quite an interesting walk there. As we were walking to the festival arena, we were listening out for the sound of the bass to help us navigate our way around the unfamiliar fields surrounding campus. As we approached Stanmer Park we could see the large tents from the top of the hill near the Northfield accommodation and this really showed how large an event this was as we could see the crowds of people enjoying the music as the day was just beginning. It was easy to get in, with our Jager Wristbands and great organisation from the festival team, we barely had to queue. I would recommend getting your hands on a bundle wristband, such as the Jager wristband as this gives you access to most of the large events and means that you will not miss out on the Fresher’s week events.
The day started off being fairly civilised with us meeting the rest of our friends and going to the SuperCharged Main Stage. However, after a few Jager Bombs each and the excitement of the beautiful Brighton weather, it instantly became one of my favourite events of Fresher’s Week. One of the memories that really stands out was being surrounded by new friends and singing along to Blind Faith as people were jumping on people’s shoulders, bouncing along to the music and trying to get closer to the stage. As the night came to an end, the weather took a turn for the worst and luckily the large tents were there to protect us all from the rain. This was just another funny memory as we all ran home to avoid getting soaked, still ecstatic from the great night out and happy to not have a long walk back to our flats! Spirits were high as we dried off and had a rest after the long day of making friends, drinking and great music.
I think that one of the best parts about Boundary is the fact that it is mainly attended by students meaning that the atmosphere is really exciting, but also feels very safe and fairly chilled despite the electric music and large crowds. Boundary stands out from the other nights out in Brighton, as many of you have probably realised, looking back on nights out seems like the distant past at the moment. It is so great to look back on these great times and Boundary is one of the memories of summer 2019 that I have looked back on ever since. This was the perfect end to my Fresher’s week and set me up for a great time at Sussex, enjoying the vibrant nightlife and music scene.
As we approach the Summer of 2021, tickets are almost sold out for Boundary Festival in September. With past headliners including Andy C, Chase and Status and Camelphat, this year’s iteration of the Freshers’ week festival is looking to be bigger and better than the years before. If you are fresher new to Brighton nightlife or an oldie returning to the festival scene, this event is going to be a great way to return to events after a long year without them!