I went to Hardwick Festival and found the best summer weekend experience in the North East

Formerly known as Hardwick Live, this year the event celebrated its tenth anniversary with three days of live music on the edge of Sedgefield.

Having previously attended the festival for one day in 2019 and seeing the likes of Stiff Little Fingers and Manic Street Preachers, this year marked a welcome return with a well crafted lineup for a festival which offered individual day tickets.

Since my last trip to the event, organisers have included a Friday night session, which was headlined this year by Becky Hill with artists Jack Saverotti, ADMT and more kicking off the weekend.

Then came Saturday, the first day of our weekend and after a bit of a wait to get in due to strict security searches in place, it was time to check out the site.

This is what sets Hardwick Live apart from other festivals in the region. While Sunderland’s Kubix festival may take place at the scenic Herrington Country Park, Hardwick actively uses the nearby lake and forests as part of the festival.

A small disco area which hosted singalong and boogie sets throught the weekend overlooks Hardwick Hotel’s Serpentine Lake while a dance music focused area is situated neatly in a forested area, giving smaller stages distinct auras.

The second stage, named the Treehouse Stage, is tucked into a corner of the site secluded by trees, offering intimate sets for acts who may normally see larger stages. Indie hitmakers Reverend and the Makers would close the stage on the Sunday night.

Towards the far end of the site from the entrance was the main stage, which offered a far more regular setup large enough for some of the names we would see over the weekend.

Main stage highlights from Saturday at the festival came from Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who’s pop/disco crossover setlist would keep a large crowd hugely entertained with her own songs as well as impressive covers from Alcaraz and Madonna.

She would also reappear during The Charlatans’ set which followed her to perform ‘Just When You’re Thinkin Things’ with Tim Burgess and co, who impressed ahead of the headline set.

It may be that Snow Patrol were at their peak in my years when my musical tastes were being formed, but a perfectly crafted setlist covered the vast majority of their biggest songs from the late 00s and early 2010s while Chasing Cars closed the main set, while Just Say Yes brought the night to an end.

Frontman Gary Lightbody’s stage patter was on top form while the sound system on the stage did the set as a whole credit - although, on a personal not, including Spitting Games into the setlist could have been the cherry on top of a fantastic headline set.

The following day saw an early start with a coffee and a couple of local acts before Swim Deep - a personal highlight of this year’s lineup - took to the main stage and, while it seemed their set was cut short slightly due to a mix up with stage timings, it didn’t impact the rest of the timings throughout the day.

Main stage sets from Fleetwood Bac - a tribute act to the Rumours icons - and The Lightning Seeds followed which saw rousing renditions of Dreams, Little Lies, The Life Of Riley and football anthem Three Lions before exploring more of the site.

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It is only when there are not any artists you want to see that you really see what festivals have to offer, and Hardwick is curated perfectly for anyone with a spare hour or so.

Plenty of food stalls, fairground rides which would rival other northern festivals such as Kendal Calling and smaller stages offering DJ sets, including one to the back of Hardwick Hotel.

Back at the main stage, an impressive set from Blossoms left The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft to close the festival.

Switching between the best known songs from his former band’s popular album Urban Hymns and his impressive catalogue of solo work, closing with a perfect trio of The Drugs Don’t Work, Lucky Man and the iconic Bittersweet Symphony, followed by a short firework display, bringing a top weekend to a close at what is, by quite a way, the best festival experience in the North East.