Фестиваль Boomtown 2026: первый день ознаменован полным солнечным затмением и запуском карты доброты

BOOMTOWN 2026 Chapter Five: Radical Redesign has begun! Here is my review of day one! So, after a lengthy few hours of traffic which involved me taking the wrong turn and doing an entire lap of Boomtown in my Mazda 2, I made it to the car park! I’m lucky enough to be camping in the artist’s park, so while queuing for my wristband I felt as if I was surrounded by some very cool creatives. Once inside, I hopped over to Thrutopia and had a walk around. This is my first Boomtown, and from wandering around inside I was blown away by the sheer size of the site and the amount of things to see! As it was day one, not every element of the festival was open yet, but the energy was there, the buzzing feeling underlying every step. I can only imagine what it will be like when the capacity is full, and every stage and district is open. At this point, the heat was beginning to get to me, so I stopped at the fresh fruit smoothie stall for a raspberry, oat and banana smoothie. It was delicious and so refreshing, I finished it in about 5 minutes and welcomed the brain freeze. One of the things I love about my job is that I get to speak to a lot of different people, this time, it was Boomtown attendees. A lot of them spoke to me about how they feel Boomtown is different from other festivals, and that there is a friendlier community feel here. While I have only been here a short time, I am inclined to agree. It seems that the Boomtown organisers also feel that way, and they have introduced Changemaker cards. The cards are a participatory research project designed to recognise and encourage kindness. Digitally tracked through the festival app, the cards are to be passed along when someone does a good deed, which then continues to the next person so organisers can map how kindness spreads. I had a really lovely talk with a couple who were enjoying their second Boomtown, and they gifted me a homemade embroidered badge with a smiley face on it. In return for their kind chat and the badge, I passed along a Changemaker card, which I had been given by organisers. After chatting to a few more people, I realised it was almost eclipse time! Myself, alongside what felt like hundreds of people, gathered to watch the eclipse on the hill between Copperwood Heights and the Hidden Woods. Read more - Boomtown festival-goers given safety advice as heatwave hits - Cheers erupt at Boomtown for ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ solar eclipse - Line-up and set times for Boomtown 2026 - LIVE - Boomtown Festival underway as crowds flock to Matterley Estate While I had not been so prepared as to bring eclipse glasses, it still felt so magical being in the presence of this once-in-a-lifetime event with so many people. Here, the Boomtown kindness continued, as one of the people I spoke to offered to let me use their eclipse glasses so I could behold the solar spectacle. It was amazing! When the eclipse reached its peak at 7.12pm, the crowds around me clapped and cheered, in what felt like a collective moment that attendees had told me about. Walking back to the artist’s area later in the evening, it was amazing to see the sunset over the first Boomtown night. Being out in the countryside, you are able to see so much sky, with tents peppering the rolling hills and the faint sound of drum and bass in the background. I can’t wait to see what day two has in store!