Nottingham's annual Splendour Festival was so packed with top musical acts this year that we needed three of our reviewers there to do it justice. Here are their reports...

Nottingham’s flagship festival is awash with sunshine. Thousands of people are taking in the delight of this summer jamboree of music, comedy and family entertainment.

As far as the eye can see sun-kissed punters are enjoying the festivities with picnics and booze, whiling away the hours to a soundtrack of diverse music.

That’s the great thing about Splendour: its diversity. All boxes are ticked.

There are local bands, a Britpop revival, chart-topping songstresses, punk titans and charismatic headliners, not to mention a huge portion of the site dedicated to kids.

Swimming and Dog Is Dead are the local heroes. The former are Nottingham lads whose mid-afternoon set on the other stage (the Jagermeister Stage) mixes Zero 7's smooth evocative melodies with Bombay Bicycle Club's neat indie shtick, while Dog Is Dead provide some sax-fuelled wonk-pop during their tea-time set. They’re a band that Nottingham can be proud of, and the huge crowd they attract proves that their popularity is rising.

The Bluetones and Cast remind the 30-somethings of those halcyon Britpop days; the latter’s jangly laments and wondrous melodies transporting the Britpop boys and girls back to their teenage years via songs with such overwhelming longevity and defiance as Alright, Sandstorm, Finetime and the tear-jerking Walkaway.

And if that alienated the younger audience, Eliza Doolittle soon appeased them with her whistle-along jaunty summer-ready tunes, particularly the lolloping Skinny Genes and smash-hit Pack Up. She bounds playfully around the stage, looking every bit the proven star.

Talking of proven stars, Debbie Harry whips the crowd into a frenzy as Blondie placate the more mature demographic with some seminal new-wave punk.

Dressed like an apathetic ballerina in an unflattering blue tutu, Harry sails through the hits, including Atomic, with some amazing guitar histrionics, Sunday Girl, Call Me, Heart of Glass, One Way Or Another, The Tide is High - with its perfect summery calypso-tinged vibe - Maria and a smattering of new tracks.

Headlining the festival are The Scissor Sisters, New York’s most flamboyant of bands.

Lead members Jake Shears and Ana Matronic dazzle the crowd with their synchronised dancing and happy-clappy nu-disco tunes such as I Don’t Feel like Dancin, Laura, Take Your Mama and Comfortably Numb.

Jake is dressed like a camp superhero in a black and green battle suit, whilst Ana has opted for what seems to be a glamorised bin bag. Their energy, vitality and showmanship is exhausting, and it proves to be the perfect way to end the perfect day out.

Phil Viles

Overlooked by the historic Wollaton Hall, the Splendour festival is a special day out for all the family and 20,000 people packed into this elegant setting on Sunday.

Recent Future Sound of Nottingham competition winners, The Money, started things off on the Main Stage and it’s easy to see why they are being tipped for huge things, their oozing confidence increasing after each song. And they looked comfortable, like a band who have been performing to huge crowds for years.

Jake Bugg, another Nottingham hopeful, fresh from his set at Glastonbury, opened The Courtyard Stage, his quivering John Denver like voice working well in the intimate setting.

Get Cape Wear Cape Fly front man Sam Duckworth was up next on the Main Stage and as likeable as he was, his set of acoustic numbers would have perhaps worked better in The Courtyard.

After succumbing to the wallet bullying prices in the real ale tent, I made my way over to the Jagermeister stage for goth rockers Romance. Although catchy enough, there just seemed to be something missing from these guys, more variety on the bass and drums perhaps.

The day for me belonged to Britpop and after Cast impressed earlier in the day, it was The Bluetones' turn to shine. Their set of old anthemic rock songs took me straight back to the mid 90s. This was to be their last gig in Nottingham as they are set to split after their current tour. They won't be forgotten.

Rock veterans Feeder were last up on the Jagermeister Stage, a large crowd turning out to witness a truly memorable set. They rifled through an hour's worth of hits, including the fantastic Just The Way I’m Feeling and festival anthem Buck Rogers. They closed with the singalong, Just A Day, the perfect way to end as the crowd erupt into a crowd surfing frenzy.

As the sun set on another great festival, you couldn't help but look forward to doing it all again next year. That said, it isn't quite perfect. The drinks prices and queues for toilets are issues that should be addressed for next year.

Daniel Bonnington

Splendour Festival prides itself on being an event for the whole family, and legions of families turned out in the sunshine with their picnics for this year’s offering.

For the second year running, I took my two children (aged 7 and 5) and was impressed by the activities provided for kids of all ages, although it is interesting the age limit for free entry has been reduced to ten. As for the activities themselves, a mini-fairground kept everyone entertained. My two seemed obsessed with the funhouse, while old favourites like the waltzer kept the teens busy.

Model making, painting, and bubble blowing were all options too, along with a popular area where children could play games such as giant snakes and ladders or chess. Mine particularly liked the hula hoops, and showed us adults how it should be done.

Of course there is the music too, and despite my daughter saying she wouldn’t dance prior to us reaching Wollaton Park, she and her brother were on their feet most of the time during the performances, and throwing some shapes to the tunes.

Royal Gala’s energetic performance, whilst we tucked into the picnic, was popular with the crowd, the singer getting people down the front early to dance, and many kids were among them. Swimming were more laidback, more atmospheric and a sunny, lazy afternoon was the perfect place to experience their live show. A local band, Swimming are going from strength to strength and, having seen them only a few weeks before, I thought they were much improved.

The great thing about Splendour is the variety of music showcased. Older bands like Blondie sitting alongside up and coming artists like Dog Is Dead and Swimming really does make it a day out for all generations. One band I was particularly looking forward to seeing with my children were Cast, having had fond memories of their breaking onto the music scene in the nineties. To hear my seven year old son say he liked them is a memory which will stay with me. They put on a great show too!

The comedy maybe wasn’t aimed at the kids, but there were plenty of youngsters in front of the stage anyway, whilst the adults stood further back presumably seeing it as a good opportunity to avoid being picked on by the comedians.

So plenty of variety for everyone at Splendour, that’s what makes it so special and why it goes from strength to strength. Roll on next year.

Tim Horwood