Festival Review: Y Not 2025 – Thursday
THURSDAY
The Wombats | Y Not Festival | Photo By: Jake Haseldine
Y Not Festival, nestled in the heart of Derbyshire has grown into one of the UK’s most beloved festivals. While it’s slightly smaller in scale than some of its counterparts, it consistently punches above its weight with an impressive lineup featuring some of the world’s biggest acts.
Thursday at Y Not is technically an extra, an early-access day that requires an additional ticket but it’s grown into something of a standalone event in its own right. Beyond the music, it offers the chance to bag prime camping spots. We opted for a pitch up the hill, tucked by the fence, giving us a sweeping view across the site.
As we entered the arena this year, it was clear that Y Not had seriously upped its game. From the outset, the extra aesthetic touches caught the eye, most notably the enormous tentacles of The Giant Squid, a fantastic and quirky addition. The organisers clearly listened to last year’s feedback too. One major gripe had been the toilets and while I didn’t think they were too bad for a festival, this year they’ve replaced portaloos with proper porcelain, flushing toilets. It’s a small thing but it shows the team genuinely cares and takes criticism on board.
Anyway, enough about the bogs, let’s get into the music.
The Kites | Y Not Festival | Photo By: Jake Haseldine
The Kites were our first band of the evening and while I didn’t know a huge amount about them beforehand, I’d heard a couple of tracks and had marked them as the likely first act we’d catch. During their soundcheck, frontman Joe’s vocals already stood out, raw, emotional and powerful. When they launched into ‘Drunk In Japan’, that vocal prowess was backed by a tight and thunderous sound. Drummer Ollie was impossible to ignore, playing with the manic intensity of Animal from the Muppets, a joy to watch. ‘Jaded’ stood out as a highlight with bassist Elodie locked into a hypnotic groove, eyes distant, presence magnetic. The Kites not only sound great, they look the part too, a band with serious potential.
After their set, we took a wander to explore the arena and soak in the atmosphere. The layout felt familiar from last year, but there were plenty of little tweaks, smaller tents but more open space and communal areas to hang out. It all felt well thought-out.
About-Faces | Y Not Festival | Photo by: BuckoPhotography
Next up was About-Faces in The Allotment tent, hosted by the ever-reliable This Feeling who are the champions of the unsigned scene. We’d seen About-Faces previously in Leeds, so they were high on our must-watch list. Since then, the band has clearly grown in confidence and presence. I remember last year, their keyboardist and co-vocalist Danielle Capstick performed side-on, almost singing to the wall in a curious, mesmerising way. This time, after the first two songs, something changed, she stepped forward, fully embracing the spotlight and sharing frontperson duties with Sennen Ludman. It transformed the performance, their chemistry was electric.
Musically, they evoke The XX, but with more edge and guitar. ‘Too Old For Fun’ had the whole tent nodding along in admiration. Sennen cheekily slipped a line of The Prodigy’s ‘Firestarter’ into the set, a fun nod to Friday night’s headliners that landed perfectly. ‘Under The Sun’ was a standout moment, dreamy, layered and cool as hell. Bassist Nigel Ngwenya held it all down with style. It’s a track with real depth, like peeling back an onion, only this one makes you cry for all the right reasons. Genuinely unforgettable. Writing this now, I already want to see them again.
Sunbeam | Y Not Festival | Photo by: BuckoPhotography
After more exploring, we found ourselves back in The Allotment for Sunbeam bringing the coastal warmth from Whitby to the cloudy Derbyshire hills. There’s a sincerity to this band that’s impossible not to love, no gimmicks, no pretense, just great tunes from mates who look genuinely chuffed to be there.
‘Northern Town’ especially resonated with us Northerners. When frontman Jimmy Organ-Simpson sang “That Yorkshire grit, identity, flowing through our blood forever more,” it felt like a warm hug from home. A special shoutout to lead guitarist Sean Stuart, who was treating the weekend as his stag do and was performing in full baby fancy dress, a surreal but hilarious sight that only added to the good vibes.
Their cover of Amy Macdonald’s ‘This Is The Life’ turned the tent into a bouncing party. One guy even got up out of his mobility scooter to dance and then someone stood on the scooter, arms raised, leading the charge, It was magic or was it a miracle? You decide. If you ever get the chance to catch Sunbeam live, don’t hesitate. You’ll leave with a grin you can’t shake and your cheeks will be aching from smiling.
After 7pm, the festival switches to a one-way system, cutting off the direct route between The Quarry and Main Stage. That means if you’re watching bands over in those tents and want to catch a headliner, you’ve got to do a full lap of the arena and approach from the back instead of the side.
The Wombats | Y Not Festival | Photo By: Jake Haseldine
We took the long route and arrived to find The Wombats already in full swing, rather than rushing into the crowd, we spotted the big wheel and thought… Why not? We hopped on and ended up catching a couple of tunes from above. It was a genius move, from that height we got the full scope of their set, a sea of people dancing under dazzling lights during ‘Techno Fan’ and ‘Ready For The High’. It was like watching the heart of the festival beat from the sky.
Afterwards, we made our way down and nestled into a spot at the side of the stage just in time for the band’s acapella ‘Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials’, which just like on their debut album launched straight into ‘Kill The Director’. From our new vantage point, we could see The Wombats had truly brought the party. This was one of those sets that reminded you why you come to festivals in the first place.
The crowd was alive, grins everywhere, arms in the air and people dancing like nobody was watching. There’s something uniquely euphoric about a feel-good indie band at the top of their game and The Wombats are master mixologists of that uplifting formula.
They closed with a perfect trio, ‘Turn’, ‘Greek Tragedy’ and of course ‘Let’s Dance To Joy Division’. It felt like a proper “We’re here now” moment for us. Three days still to go but this had already lit the festival fuse.
After spending the afternoon with our friends Tamsin and Clint from Coffi & Vinyl, We weren’t ready to head back to the tent just yet, so we all found ourselves once again in The Allotment. This time it was This Feeling DJs, who picked up the feel-good vibe and kept it rolling for everyone still buzzing from The Wombats. Little did we know at the time, DJ Kieran Poynter would end up finishing our nights off every night.
When we eventually decided to call it a night, knowing full well we needed our energy for tomorrow’s big one The Prodigy! We took the scenic route back and happened to bump into About-Faces by the iconic Y Not sign or the Tony sign if you are looking at it backwards. What followed was one of those magical, unexpected festival moments. We had a great chat with everyone in high spirits and at one point, the band were on top of the sign, all of us belting out Oasis’ ‘Half The World Away’ together like old mates.
Our fun was cut short though, not for being rowdy like it usually is cut short for but simply because the arena had officially closed. Everything had shut down and it was time to retreat.
What a way to kick things off. Day one delivered moments of joy, connection, discovery and outright celebration. With three days still ahead, the feeling was clear, this was going to be a weekend to remember.
READ FRIDAY’S REVIEW HERE: https://theindiemasterplan.co.uk/festival-review-y-not-2025-friday
