When Brockwell Park’s Wide Awake Festival launched in 2021 after COVID delayed its debut, it presented itself as a mecca for underground post-punk music, situated just half a mile from the influential Brixton Windmill venue, a factory for the next big things in British punk. A focus on exclusively new and upcoming talent as well as a progressive climate-friendly policy made it a pleasing outlier in the saturated London festival market.
For its second year, the festival’s mission statement was a little more muddled. Now set across two days, the first welcomed dance and techno heavyweights, while acts closer to the punk rock of last year played on the Saturday. This new programme, teamed with teething problems leading to delays and one stage being out of action for most of the weekend, meant it took time to settle into Wide Awake’s new identity.
