I'm still finding sand everywhere after Tunes on the Bay but it's worth it

I went to Swansea's first ever beach festival and here's what I thought.

When I first heard that there would be a new festival held in my hometown of Swansea I couldn't wait to see how it would work, who would be performing. and more importantly would the weather hold out for three days of outdoor music on the beach.

Thankfully the weather was gorgeous as we marked the first ever Tunes on the Bay festival on Swansea beach. It saw headline performances from McFly and Supergrass as well as more than 40 other acts taking the stage from Friday to Sunday.

The festival took place on the beach itself, just outside the Secret Bar and Kitchen located in Mumbles Road, and had two stages spread out across the sand. From superstar gigs to cosy pubs find out What’s On in Wales by signing up to our newsletter here.

As we walked down to the festival I found a big problem with the event being held on the beach – sand.

Okay – yes it was obvious there was going to be loads of sand at a beach festival, I'm not stupid, but I thought there would be platforms to walk on to make walking on the sand more accessible. Unfortunately there weren't any and that's when my day of trudging through the sand began.

It seemed I wasn't the only one struggling as the people around me complained about the difficulty of walking through the dunes to get from one side of the site to the other. It was especially difficult when all of the toilets were at the entrance and the stage was the opposite end of the site making it quite a hard walk back and forth. Inevitably this led to men peeing on the barriers because they couldn't be bothered to do the long walk to the loos.

I'm still finding sand everywhere after the event and that is in part due to the fact that there wasn't a whole load of seating available there meaning the only option was to sit on the floor. Unfortunately a couple of days before the event they said we couldn’t bring any camping chairs and maybe as this was a last-minute announcement they weren’t prepared with seating available on site. Fortunately the weather was nice so sitting on the sand was an option although unfortunately I found sand in places you shouldn't find sand.

With the sun beating down it was a shame to see that there wasn't really any shelter, which on a sunny weekend was a struggle although the festival did provide water stations which was an extreme relief.

In terms of drinks costs pints were priced at £7.50, a spirit and a mixer cost £8 for a single or £10 for a double, and cans of pop were £3. They also charged £2 for a reusable cup but I do think that these were a great addition to the weekend as it encouraged reuse rather than waste and also allowed people to use the cups in the water station if needed.

There were numerous drinks vendors and not just the bar itself including Swansea's own Au Vodka and a bar selling cocktails in a hollowed-out pineapple. I tried a dragon mojo cocktail from the cocktail vendors Mixtons and despite setting me back £9 it was exactly what I needed on a warm day. It was incredibly refreshing and quenched my thirst perfectly just before seeing my favourite acts.

I was disappointed to see a lack of local food vendors knowing there are great independent local food businesses in the area like Pizza Boys and Vegan Filth to name a few. We settled for a chicken gyro from the Greek Gyros stall and it tasted really nice but it was a whopping £13 for what felt like very little food.

The festival also featured a vintage shop and merchandise stall, which I thought was actually quite reasonably priced at £25 for a T-shirt. There was also a convenience store, which I thought was so clever. They sold snacks and even toys for the little ones in attendance and I even saw people buy water pistols which were a great idea on such a hot weekend.

It seemed like the highlight for many people this weekend was the silent disco. Families and friends gathered together to dance in what seemed like silence but donning massive headphones which were playing iconic bangers. It seemed to be consistently full all day and ended up having queues to go in.

As someone who doesn’t have kids I can’t really comment on the family elements of the festival although it did seem that the families I did see really enjoyed the event. However from the point of a view of someone in their 20s I think it was a really good event for people who live locally who want a day out down the beach with their friends. In true Swansea fashion I saw so many people I knew there and they were so excited to get a couple of drinks in and have a boogie in the sun.

I won't lie – before going to the festival I was completely sceptical about how they were going to be able to have two stages so close together. Surely you would hear music from one while watching a performance at the other?

Thankfully it actually worked really well. Closer to the entrance there was a smaller marquee (very grateful for some shelter) that hosted up-and-coming performers as well as some tribute acts and on the other side of the event was the main stage. It allowed audiences to bounce back and forth from stage to stage to see who they wanted to perform.

My absolute highlight of the weekend had to be the performances by Scouting for Girls and McFly – they were outstanding and full of energy and filled me with such nostalgia. The crowd was on fire and went wild dancing and singing at the top of their lungs to the bands. Honestly it has to be one of the best gigs I have been to and definitely made my inner child extremely happy. You can read my review of McFly here.

In terms of this year’s line-up Tunes on the Bay have definitely set the standard and I think they’ll find it incredibly hard to top an energetic headline act like McFly next year. With this in mind if I were to attend the festival again I think the headliner would have to be someone I really want to watch live and it would have to have one hell of a line-up.

However I’d like to emphasise “watch live” because otherwise I think I’d be inclined to do what about 10% of Swansea’s residents did and sit on the beach outside of the venue. You can still hear the live music but this time you can bring your own food and drink which will cost a fraction of the price and also enjoy skipping the long queues and the cost of the tickets.