MIGHTY HOOPLA CLOSES ITS GATES ON A WEEKEND OF POP-PERFECTION, QUEER EXCELLENCE AND NOUGHTIES NOSTALGIA AT A BLAZINGLY SUNNY BROCKWELL PARK
JESSIE WARE TRIUMPHS WITH ICONIC HEADLINE SET, WELCOMING GOSSIP’S BETH DITTO AS SPECIAL GUEST. OTHER HIGHLIGHTS ACROSS THE DAY INCLUDE RITA ORA, ALISON GOLDFRAPP, CAT BURNS, RACHEL STEVENS, JOJO SIWA, BAMBIE THUG, DELTA GOODREM, LYNKS AND MANY MORE
VIP GUESTS OVER THE WEEKEND INCLUDED ANDREW SCOTT, TAIKA WAITITI, ASHLEY ROBERTS, CARA DELEVINGNE, JONATHAN BAILEY, CLARA AMFO, JADE THIRLWALL, OMARI DOUGLAS, NICOLA COUGHLAN, KATIE PRICE AND MORE
KICKING OFF PRIDE MONTH IN THE UK, MIGHTY HOOPLA’S COMMUNITY FUND BENEFITS A RANGE OF NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS INCLUDING NOT A NOT A PHASE, MEDICINS SANS FRONTIERS (DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS) AND GIG BUDDIES
The UK’s largest pop music festival, Mighty Hoopla, closed its gates on a gloriously sunny Brockwell Park this evening, closing a spectacular run of festivities for 2024. The festival, which offers a truly inclusive and diverse atmosphere, continues to go from strength to strength – offering a stellar line-up of pop icons, noughties nostalgia and queer excellence, as it welcomed over 60,000 fans over two days to Brockwell Park this weekend.
Jessie Ware returned to the Mighty Hoopla’s mainstage to close the festival for 2024, with a headline set that further cemented her true ‘mother’ status with the Hoopla crowd, who bopped along to hits such as ‘That! Feels Good’, ‘Spotlight’, ‘Free Yourself!’, ‘Save a Kiss’ and many more. Bringing out the ICONIC Beth Ditto for a raucous rendition of Gossip’s 00s banger ‘Standing in the Way of Control’, before a stomping cover of timeless Cher classic ‘Believe’.
Earlier on the mainstage, Rita Ora showcased why she remains one of the UK’s top pop girlies following a career of hits spanning over a decade – with hits such as ‘I Will Never Let You Down’, ‘R.I.P’, ‘Hot Right Now’, plus a debut performance of new single ‘Ask & You Shall Receive’. S Club 7 pop icon Rachel Stevens took to the main stage for a long awaited solo comeback, wowing fans with unforgettable pop gems such as ‘Sweet Dreams My LA Ex’, ‘Some Girls’ and many more. Fast-rising Ouija-pop star Bambie Thug, fresh from their Eurovision triumph, also took to the stage to play a spellbinding set which included anthems ‘Doomsday Blue’ and ‘Tsunami’. The self-proclaimed “inventor of gay-pop” Jojo Siwa performed the first ever UK festival performance of her iconic single ‘Karma’ and stunned everyone in attendance. The Main Stage also saw phenomenal sets from Alison Goldfrapp, Cat Burns, The Veronicas, and Beth McCarthy.
Following a surprise guest duet with Claire Richards yesterday, Delta Goodrem returned to headline the Hayu stage for a rousing performance, playing iconic sing-a-long hits ‘Born To Try’ and ‘Lost Without You.’ The ever iconic Countess Luann stunned audiences with her second performance of the festival, and boyband V brought 00’s earworms such as ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’ and ‘Hip to Hip’. Elsewhere on the Hayu stage, 90s pop sensation Louise reunited with her former Eternal member Kéllé Bryan to peform ‘So Good’.
Once again, Queertopia – a new addition to the festival this year and a specially crafted stage – saw some of the most exciting emerging LGBTQIA+ artists perform in the afternoon sun. London’s electro-clash gay agent of chaos Lynks, Glaswegian glam-pop five piece Walt Disco and multi-instrumentalist, producer and writer Geo Jordan were highlights.
Saturday’s Hoopla saw UK exclusive headliner Nelly Furtado deliver a shimmering set of career spanning hits including unforgettable 00s banger ‘Say It Right’ before fan favourite pop-stompers ‘Maneater, ‘Give it to Me’ and ‘Promiscuous Girl’. Other highlights across Saturday included a Mis-teeq megamix from surprise guest Alesha Dixon, plus stellar sets from En Vogue, Claire Richards, Bananarama, Cher Lloyd, Countess Luann, Slayyyter, B*Witched, Say Now and many more. Across The Hayu Stage and Pleasure Palace, Mighty Hoopla continued to celebrate some of the world’s best and diverse queer nightlife, cabaret and drag performers, with performances from Drag Race Winner Tia Kofi, The Cocoa Butter Club, Pxssy Liquor, George Michael Disco and more.
Speaking of the weekend, organisers Glyn Fussell and Jamie Tagg said: “HOOPLA – we did it! 2024 done and wasn’t it EVERYTHING? Thank you so much to the best community there is – the Hoopla crowd never fails to amaze us with the impeccable energy you guys bring – big fun, big kindness and a never failing culture of inclusivity and acceptance that brings us all so brilliantly together as one. Thanks to all of our performers, our partners, plus of course everyone behind the scenes who worked so hard to prepare the site this week. Roll on next year….tickets on sale WEDNESDAY!”
True to Mighty Hoopla’s community roots, the festivals continue to elevate queer performers and voices and are pleased to support many charities through their community fund, as well as having Not A Phase, Medicins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) and Gig Buddies as their main charity partners.
MIGHTY HOOPLA RETURNS FOR 2025 – CONFIRMED FOR 31ST MAY – 1ST JUNE – TICKETS ON SALE WEDNESDAY 5th JUNE
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All photo credits – Luke Dyson