Beat-Herder 2017, Ribble Valley 

FROM the multi-million selling tunes of R&B diva Kelis to the no-holds-barred punk-rap of Sleaford Mods — and everything in between.

This was Beat-Herder 2017, which came and went in a flurry of four days of tunes, raving, rain, stomping about the mud, late night laughs and daytime dreaming. 

Arriving on the beautiful moors of the Ribble Valley on Friday evening, it was time to get the tent pitched and get out there. 

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Pictures courtesy of Duke Studios

We made it out just in time to see Kelis on the main stage who started off slowly but built to a fantastic set including ODB’s Got Your Money, 2003 smash hit Milkshake mixed with Wu Tang Plan’s Gravel Pit, Bounce and ending with Acapella. 

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Over in The Fortress — a corrugated metal heaven of all things breaks, beats, techno and house — and DJs Solardo took over for the night. 

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Bringing their brand of cutting-edge house and techno music to the festival, they got the Fortress bouncing. Was it just me or did anyone else notice the volume seemed a little quieter in there than usual? (Or perhaps my ears are just going...)

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Back on the main stage, The Sugarhill Gang got the crowd absolutely hyped to the sounds of classic tracks including Rappers Delight before being followed by Stereo MCs and then a change of pace from Sleaford Mods. 

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Their gritty yet catchy and loaded tunes spat out from the main stage as the light went down over the Lancashire hills. 

For the third year running, fireworks lit up the sky — a tradition which began in 2015 when the lovely Beat-Herder celebrated its 10th anniversary. 

The organisers, who are known for ploughing money back into the four-day event, had obviously spent a pretty penny or two — the fireworks really were spectacular. 

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Other highlights of the weekend included Faithless’ DJ set in Toil Trees and Skream, who also played a storming set in the wooded wonderland. 

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One of the other joys of Beat-Herder is all the things to see and do, the quirky stalls and shops, glorious graffiti walls, fabulous manmade structures created for no other reason than decoration and to make you smile. 

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The new arena of The Factory didn’t quite muster up the same excitement as the previous two additions of The Ring and The Fortress. It was a more chilled affair but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. 

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But I’m sure the brains behind the wonderful festival already have exciting new additions in store for 2018. 

Beat-Herder is already set for July 2018. Look out for how to get your mitts on tickets later this year.

Scroll through the gallery above for more photos