Chaos reigns as the sun shines

Around 2,000 people travelled up the fields at Pleinmont for the weekend event, which returned for its 14th year.

Co-organiser Chris ‘Ozy’ Chadwick said the weather had been great and there was a great atmosphere.

‘It’s been really good and busy,’ he said.

‘On Friday night we had lots of people up here. Mechanical Lobster reformed for the first time in 10 years, so there was a lot of excitement about that. On the main stages we had Surfin’ Birds and Blakalaska. There were big crowds at both stages.’

Festival goers from Jersey, UK and France travelled over for the event.

However, all did not go smoothly for the UK bands travelling over.

London-Irish Celtic punk band Neck were due to play on Saturday night. However, they had a breakdown on the way to the ferry and were then stuck in traffic. They ended up missing the boat by minutes and so missed the festival.

Ska-punk rockers [spunge] also ran into difficulties on the way to the boat, after two of the band members were involved in a crash where their vehicle was shunted at 70mph. While their vehicle was written off, both were OK and managed to make it over in time for their Saturday night set.

The event is organised by the Greenman MCC and motorbikes are at the heart of the event. Around 100 bikes were brought to compete in the motorbike competition.

Shaun Gemmell won the prize for best bike, with his hand-built flat track chopper. It took him several months to put the vehicle together.

‘I just love building bikes,’ he said.

He said the fact the bike was unique might have caught the judges eye.

During the day on Saturday there was a lot of entertainment for the crowds, including a chilli eating competition and a tattoo art competition.

The latter aimed to recognise the artwork that islanders have had done. This year portraits proved particularly popular, with lots of islanders entering their ink portraits of characters like Sherlock Holmes.

There was also the keg lifting competition, where islanders had to the chance to lift 20kg, 30kg or 40kg kegs, filled with water, or 50kg, 60kg or 70kg kegs filled with concrete.

Competitors had just two minutes to lift the kegs as many times at they could.

Among the crowds was Dominique Ogier. As well as performing as the singer with band Static Alice, she also enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere of the event.

‘I’m a bit of a veteran of Chaos,’ she said.

‘It’s an amazing festival.’

The festival is also a family event, with lots of children around during the afternoon.

Among the crowd was festival co-founder Boon, who was there with his children Zane, eight, and Xena, five. Both children have been to every Chaos they have been alive for.

‘I just enjoy the fact it’s fun,’ said Zane.

‘The music is good.’

Boon has been to every festival.

‘It’s just a really nice atmosphere and you can be yourself,’ he said.

‘It’s really nice to catch up with friends.’