Stand by for Chaos – festival revs up for weekend

After a disappointing cancellation due to the pandemic last year, the ‘bikes, bands and beer’ festival is back, with around 50 live local acts.

Organisers from the Greenman Motorcycle Club have been busy this week setting up the site ready for bikers, festival-goers and campers.

Chris Chadwick, known to most as Ozy, said the location was the perfect place to see the sun go down in the evening and watch the boats arrive near Les Hanois lighthouse in the mornings.

‘Gates open at lunchtime on Friday and we’ve got live music that evening and all day and night on Saturday as well,’ he said.

‘A big part of Chaos for us is the bike show on Saturday afternoon because we love bikes, but the event attracts all sorts of people who come for the music, or the camping, or the beer, or a bit of everything.’

The annual bike 'burn-out' competition has a reputation for being hotly contested, with some entrants keeping bikes and tires especially for it. Although some of the usual crowd from Jersey and the UK cannot make it because of Covid isolation requirements, around 2,000 people are expected to attend over the course of the weekend, and day and weekend tickets will be available to buy at the gates.

‘The weather looks great for it,’ Ozy said. ‘We started setting up on Sunday and although it was a bit blowy at the start of the week, the wind has dropped now and we’re ahead of schedule in terms of getting everything ready.’

As well as the live stage, there is a Peace Tent, with bands, DJs and acoustic performers, which will serve coffees and toasties at all hours of the day and night.