Pukkelpop – the first proper festival I went to, and still the best. Here’s my review of Pukkelpop 2012. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to review it this year, so I thought I’d sum it up with a few visual aids. Enjoy!

This was during the pre-festival party in the Boiler Room – a nice addition to last year were these super cool lights which graduated to make euphoric wavey patterns.

Yes, we’re the token Brits in cagoules on the first day because we panicked when there were a few drops of rain in the morning.

Gotta love those festival flags.

Kendrick Lemar! DRANK.

The Villagers definitely made me want to listen to more of their music. ‘Becoming a Jackal’ was lush.

Definitely went off by myself to see guilty pleasure Fall Out Boy (Pete Wentz). Before which I was chatted up by this drunk Belgian dude, who proceeded to try and talk to me during the show – who does that!? I was taken back to my high school days with hits like ‘Dance, Dance’, ‘Sugar We’re Going Down’ and ‘Thnks fr th Mmrs’.

This is the best shot I could get of Thursday’s headliner, the one and only EMINEM. I could not believe I was in the presence of such an amazing word smith. I had chills as he performed ‘Stan’ and ‘Lose Yourself’.

It was much sunnier on Day 2. This was when we decided to get ‘inked’ with topless mermaid tattoos, promoting Maes Belgian beer.

It could only be Major Lazer – they MADE Pukkelpop 2012 (here’s my review of the show), so we were very excited when it was announced on the first night that they would be back this year! This time they brought their reggae dancehall spectacular to the Main Stage, complete with zorb-suring, lap dancing, inflatables, confetti and of course plenty of twerking to ‘Bubble Butt’.

Friday’s headline show was probably the most terrifying – and awesome – gig I’d ever experienced. I’ve been a fan of The Prodigy since I was about 6 when ‘Firestarter’ was out, so this was a pretty big moment. We got there an hour early to get near the front – chatted to some friendly Belgians – and as the show was starting we realised we were right in the middle of the moshing zone! We tried to move back but people were still crowd surfing left, right and centre. We raved away in our UV paint (and tried not to get dragged into the ring of fire) as they dropped all the hits – ‘Breathe’, ‘Smack My Bitch Up, ‘Warrior’s Dance’…And at the end the stage was like a space ship taking off as they played ‘Out of Space’, ‘Invaders Must Die’ and finally ‘Omen’. Epic.

Day 3 kicked off with a fantastic performance from Noisettes. Lead singer Shingai Shoniwa really is crazy. She was dancing, jumping and forward-rolling all over the stage while still managing to sing ‘Never Forget You’ and ‘Don’t Upset The Rhythm’ perfectly.

I love these girls. I saw Deap Vally back in March when they turned Brighton’s The Haunt into a crowd-surfing mosh fest (here’s my review of Deap Vally). The crowd was a bit more refined for this show, except for me at the front dancing like a crazy person and singing along to every word.

Saturday’s headline act The xx mesmerised the Main Stage with their delicate guitar, electro riffs and haunting male vs female vocals. What a way to end Pukkelpop 2013.