Victoria Park was a sea of lime green on Saturday as thousands of fans flocked to Lido festival for a day curated by pop phenomenon Charli XCX, faroutmagazine.co.uk reported. The event, dubbed a celebration of her critically acclaimed 2024 album Brat, transformed East London into the epicentre of her global party.
The day-long festival showcased a lineup of Charli’s collaborators and contemporaries, creating a palpable buzz. The Japanese House and Magdalena Bay drew huge crowds, but it was The Dare’s sweat-soaked tent performance, which featured a surprise appearance from Pink Pantheress, that epitomised the day’s high energy.
Anticipation reached a fever pitch for Charli XCX’s headline set, with rampant speculation about potential surprise guests, including rumoured appearances from Lorde and Addison Rae. However, as the star took the stage, the much-awaited cameos never materialised. Key collaboration verses on tracks like “Girl, So Confusing” and “Von Dutch” were played from a backing track, visibly deflating some of the crowd’s energy as phones raised in hope were quickly lowered.
While the performance was packed with club-ready anthems that are impossible not to dance to, some attendees noted a shift in atmosphere. The focus for many seemed to be on capturing the perfect social media moment rather than embracing the hedonistic fun Charli’s music champions.
In a surprisingly subdued conclusion, the show ended abruptly 20 minutes before the scheduled curfew, with no encore. For a day built entirely around her monumental success, the finale felt unexpectedly anticlimactic, leaving a portion of the sell-out crowd wanting more.
•Featured image: Charli XCX/Press
