By Adam Bloodworth
The glitter and sequins were in doubt on Friday when Mighty Hoopla, the UK’s biggest pop festival, was almost cancelled. Brockwell Park had turned into a mud pit after three festivals and rainy weather churned the ground up. It got very dramatic: Lambeth Council were on site to make a final decision, and MPs got involved…
The festival – a big part of the annual event calendar for the LGBTQ community – did go ahead, and the sun even came out on Sunday. Hoopla has become the annual jamboree for pop stars past and present to get together for a madly creative tear up in a field.
Here are the five most memorable parts of the weekend.
There was no mud!
After days of memes about the mud, and fears the £15 Dunlop wellies would sell out from Amazon, there was literally not a drop of mud on site. The Hoopla team had done such a good job of putting wood chips everywhere that all those people joking about attendees slipping over in their finery ended up being the butt of the joke. Suffice to say, not a single pair of wellies was seen on Sunday, when it was an absolute scorcher.
The Cher Lloyd meme was delivered by the woman herself
The video of the little Scottish girl telling the internet she’s about to sing “Cher Lloyd by Cher Lloyd” has been one of the most explosive memes of the last decade, garnering 10 million views on YouTube alone. Its fame far precedes the fame of actual Cher Lloyd, the former X Factor star from 2010. Thankfully, she got the joke, and for her Hoopla set, walked on to the sound of the little girl who may or may not have left a “das-gas-tang” thing in the toilet.
This guy kissing with a girl on his shoulders for promiscuous
Nelly Furtado was Saturday night’s headliner and when her track Promiscuous came on, City A.M. caught sight of a male friend haul his female buddy onto his shoulders. Literally as Furtado sang the word “promiscuous”, the man caught eyes with a guy nearby and started kissing him, the girl balancing precariously above the romantic moment. This is the energy of Hoopla in one picture, hands down.
Diane from The Traitors and her litre of fizzy rose
Who else to introduce ’90s Irish pop outfit B*Witched to the stage than fellow Irishwoman Diane from Traitors? She wandered on with a half-drunken bottle of (yep) fizzy rose. Honestly, it looked like still white rather than rose, but we’ll forgive her. She was later seen queuing for chips and posing with fans in the VIP area. An icon if ever we’ve seen one.
Rachel Stevens getting tied up in LGBTQ flags for Pride month
Rachel Stevens – formerly of S Club – was one of the most well-received sets of the weekend. Belting through noughties hits Sweet Dreams my LA Ex and Some Girls, she looked more glamorous than even at the band’s height. Then she was wrapped in ribbons symbolising the LGBTQ rainbow in one of the most impressive pieces of choreography from across Mighty Hoopla all weekend.
Jojo Siwa travelling from the States for a 15 minute set
If you’re over 25 and not online much then the name Jojo Siwa will mean nothing to you. If you’re not those two things, you would have been at the mainstage at Hoopa on Sunday evening when this 22-year-old former child star turned up for a 15 minute set. She’d flown over from the States literally for this. The former child star from US show Dance Moms has tried to go all X-Rated with her new single Karma. She asked if there were any straight people in the audience, who all booed.
There was some beautiful art and protest posters representing minority communities for Pride month
Mighty Hoopla returns in 2025
Read more: Mighty Hoopla 2023: 7 iconic moments we’ll remember forever
Read more: London Pride 2024: here are 15 amazing events to book this June
