Ceremony nailed its intended vibe of being a celebration.
He Said: "When I first looked at the line-up for Ceremony, one set caught my eye - a 90s classics set from Armand Van Helden in the main stage. The thought of the Boston house don dropping golden tunes from the house end of the music spectrum, including those from his own back catalogue, was enough to get extremely excited about this festival, and he delivered. Whisking us through tunes like "Professional Widow", "Lady" and "Get Get Down", through his own remix of "Spin Spin Sugar", then finishing with "I Want Your Soul" and "You Don't Even Know Me", Van Helden had the 4,500 capacity main stage rocking for a full 90 minutes. His speedy mixing meant he could seemingly fit in all the classics you could possibly want to hear - and made for the highlight of the day.
"But a festival isn't about one set, and Ceremony certainly wasn't just about house music - though there was a lot of it. There was hip hop, funk and soul coming from the So Fresh, So Clean stage tucked away in the corner where we found DJ MK lording over a similarly hit-filled set that included Missy Elliott, Kanye West, Dr Dre and the Fugees. Meanwhile the Heritage stage served up acts like Todd Edwards, Matt Jam Lamont and Mike Skinner for more vintage tunes, though hearing Skinner drop R Kelly's "Ignition (Remix)" and, for the millionth time that day, "RIP Groove", you wondered why the former Streets man was given the chance to play alongside more respected DJs with longer histories.
The VIP area had an off-the-wall character so often missing from London festivals.
"What really caught the eyes and ears this year at Ceremony was the growing identity of the festival. There was still the big brands like Santé's Avotre and DJ Sneak's I'm A House Gangster, but adding a secret stage In The Trees with smaller brands such as Turf, Regulate and Regression Sessions added a sense of adventure to find it and its more intimate setting made for a refreshing break from the arena-sized tents. Similarly the So Fresh, So Clean tent down in the furthest corner from the entrance may have felt like a bit of a trek, but on getting there you felt like you were at a small, tucked away part of the festival.
"Even the VIP area had an off-the-wall character so often missing from London festivals: Sports Banger had added all manner of signs (such as 'golf sale' and smilies), balloons, inflatable cushions and Sgt Pokes on MC duties from the comfort of an umpire's chair to ensure a sense of fun as DJs played alternative sets including a rare 187 Lockdown appearance, acid from Benny Ill and Dance Mania 92/94 tunes from Leofah 'Vandross' with Artwork overseeing proceedings. The importance of these novel elements could never match a set of the quality of Van Helden's, however they are important in creating the right vibe. Ceremony nailed its intended vibe of being a celebration, and few wanted to leave when the Martinez Brother were finally told 'no more' at 10.30pm."
Surreal and an abnormal way to finish the day, but the fact everyone was wearing such magnificent shell suits in some ways made it work.
She Said: "Ceremony’s line-up promised a good mix of blast-from-the-past and cool-current, with names ranging from Armand Van Helden’s (with a classic 90s set) to Mike Skinner to Lee Foss. I’d wrongly predicted that we’d hear someone drop the remix of Sugababes 'Freak Like Me' at 51st State, so hearing Plastician play it as we took a first look around Sports Banger VIP gave me some satisfaction. Sports Banger VIP was sports casual paradise, bringing fun and games as promised everywhere I looked. The area was adorned with inflatable velvet sofas, fluorescent 'Golf Sale' signs, iconic sports branding and witty slogans that have all come to define Johnny Banger's fashion brand.
"'In the Trees' was a new stage for 2015 and the rhythmic house was drawing in a number of friendly industry folks, catching up on where they’d just returned from and all in good spirits. This tent was definitely not getting the traction it deserved, but perhaps this was the design. It was a secret oasis from the whirlwind of activity elsewhere for those who were savvy about their music. In the main tent Eli & Fur had drawn in a large crowd, but for some reason everyone was standing back and reticent in their engagement with the stage. For no reason other than that they were trying to catch some rays I reckon as the music was pumping and Eli & Fur were on form.
"As though our wander through the festival site had set us on some sort of time warp, we returned to Sports Banger to find 80s and 90s classics in full flow, still under Plastician’s careful guidance. Everyone was getting their swagger on to Human League's 'Don’t You Want Me', followed in quick succession by Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams'. 187 Lockdown's garage special was a massive treat, his accompanying MC on a lifeguard stool to the side of the desk getting a lot of love from the enraptured crowd and all hands in the air as his classic 'Gunman' dropped.
"We took early seats for Armand Van Helden’s 90s special taking in the last 15 minutes of Lee Foss’ set: smooth with some cheeky basslines. The crowd was bouncing from start to finish, with outbreaks of the biggest reminiscent smiles as classics like 'My, My, My', 'You Don’t Even Know Me' and 'Witch Doktor' brought everyone’s good times back to mind. The day wouldn’t be complete without a visit to So Fresh, So Clean stage, where DJ Sneak B2B Doc Marten were playing what seemed to be a loop of every track from Kanye West’s second album followed by any Missy Elliott track and then another random 90s/00s rnb track. Surreal and an abnormal way to finish the day, but the fact everyone was wearing such magnificent shell suits in some ways made it work.
"Well played Ceremony."
She Said by Ann McManus. Images by Marc Sethi. Republished 07/07/2026.