Following a day of glorious sunshine, rain fell on the Electric Picnic this afternoon, but it has started to brighten up.
Yesterday was one of best days ever enjoyed by festival goers with glorious sun all day and temperatures of 23C.
Among the highlights of the first day was headliners Roxy Music and American indie group Modest Mouse who played to huge crowds, as did Foals in the Crawdaddy Tent.
Rising star Janelle Monáe played two sets last night, one on the main stage and the other in the Body and Soul Arena, which was packed for her performance.
Joint promoter Melvin Benn from Festival Republic said yesterday was “as close to perfect as you get".
“Walking around yesterday afternoon, this felt a good as festival as I’ve seen anywhere in the world," he said.
Although Electric Picnic is not a sell-out, Mr Benn said just over 30,000 tickets out of a total allocation of 32,500 had been sold. He said the figures showed the enduring appeal of the festival despite the depths of recession.
“Quite frankly, when you look at the level of recession, for the Picnic to be holding its head high in terms of sales speaks volumes for it. I am delighted with the ticket sales. I’m thinking wow.”
Mr Benn said MCD promoter Denis Desmond had done “fantastically well” in getting Guns ‘n’ Roses back on stage on Wednesday night in the O2.
Mr Benn, who also promotes the Reading and Leeds festivals, had his own run-in with Axl Rose when he pulled the plug on the band on two successive nights because they came late on stage. “I think getting him back on was absolutely fantastic,” he said.
Mindfield organiser Naoise Nunn confirmed that Tony Blair would not be appearing at the festival and the former Labour MP George Galloway is delayed until 7pm this evening.
Among the celebrities spotted to date today have Bonnie Wright who plays Ginny Weasley in Harry Potter and her boyfriend Jamie Campbell Bower.