Over two weekends, the park became six very different worlds. One day, it was a giant outdoor R&B singalong. The next, a glitter-covered pop playground filled with bright colours, face gems and outfits planned weeks in advance. Then the guitars got louder as punk, rock and alternative music took over. A few days later, the whole thing started again – this time with a slow-building Friday that ended in a sea of Tyler, The Creator fans.
And after one of the hottest and driest summers on record, the ground beneath everyone’s feet was inevitably dusty at times. But this being Britain, everyone simply got on with it. Boots, trainers, glitter, sunglasses and, later, rain jackets – all part of the experience.
Friday brought R&B, Afrobeats and UK sounds to Victoria Park, with Odeal, Crazy Cousinz, Ayra Starr, Tems and Jorja Smith keeping the crowd moving from the start.
There was a brilliant energy around the park as people moved between stages, catching artists they had come specifically to see and occasionally stumbling upon something new. By the afternoon, the crowds were getting bigger and the anticipation for the evening was beginning to build.
Jorja Smith’s headline set was the big moment.
When Blue Lights began, the whole park seemed to come together. Taken from her classic debut album Lost & Found, the song has lost none of its power, with thousands singing every word back at her.
There were surprises too. Tems’ set got an enormous boost when Dave made an unexpected appearance, while Crazy Cousinz joining Jorja later gave the headline performance another burst of energy.
Friday had everything you want from a festival day: great music, surprise guests and those moments you weren’t necessarily expecting but will remember afterwards.
The perfect start to the weekend.
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Saturday arrived in full colour.
Victoria Park was a sea of glitter, bright colours, face gems and outfits that had clearly been planned weeks in advance. The pop crowd had turned up – and, frankly, everyone looked amazing.
Sienna Spiro was one of the early standouts, proving why she’s becoming one of the most exciting new-generation vocalists. Performing her recent song Material Lover, from The Devil Wears Prada 2, she was visibly overcome with emotion – and so were plenty of her fans.
A huge crowd screamed every word back.
There were tears, but also that brilliant, freeing feeling a great live performance can create when thousands of people are completely caught up in the same song.
Then came the race to Zara Larsson.
Her arrival instantly changed the vibe. Gorgeous outfit, makeup to match and a set built for maximum pop drama. The biggest moment came when she made a little bit of Herstory, performing Stateside with PinkPantheress live together for the first time ever.
The reaction? Screams. Jumping. Phones in the air. Complete chaos in the best possible way.
Zara followed it with anthem after anthem and picked a girl from the crowd to join her on stage for Lush Life. Suddenly thousands of people were dancing and singing together. It felt genuinely special.
Pink Pantheress was, unsurprisingly, iconic. The only problem was that her tent seemed far too small for the number of people trying to see her. It was overflowing – proof of just how much the audience wanted to be there. Her music was brilliant, her personality hilarious.
DJO was another huge highlight. Joe Keery may be known to many as a star of Stranger Things, but there was no doubting his musical credentials. He had incredible energy, seemed to be loving every minute and ended with End of Beginning – cue one enormous Victoria Park singalong.
But Saturday belonged to Lorde.
Banger after banger, friends jumping around together and people dancing with their arms around one another – Victoria Park briefly became one of the happiest places on earth.
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Then came Sunday and the volume went up.
The final day of the first weekend brought brilliant variety. JPEGMAFIA brought his own distinct sound to one of the main stages, while EsDeeKid had the tent crowd locked in. Things got louder and punkier with Amyl and the Sniffers and IDLES, while Basement kicked the day off early.
Interpol were another major highlight, drawing a big main-stage crowd.
With stages and tents spread across Victoria Park, there was barely time to catch your breath. You’d finish one set, hear something interesting in the distance and suddenly find yourself being pulled across the park again.
Then, of course, came the artist everyone had been waiting for.
Deftones.
The anticipation had been building all day, and they delivered: huge backing stage design, loud sound and incredible visuals. After a packed day of great artists, it was a powerful, atmospheric finale and absolutely worth the wait.
The first weekend belonged to soulful voices, pop perfection, surprise guests, punk energy and huge headline moments.
But All Points East wasn’t finished with us yet.
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A few days later, Victoria Park opened its gates again – and the second weekend arrived with a completely different rhythm.
It began slowly.
There was music in the background, people wandering through the park and that familiar festival feeling of everyone trying to work out exactly where they wanted to be. Some headed straight for the stages. Others took their time, exploring.
At first, All Points East felt almost relaxed.
But gradually, the mood began to change.
The crowds began gathering properly around Mariah the Scientist.
Suddenly, those casually wandering around Victoria Park were joined by people with a clear mission: find a good spot and don’t give it up.
Rex Orange County took things up another level, pulling an even bigger crowd and delivering one of the day’s best unexpected moments when he brought out Ravyn Lenae for a collaborative performance.
There was that familiar ripple of excitement that travels through a festival crowd when something happens that wasn’t quite on the schedule. Phones went up. People started shouting to their friends. Everyone nearby suddenly realised they were witnessing something worth seeing.
And then came the big rush.
By the time Tyler, The Creator was due on stage, there was no question about where the majority of Victoria Park wanted to be. The crowd condensed towards the main stage, with thousands packed together for the final performance of the night.
The anticipation had been building all day.
Tyler arrived and the whole thing exploded.
Fire. Sparklers. Huge reactions to every song. An audience that seemed to know exactly when to scream, jump, sing and completely lose its mind.
What makes a Tyler, The Creator crowd so interesting is the sheer level of devotion. There was a huge range of emotions throughout the set – moments of pure excitement followed by others where the audience seemed completely absorbed in the music – but the energy never dropped.
Even the rain couldn’t distract anyone.
And Tyler’s performance gave them very little reason to look anywhere else.
Every burst of fire seemed to make the crowd louder. Every spark sent another wave of excitement through the audience. By the end, Victoria Park felt completely consumed by the moment.
It was loud, theatrical, emotional and completely full-on.
Exactly what a Friday night headline set should be.
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Saturday began with rain.
We got there reasonably early-ish, which is always something of an achievement at a festival, and Victoria Park was full of people in boots and jackets who had clearly decided that the weather wasn’t going to ruin anyone’s plans.
And it didn’t.
There were plenty of promotional activations around the site, giving people things to do between sets, with pop-ups, activities and the usual All Points East mix of music, food and things to stumble across.
Musically, Mike was a highlight. Performing with a band, he brought his own energy to the stage and mixed in recreations of some famous songs. Our favourite was his take on Mary J. Blige’s I Love You, which became one of those sets that makes you stop and think: okay, we’re very glad we caught this.
But our Beast standout had to be Jim Legxacy.
For his first-ever festival performance, he absolutely went for it.
The tent was overflowing, with people packed inside and spilling out as more tried to get close enough to see what was happening. It had that brilliant feeling of catching an artist at exactly the right moment – the crowd knew they were watching someone special and gave him the kind of reaction every first festival appearance deserves.
Jim Legxacy delivered. The crowd loved him. And, judging by the atmosphere inside that packed-out tent, this probably won’t be the last time he finds himself on a festival stage.
And, of course, Tyler, The Creator was back. The first artist to headline two days of All Points East in the same year, returning to an East Stage decked out as Victoria Park and Hackney Wick train stations set-up with the same infectious energy and stunning pyrotechnics. Opening with Big Poe and St. Chroma, and with hits including Are We Still Friends? and Sugar On My Tongue, he had one of the loudest crowds of the weekend singing, screaming and jumping along.
As the evening rolled in, the rides became one of those unexpectedly lovely additions to the site. Festival rides can seem like a bit of a distraction in daylight, but at night, with lights flashing above Victoria Park and music coming from every direction, they added another layer to the whole experience.
A quick spin. A distant bassline. Lights in the sky. Thousands of people all there for the same reason.
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Twenty One Pilots closed the 2026 festival with a huge headline set, opening with Overcompensate and taking the crowd through favourites including Chlorine, Ride, Stressed Out and Trees. There were surprises too, with covers of Let It Be, Creep and Seven Nation Army, while drummer Josh Dun took things to another level performing from a specially constructed tower and a second, fire-lit stage appeared out in the crowd.
Elsewhere, Wunderhorse, Ren, bbno$, PVRIS, Gang of Youths, Nova Twins, Hot Milk and LEAP helped bring the curtain down on six days of music in Victoria Park.
One last massive singalong. One explosive finale. And a very good way to end the summer.
See you next year!
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