The Atomic Festival is an event that caters for fans of all things mid-century and in 2015 it celebrated its second birthday in style.
The weather wasn’t on anyone’s side but that didn’t stop the crowds from turning up in droves. The choice of an art deco aerodrome in Sywell, Northampton is spot on. It’s central for everyone and really sets the scene for the event. There’s also a hotel on site and camping for those that want to enjoy the whole weekend.
The lineup of entertainment is just as impressive. The main hangar hosted jiving classes and competitions in the afternoon and live music and DJs throughout the day. There was also a big top that boasted a 6000 sq ft dance floor complete with indoor heating!
There were too many bands to list here but we saw The Slingshots, The Intelli-Gents, Little Victor, The Ranch Girls with the highlight for us being the Ray Collins Hot-Club who were simply brilliant. You can see the whole line up here.
Traders selling huge ranges of original vintage gear, reproduction stuff and curiosities made for an interesting browse. If you fancied a new look the hairdressers were on hand to shave your head and grease your quiff or tie your hair up in a retro style complete with curls.
The food on offer included spicy tacos, vegetarian wraps, fish and chips, hog roast and the obligatory hot dogs and burgers all served from period trailers and vans.
The kids and young at heart got a helter-skelter, roller rink, mini steam train and a wall of death.
The petrol heads had their fair share of entertainment too with drag racing and jets and bi-planes on both days.
For anyone passionate about chrome and fins, this is a great event too with at least 100 American classic and custom rides on show. Owners got to park in front of the drive-in movie screen showing Elvis; a classy way to spend the evening unless you were holed up in the big top listening to Ray Collins and the other acts like us.
A quality event, well worth the price of a ticket.
See you next year!
Enjoy the event pictures below!
Check out the show auto gallery here.
IMPORTANT: if you are in any of these pictures and want them to be removed please get in touch and we will oblige.
