A Day By The Sea

Walk.

You can walk everywhere in Margate. It’s like twenty minutes max from top to bottom. Don’t even bother trying to get a taxi. Just bring a brolly.

It goes without saying, but fish and chips. The best being Peter’s Fish Factory right on the sea front. My girlfriend and I sat eating ours under an umbrella in the spitting rain. A man pulled to a halt in his car and wound down his window and I thought, ‘Oh, here we go.’ “FISH AND CHIPS IN THE RAIN IS THE BEST” he yelled, and drove off. Yes, sir.

There are many other culinary delights. My friend Polly actually text me this highly informative list:

• Cheesy Tiger (the best one)
• Angela's (trendy)
• Hantverk & Found (tiny trendy fish)
• Bow's Kitchen (old school Thai above a pub)
• The Riz (South Indian)
• GB Pizza (pizza)

It’s also worth noting that all these places close around 9.30pm so if you’re stuck on London time then you, my friend, will probably be eating fish and chips in the rain.

If you want to stroll up to Northdown Road, there’s a great greasy spoon called The Dalby Cafe where they have a Man vs Food style challenge. Only three people have ever completed it and their names and times are immortalised on a blackboard behind the till. I’m told that sadly Tiny is no longer with us.

There’s also the lovely Cliffs where you can do a yoga class, get your hair cut, drink a coffee or festival pale ale, and even bump into some of Margate’s artistic glitterati.

By name, this is a festival aimed at those who don’t dwell in Margate. So I’m going to assume you’ll be travelling in from London and the surrounding areas. The easiest way is by train. There are pretty regular services from St Pancras, Victoria and Stratford and it takes around an hour and a half.

Or if you did want to drive and you don’t mind a trip through the Blackwall Tunnel, then go for it. I’ll leave you to Google Maps your own ETA.

Marika Hackman

With her new band, Marika Hackman truly looks comfortable on stage. She bounces around, playing off her bandmates and ripping through tracks from her excellent new record I’m Not Your Man. There’s the knowing nod of Boyfriend, My Lover Cindy’s all fuzzed out with growling guitar and Hackman’s depthly syrup croon, and even old favourite Ophelia gets a gnarled up revisit.

Annie Hart

One third of Au Revoir Simone, Annie’s following in the footsteps of her bandmate Erika Spring with a synth and sample driven solo offering. Multi-tasking across keyboard, bass, loop pedals and samplers, her glossy DIY pop has an infectious charm and some dazzling hooks and her outgoing performance will reel you right in. She brings Rebecca Taylor up on stage to join in a duet and it sort of feels like you’re spying in on a late night rehearsal, but at 2pm on a wet Sunday and in an incredibly warming sort of way.

Metronomy

Metronomy really looked like they were having a bloody great time by the seaside. Joe Mount launched through a diverse setlist of new and old with careless abandon and a tambourine that never stopped working. There was a suave accomplishment to their set that made the whole thing feel rather timeless. From Old Skool to I’m Aquarius to the Anna Prior fronted Everything Goes My Way - the sweaty seethe of crowd just didn’t stop dancing.

Girl Ray

Taking stage in the Roller Disco area of Dreamland and looking every bit as fitting as their throwback surrounds, Girl Ray’s set of quintessentially British indie lullabies took us to a space of ringing guitar lines, sighed vocals and staccato choruses. Tracks from their debut record Earl Grey were as calming as an afternoon cuppa and their performance so groove filled it’s a shame we couldn’t have glided around the venue to it