By Laura Lewis BScHons
In It Together Festival has always promised a blend of nostalgia, discovery, and big‑stage energy — but this year, it delivered something far more personal. Across three days at Old Park Farm, the festival became a place where past and present blurred beautifully, especially for those of us returning with children in tow. I arrived with my three — 13, 11 and 5 — expecting a family‑friendly weekend.
What I didn’t expect was to be pulled so vividly back into the soundtrack of my own youth. The line‑up was stacked, but two names jumped out at me long before we arrived: Feeder and Natalie Imbruglia. These weren’t just artists on a poster — they were fragments of my teenage years, the voices that filled my bedroom, the songs I rewound endlessly on scratched CDs. Hearing them again, decades later, in a field full of families, felt strangely grounding.
Natalie Imbruglia brought a different kind of nostalgia — softer, but no less powerful. When she began Torn, the crowd shifted. People who hadn’t sung all day suddenly found their voices. I felt that familiar swell in my chest, the one that comes when a song has lived with you for years and I belted that song with everything I had! My children sang along too — not because they grew up with her, but because they grew up with me. Hearing their voices blend with mine in that moment was something I’ll hold onto.
Feeder’s set was the first moment the weekend caught me off guard. As soon as the opening riff of Buck Rogers hit the speakers, something in me snapped straight back to being fifteen. I didn’t plan to dance — I just did. And then my kids joined in, laughing at first, then fully committing. Watching them jump around to a song that once lived on every mixtape I made was unexpectedly emotional. It felt like introducing them to a version of me they’d never met, and watching them embrace it without hesitation.
The headliners stitched the weekend together with the kind of confidence only seasoned performers can bring. Madness turned Friday night into a communal celebration, their brass‑driven joy spilling across the field. Aitch took Saturday in a completely different direction — sharp, high‑energy, and undeniably current, pulling the teens and tweens into the heart of the crowd. And Snow Patrol closed the festival with a set that felt almost cinematic. When Chasing Cars began, the field fell into a hush that only a truly iconic song can command. My husband held my youngest’s hand, my older two swayed beside us, and for a moment the entire festival seemed to breathe in unison.
What made the weekend work so well was the balance: the ability to move from the adrenaline of a headline set to the warmth of a familiar chorus, from discovering new acts to rediscovering old favourites. The sound quality across the stages was consistently strong, the organisation smooth, and the atmosphere welcoming — helped by a visible, reassuring security presence that allowed parents to relax and actually enjoy the music.
By the end of the weekend, my legs ached, my voice was gone, and my heart felt full. I’d come expecting a family festival. I left feeling like I’d been given the rare chance to revisit the music that shaped me — and to fold my children into those memories as we danced and sang our way through the days.
In It Together didn’t just bring great artists to Wales. It brought generations together in the most effortless way, reminding us that music isn’t something we leave behind as we grow up. It’s something we carry with us — and sometimes, if we’re lucky, something we get to pass on.