The Mighty Hoopla review: A glittery act of defiance after the London attacks

Hours before The Mighty Hoopla, a day festival showcasing the cheesiest of pop music and the finest of London’s queer night culture, terrorists killed seven people in London Bridge.

On Sunday morning the cordoned-off area in London Bridge – where pedestrians usually spill onto the road gorging on street food and bustling about the busy station – was deserted save for armed police, a forensics tent, curious members of the public and news reporters.

The Mighty Hoopla team assured ticket-holders on social media that the event, five miles away in east London’s Victoria Park, would go ahead, with a nod from the Metropolitan Police. But at that spot beside the river it was difficult to see how anyone could possibly muster up the positivity to enjoy a line-up of guilty pleasures including All Saints, Will Young and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Approaching the event, the sound of a crowd singing at the top of their voices to The Spice Girls’ “Say You’ll Be There” on a sound system floated in the air. It was clear that the crowd was determined to make this event a unrelenting and unshakeable celebration of love, freedom, diversity and life.

open image in gallery

And what a joyous celebration it was. Drag queens tottered across the grass in platform heels, meticulously planned outfits, and coiffed wigs. The crowd’s faces were plastered with multi-coloured glitter and gems, whatever their gender.

There were rainbow-coloured fur coats here and giant poms poms in green, yellow and pink pinned onto clothes and into hair there. The organisers could hardly have imagined how loaded with meaning the event would have become, nor the crowd their outfits such acts of defiance.

The curators – who include the capital’s nightlife giants Guilty Pleasures, club kids Sink the Pink, and the team behind Hackney’s self-described “gay super-pub” The Glory – ensured a second didn’t go by without some excuse for festival-goers to be singing and dancing with wild abandon.

Late queer icons George Michael and Prince were honoured by DJ sets of their music at packed-out The Tiny Dancer and The Grand tents, respectively, where euphoric members of the crowd spilled out onto the grass as they hollered their lyrics - most significantly Michael’s Freedom! 90.

And at The Grand, veteran garage duo Artful Dodger treated their audience to a set of nostalgic hits and covers with an unmistakably London sound from Daniel Beddingfield’s “Gotta Get Thru This”, “Heartbroken” by T2 and “Baby Cakes” by 3 of a Kind.

But, the Sink the Pink stage was where the big-hitters of the day played, including former X Factor competitor Fleur East, who delivered a short but sweet set to an excitable but not-quite-packed out tent. Sure, no one really knew the words to her track “Day in LA”, but as soon as East called on the audience to “solidify as one” in light of the deadly attacks, they roared in support. And the sea of bodies moving to her rendition of Pharrell’s “Uptown Funk” proved that all anyone wanted to do was dance to their favourite guilty pleasures.

Perhaps a little more experienced in stripping sets of the newer tracks no one really wants to hear, Sophie Ellis-Bextor delivered back-to-back hits by storming through “Murder on the Dancefloor”, “Get Over You” and “Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)”.

open image in gallery

In between sets, Sink the Pink drag queens and club kids dressed to the nines paraded the stage. But owing to a lack of big screens on either side of the tent and the sheer size of the crowd, the stunning details of their outfits and wonderfully sharp humour was lost a little in a way they wouldn’t be in a more intimate setting, despite their undeniable efforts.

Overall, the audience was clearly appreciative that the event went ahead regardless of Saturday night’s attack. Jack Moolark, a 28-year-old shop designer and Tom Howser, a 30-year-old art director, both based in London, chimed that nothing was going to put them off from attending The Mighty Hoopla.

“It’s been an amazing day,” Howser told The Independent. “This sort of event is what should be happening. It’s promoting a good message. It has been such a nice end to a shitty weekend.”

Two other crowd members who identified themselves as Gary, 56, and Yanesh, 39, added that while they were initially worried about the security and that they might witness a repeat of Saturday’s atrocities, but they attended because they wanted to “keep going” and said that the atmosphere was “great.”

The day ended with a buoyant and glitter-drenched headline set from electronic trio Years and Years. To the delight of the crowd with impressive levels of stamina for enthusiastic dancing, highlights included a cover of Britney Spear’s “Toxic”, where Olly Alexander was paraded around the stage on a giant red throne.

“This tent loves you!” Alexander announced mid-set as he urged queer people to stick together and help one another through tough times. Number-one hit 'King' wrapped up the set, for which Alexander stripped into gold hotpants, revealing his glittery torso, and piggy-backed dancers across the stage. What a perfect way to stick two, extremely sparkly, fingers up to hatred.