FS Brings the Stars to St Andrews
Gillian Davies reviews Starfields, the biggest event of Freshers’ Week.
Starfields is back and better than ever.
On Saturday evening, Lower College Lawn was transformed into a festival within the heart of St Andrews. Fully stocked bars, photo booths and a stage large enough for an impressive music lineup all featured throughout the extravaganza. As crowds steadily poured into the venue, it was clear why Starfields has always been the biggest event of Freshers Week. Marking the end of summer and the launch of FS 2017, the music festival served as the perfect way to kick off the academic year and remind students why The St Andrews Charity Fashion Show is one of the most anticipated events of the year.
Mindful of previous years’ mistakes, the committee managed to improve upon an always-successful event. After the bottle neck of Starfields 2015, I was thrilled to see the improvements made to the security and spatial issues. Queues and prices, however, are ultimately unavoidable when it comes to events. Crowds and queues aside, the music was incredible all evening and the atmosphere was perfect for kicking off the beginning of the end for those fourth years and introducing freshers to a true St Andrews experience.
With flowers, facepaint, and glitter everywhere, over 2000 students showed their Coachella style in full force. Fuelled by drinks and ample food choices (shout out to the Blackhorn truck for being my favourite part of every event), energy and spirits stayed high throughout the night. Taking advantage of being one of the few non-black tie events of the year, the unique feel of Starfields brought out the best parts of St Andrews, attracting people from all over for a night of cracking DJs and the last bits of the warm weather from summer.
With six hours of music planned, guests had plenty of time to enjoy the late afternoon sun as the first acts took to the stage, starting with Scott ‘S//G’ Gordon and Bodalia, before crowds filled the lawn in anticipation for some of the biggest names in the house and electronic music scene. As Cheat Codes and Philip George each came on, the crowd grew into a proper mosh pit of people singing and dancing. Music could be heard across town, and when Michael Calfan took to the stage sound continued to grow. As most guests didn’t show up until after 6pm, the night seemed short with an early finish at 10pm. After 6 hours on my feet in a loud mob, the exhaustion of Freshers’ Week finally caught up, but Starfields was well worth it this year.
FS 2017 is working in partnership with The Brain Tumour Charity, and Starfields kicked off a great start to the year with big crowds and the energy needed to start the year off right. At 25 years in the making, FS never fails to impress, so hats (or flower crowns) off to the committee for putting on an incredible event to welcome students new and old back to the Bubble.
Photos by Marcell Kovacs.