Southport Weekender April 26,27,28th 2002

Party people from across the globe descended upon Southport this week, for the 30th birthday of the hugely popular Southport weekender event, staged at Pontins in Ainsdale.

From as far afield as Atlanta and Chicago, soulsters arrived in droves to experience one of Southport’s premier events of the year.

This is one extravaganza, which, already firmly established in the music connoisseurs calendar, just keeps getting bigger and better and this weekends anniversary spectacular delivered some tasty ear candy from plenty of the music industry’s heavyweights.

Headliners included ‘Little’ Louie Vega, India, Radio one’s ‘Dreem Teem’ and a shining performance from Glen Lewis, who played live in the Funkbase on Saturday.

Combined with many artists, DJ’s, musicians and a sea of revellers, celebrations went off with a mind blowing mammoth explosion!

Chalets were deemed redundant, and dancing the order of the day (and night!) to a broad range of sounds that encompassed soul, garage, drum & bass, urban & hip hop.

This venue was packed to capacity with people from all walks of life with one common interest, the music, which was provided in abundance practically round the clock for the party hard crowd.

The main venue, ‘Powerhouse’, served up a blend of garage and house music for the hip swaying, fleet footed masses, whilst the pleasantly cool ‘Funkbase’ room catered for the hardcore R&B set, dishing up some major hip hop beats to sink your teeth into! 

Crossing through the elegantly themed dining area, we found the ‘Alternative’ room, with its huge drapes of white and blue, the place enveloped you in a musical ‘ice cave’. This is where the dedicated dancing crew hung out, displaying enough nifty footwork and complex body moves to make the average dance floor dweller appear positively rigid!

Tucked away behind the scenes, we uncovered ‘Connoisseurs Corner’ where the style gurus were ‘getting down’ to a serious cocktail of melodic classics and soulful vibes amongst distinctly European surroundings and an atmosphere so cool, even I was out of my depth !

Across the floor, and manned by a particularly large ‘beefcake’, the V.I.P lounge, decked out in a jungle theme with its own DJ and exclusive dance room, was a hive for the smartest, while the ‘Ice bar’ provided a treat to your senses, amid deliciously sumptuous surroundings, making for a wonderfully relaxing experience.

This years 30th birthday weekender has proved, once again, the huge popularity of this event, lets hope it continues for many more years to come.

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