From the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury to the home of the pool party in Ibiza, Stormzy's massive #MerkyFest returned for its third season at Ibiza Rocks Hotel.
Everyone is talking about #MerkyFestival. After an eventful two-day-party earlier in the week, we have all the gossip from possibly the wildest party of the season.
It may have been a few days since #MerkyFestival took over San Antonio, but we are still recovering from the madness. It seems that the entire UK Grime scene jetted out to Ibiza to celebrate the event, as a guest list filled with footballers, singers, rappers, reality TV stars and more were all captured enjoying the festivities under the Balearic sun.
Leaving everyone in the UK envious, Instagram stories show the likes of Manchester United new boy Aaron Wan-Bissaka and England stars Raheem Sterling and Jadon Sancho partying on the same VIP balcony with Stormzy.
Other celebs pictured include R&B singer Jorja Smith, Krept & Konan, J Hus, Dave, comedian Michael Dapaah and more.
Maybe it was the infectious energy of Stormzy and the excitement to have carried on from his historic performance at Glastonbury on Friday that travelled overseas to Ibiza for round two. Either way, the star took to social media to describe #MerkyFest as “the greatest party on Earth” and state that he “didn’t want it to end”.
I must admit, on attendance, it was all a bit of a whirlwind. I was lucky enough to be able to escape the madness every now and then and take in the atmosphere from a balcony room in front of the stage. I looked down at the hundreds of people jumping around, living their absolute best lives, and listened to the roar of cheers echo through the venue as more surprise grime artists took to the stage, it was incredible to witness.
The anticipated line-up consisted of MoStack, Fredo, Mist, Dave, Wstrn, Policy, Unknown T, Tiffany Calver, DJ Tiny, Ms Banks and many more.
On day 1, Lethal Bizzle and Chip appeared for two epic surprise performances. This was Stormzy's day to kick back and enjoy the party himself. However, the enthusiastic rapper couldn't help himself but get up on stage with British rapper MoStack for a special performance of their collaboration of "Shine Girl".
On day two, "Bouff Daddy" rapper J HUS added to the list of A-list artists to hop on stage and made for even more #MerkyFest madness by jumping into the crowd during his performance of "Did You See". His performance came with plenty of dance moves and swagger for fans to embrace.
Unfortunately, the festival also saw trouble, with a video emerging of a fight on the dancefloor. The hosts, Stormzy and the staff squashed the situation as quickly as possible, and the party continued as normal shortly afterwards.
As darkness fell, Stormzy lit up the Ibiza Rocks stage and everybody went nuts. The hype is real; Stormzy is a true performer and his passion and energy are significant in every song. The show was versatile and exhilarating throughout and with his whole crew on stage alongside him raving, it was impossible not to jump.
Top tracks from the night have to be "Vossi Bop", "Shut Up" and the Stormzy remix of Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You". The only problem with his set was that we didn't want it to end.
Words: Holly Woulfe