Hop Farm, Kent, Saturday 5th July, 2008: Although the weather was forecast to be bad, the thousands of Mighty Boosh fans that descended on Hop Farm, Kent, for the inaugural Mighty Boosh Festival were not left disappointed as glorious sunshine broke out on Saturday afternoon in time for the festivities. God, it seems, is a Boosh fan!

In a line-up that included the great and the good of the UK’s best comedians, including the likes of Mock the Week star Frankie Boyle and legendary comic Ross Noble, the comedy tent was sure to attract as much – if not more interest - than the main music stage, where the line-up, particularly early on in the day was comparatively weak.

Indie newbies White Denim - a Kings of Leon style outfit – did their best to enliven the stage late in the afternoon, so too did uber-cool outfit The Kills, who played some of the hits that have earned them a cult following. Kate Moss, who is engaged to the guitarist Jamie Hince was not seen at the festival, though she may have loitered back stage.

Later in the day the godfather of Nu-metal Gary Numan hit the stage. Numan generally went down well with the crowd, thanks to his ever-present hardcore fans, but it terms of musical popularity and energy, it was left to the Charlatans (as pictured below), without doubt the biggest act on the bill, to really get the festival rocking.

Playing a mixture of all time classics such as North Country Boy and One to Another, as well as some of their more recent hits, The Charlatans pumped up the crowd as the sun began to set on the festival. It was a great festival performance that lasted just over an hour; lead singer Tim Burgess was on top form cheering on the crowd.

Other acts playing at the festival were Har Mar Superstar, whose mix of comedy and music was an apt choice for the festival. But musically Har Mar is nothing special: at one point he announced to the crowd “I play with another band, Neon-Neon – check them out.” Which, Urbanplanet asks, given the fact that Neon Neon created one of the best and most underrated albums of 2008, why weren’t they playing?

The line-up was supposedly bulked out by the addition of ‘celebrity’ DJ sets that did nothing apart from fill a brief void while the crowds jostled for more beer and pies: pretty much pointless DJ sets from the likes of Peaches and Jarvis Cocker added little to the proceedings.

The Festival closed with a live performance from the Mighty Boosh themselves, adding a mixture of comedy and music to proceedings. The group performed songs such as Future Sailors and Eels, intermixed with some comedy, though not enough for most fans liking. Characters from the TV show including Naboo, Bollo and the seaweed-haired undersea hermaphrodite Old Greg all made appearances.

In terms of organisation, it appears as though the festival may have run into some teething problems, too. Many fans, eager to see comedy at the festival, were annoyed with the restrictive, very un-booshlike attitude of allowing a one-in-one out policy for entry to the comedy tent, effectively restricting festival goers to just the main stage unless they were happy to queue for a long time to enter. Admittedly, the queues did fluctuate depending on the act but many revellers did not bother visiting the comedy tent again because of the fear of having to wait.

Also, given that the majority of festival goers were from London, the last train back left at 10.23pm. However, the Mighty Boosh did not grace the stage until gone nine thirty, a move which ultimately led to chaos at the end of the festival as thousands attempted to get on board the last few charter buses back to the capital.

Camping facilities would have been a great addition, plus a better musical line-up and open entry, regardless of overcrowding, in the comedy tent (which had open sides) would have made what is a new and exciting festival concept, a far better day.

On the positive side the atmosphere was great, with everyone enjoying the pantomime like atmosphere – there were plenty of costume wearing revellers, though, disappointingly, no ‘Crack Fox.’ The children and families present all seemed to be having a great time, too. Getting a drink at the numerous bars was easy, and not too overpriced, with most of the money raised going to good causes; the toilet facilities were excellent too. And, mercifully, the sun was shining too!

With an improved line-up and maybe spreading over two days this festival could indeed become a summer regular with a great, fun atmosphere all of its own. With more festivals than ever competing for our attention every weekend of the summer months, the competition is more fierce than ever, but for an act that have come from the fringes of cult comedy to universal acclaim you wouldn’t bet against them.