What a weekend at the Relentless Energy Drink Nass Festival

Review by Kris Davy

For those of you that have never heard of NASS festival, it is an action sports and music festival which takes place at the Royal Bath & West Showground near Shepton Mallett, and features some of the hottest young extreme sports talent in the country and overseas.

I’ve been going to NASS for a number of years now, and I have to say, it’s one of the best festivals I’ve been to. But this year, however, was a little different. And I will explain why later.
I arrived late on Friday evening and prepared myself for the long walk to the campsite. I had a fair bit of equipment including rucksack, tent, chair, and the designated amount of alcohol each person was allowed (12 cans), so when I eventually got there, I was absolutely knackered. I met up with some friends, set up camp, and went to explore the showground.

The Sports
It is the sports events that make NASS the popular family festival it is today.
For the professionals, it’s a competition. They treat the ramps and tracks as their workplace, with great determination to progress. Pulling out skillful, but highly dangerous tricks to get them noticed. Being smooth and consistent is what improves their chances of success.
For the amatures and enthusiasts, public skate sessions are available at certain times throughout the day. There is a friendly atmosphere and people of all ages and abilities take part.
For me, it was all about the Freestyle Motocross demo’s - I loved them. I get such an adrenaline rush just watching, so can only imagine the buzz the riders must get when they’re flying through the air doing backflips, lazyboys, and even landing no-handed.
Another demo that I really enjoyed was the KTM. This guy was incredible, standing up whilst wheely-ing on the back wheel; doing burnouts and donuts; and generally demonstrating things I never would have thought possible on a motorbike.


The Music
The music throughout the weekend featured a range of my favourite bands and DJs including Sub Focus, DJ Hype, Dirty Phonics, Flux Pavilion, Tinie Tempah and Nero, to name a few. 
Others I wasn’t so familiar with, such as Arcane Roots, Howling Les and We Are The Ocean, were equally as good. 
Saturday night’s music started off well, but was organised differently from that of previous years and was policed very heavily - which is why NASS 2011 was, in some ways, a bit of a disappointment for me.
I’m a big DJ Hype fan, and DJ Fresh was also on my list of people to see. But there was restricted access to the arena with no reasons given. This was an unexpected let down for many, especially the first time visitors. I didn’t let it phase me though as there was a variety of other activities to keep me entertained.

Other Entertainment
Walking around the showground was like walking around a small village. Thousands of people, fast food outlets and lots of bars – It was like Bournemouth Town Centre on a Saturday night!  The fairground was reasonably big and had classic rides like dodgems.  There were plenty of other rides for those looking for a thrill.
New to NASS this year was a DJ and MC workshop where people had the chance to emulate their favourite artists and create their own CD. Live graffiti walls, shopping, and water zorbing were also available.

Overall, the festival provided a brilliant line up of entertainment, despite not being able to watch my favourite DJs.  The acts I did see were very good and made the weekend really enjoyable. If you like festivals you will love NASS.

See you there next year!

For competition winners and runners-up please click here