Beardyman and Idlewild replace The Streets on opening day of Summer Sundae

We arrived early, it was a long but pleasant drive up from the deep south, having got up at the crack of dawn to avoid any traffic snarl ups. There were no signs up to say where the festival was but we new it was De Montfort Hall so we followed signs there, and before long we were driving in the gates to get our wristbands, and park up the campervan under some leafy trees.

I don't know if it's that people in the north are more friendly but we made friends straight away chatting to our neighbours, as we leafed through the programme (priced at a reasonable £2.50 or free with a festie T-shirt) and a tome of information.

The Acoustic Café had already started but we decided instead to take in the sights, a few steps away was the entrance to 'The Village' and the smells of freshly cooking food, the handy map gave us our bearings, and their were large noticeboards about the place giving us line-up change details, these were soon to break the news that The Streets would not be playing.

It wasn't long before we'd been handed some energy saving lightbulbs, chatted about ear protection with Don't Lose The Music, sampled some cider/perry, and signed a petition to add our voice to Amnesty International, all within the confines of a green lawned area. We'd felt instantly at home amongst the colourful stalls, and there was no chance of getting lost as the layout was clean and open.

We'd checked out Schu and Welly Exchange and decided to keep our footwear, and been tempted by churos and chocolate sauce. Arriving at the Phrased And Confused in time to chat to Kate Tempest (the act we'd come to see) and discover she and her band had been specially commissioned to produce a 15 minute piece for the festival called 'Patterns'.

We take our seats, noticing that many of the line-up for the tent over the weekend is also in the audience, and in fact it transpires that many of them are camped near us. Kate does an impressive vocal job with Sound Of Rum providing a layered musical accompaniment, and the lyrics about how two best friends lives can take such divergent paths is well received. The set is all too short though, and I’d have liked them to play more of their material.

The sun is warming the tent and so we decide to occupy one of the many picnic benches in the main arena and sample the 20 real ales on offer. Talking to those around us, many of them have been before, and tell us the festival layout has altered and is much improved for this year. Clearly we've chosen the right year to visit for the first time.

The area behind the sound stage of the main arena fills quickly, as does the large natural amphitheatre in front of the stage, however the bar staff are swift of foot and there's no real queues for drinks all weekend long.

I decide to start my musical weekend with South African's BLK JKS who have that distinctly tiny guitar of many African bands, and it's a while before the high twanging pitch is adjusted, from then on the bass and drums fill the air with dub laden grooves. I'm impressed with the drummer who provides the band with drive, if only the other band members had his energy.

Next up The Qemists and my first sampling of going indoors at a festival to watch a band, my eyes adjust slowly as there’s an incredibly colourful visual display going on behind this rock band come dance act. The two vocalists provide a scattergun of vocals, and leap about the stage. High energy tracks from debut album 'Join The Q' provide an energetic start to the early evening.

The Streets have swine flu, and haven't been able to headline, so in an inspired piece of re-scheduling Beardyman moves to the main stage, and provides a fantastic bounce through pieces of popular tracks, high speed rap, beatboxing, and all around feel good mayhem. He wins the crowd over in seconds and from then on brings a party atmosphere to the arena.

Fanfarlo have also been unable to appear and are replaced by an Apple Mac and someone called Gold Panda in the Rising Stage, it doesn't appeal, and so I hot foot it back to more Beardyman.

Mystery Jets are now festival circuit regulars and have a few singalong tunes up their sleeves, it's a good opportunity to meet up with friends, and have a chat. The band appear to be well received from the crowd, with 'Two Doors Down' giving the audience a chance to use their vocal chords. The band also showcase some new tunes which are well received.

I head off to see Mum in the Rising Stage tent, and the attention they are paying to their instruments makes it clear that this will be a complex aural experience. I’m not wrong, sounding like an Icelandic cross between Arcade Fire and British Sea Power, they deliver a sonically appealing set of passionately delivered material. Fantastic stuff! And the band of the day for me.

I return through The Village to see replacement headliners Idlewild, but end up in the sampling some of the music emanating from the various food stalls, and catching the occasional fragment of Idlewild through the crowd. Before I know it the silent disco has kicked off in the eFestivals Comedy tent, following the twisted lyrics and guitar work of Rob Deering. I elect to sit outside and enjoy the night air before the quick flit to my bed via a spotless toilet boasting its own internal light, some glo stick lit spaceman and some weird vibes and some shake your booty techno beats in the Asian Grub Foundation cafe.

Day one has proved highly enjoyable, and we’ve spent under our budget on sensibly priced food and drink.

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