Seasick Steve brings Friday evening at Summer Sundae to a close

In the absence of the festival's former director and leading light Richard Haswell, it seemed unlikely at one stage that Summer Sundae Weekender would get to celebrate its 10th birthday in 2010. However, with Rob Challice now leading the way with what must be a committed and dedicated team behind him, the festival not only celebrated its birthday but celebrated it with some style.

Summer Sundae Weekender quickly developed from a one day affair back in 2001 to the full three days revellers can enjoy now. Indeed, for many the festival has four nights of music if one includes the Fringe Festival on Thursday night, where open-topped buses ferry music and comedy fans around 8 city centre venues, all for a measly fiver. With a choice of nearly 50 performers, there is something for everyone and with artists playing for free and costs covered by sponsors, The Fringe creditably makes several thousand pounds for local charity Loros.

Problems with ticketing in 2010 meant everyone had to collect tickets from site. With the inevitable lengthy queues this created, patience wasn't aided by the appalling weather on both Friday and Saturday. But the always excellent stewarding and security staff at Summer Sundae - surely the best in the festival business - maintained a calm and efficient operation through what must have been, at times, very trying circumstances. Rickshaws were on hand to ferry people and their gear from the gate to the campsite, though for most this represents an astonishing level of laziness given it's less than a five minute walk. Indeed, the rickshaws proved more of a nuisance as the weekend progressed, taking up much needed space on already narrow pathways.

Opening the mainstage on Friday were local competition winners Kyte. Already an established local band with a national reputation, they seemed to many an unlikely choice, not least because they were unlikely competition entrants. But their psychedelic tinged ambient electro pop was well received by an enthusiastic crowd, their own material played alongside a notable cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Solsbury Hill'.

De Montfort Hall itself provides the second stage with its established concert venue and Nottingham based band Spotlight Kid brought their excellent soundscape rather than song psychedelic shoegaze to the party on Friday afternoon, many in the audience commenting favourably after that they, perhaps, deserved a higher-than-opening-slot on the bill.

Over on the expanded Last FM Rising stage, Erland and the Carnival were another absolute hit. Their reworkings of traditional Scottish folk songs on their debut album released earlier this year has won them many friends, but it is their ability to produce such a hypnotically beautiful sound live where they can be truly appreciated.

Facilities for the disabled at Summer Sundae are excellent. There is either tarmaced path or temporary trackway to both the main stage and indoor stage and both boast sizeable viewing platforms. Whilst the Musician and Rising stages don't have viewing platforms, access is only a couple of yards off the main pathways. There are dedicated disabled toilets across the site as well as those one would expect inside the hall, whilst ramps makes access across the whole site possible for those in wheelchairs (and significantly easier for families with prams and pushchairs).

On the indoor stage, Roots Manuva brought his eclectic mix of hip-hop, dub and reggae to a packed hall and had the entire place dancing. On the Main Stage, a headline set from the star of 2007's festival Seasick Steve brought Friday evening to a close and his hobo blues was, as in 2007, a massive hit with a rain bedraggled though enthusiastic crowd.

For those who aren't ready to call it a day when the stages finish, from 10pm each evening the Rising stage becomes a Silent Disco, with two DJs offering cross genre dancing tunes.

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