I went with my older brother, his wife, my dad and a good mate. My brother has only ever been to a tiny 4k capacity festival, his wife had never been to any festival, my dad has been to Glastonbury (2016 and 2019) and the Y Not that cancelled on the final day and both my mate and I have been to plenty of different festivals but never Beautiful Days.
I liked where the campsites were, how much room there was and how friendly and respectful people were. Our closest toilets were awful on the Thursday night and Friday morning but afterwards they weren't too bad.
I thought the layout of the site was good, nicely spaced, but nothing too far away. As a relatively new vegetarian I was worried there wouldn't be much choice but I kept finding plenty of good options but my favourite had to be the mix platter from the Indian Street Food place near the Big Top. It was also easy to get a good spot watching bands and always found a seat when I wanted one, which I think is a benefit of so many people taking their chairs with them.
The bars and drinks on offer was good for me as I only really drink real ale or cider but will echo what someone else said about the lack of lager on offer, my dad only had one option. I found most bars easy to get served in but in the Bimble on Saturday night my mate went to buy some drinks, he was gone for 40 minutes, I thought he had bailed out on his round but then I found him still at the bar! It wasn't overly crowded but he said he was getting purposely ignored and he said they only seemed to be serving their mates. I thought it was a good time to leave anyway as Jungle music had just started and that was too hectic for me. Overall, I thought the Hope Tavern was the best for late night drinking.
For a smallish festival I was pleasantly surprised how much other stuff they had; axe throwing, theatre, wooden games, fire dancers, props, fair ground rides and attractions, crafts and other stuff. I also felt there was enough security and the Police even had a presence.
For me the line up was good but not as good as other years, probably to do with Covid. I struggled with some of the clashes and regret not seeing the Big Moon. Having said that, I had a fair amount of highlights including, Frank Turner, Henge, Peat and Diesel, Lottery Winners, The Bar Steward Sons, Georgie, Ginger Wildheart, James, Skindred, The Selecter and From the Jam. I saw quite a few others including the Levellers, they were good but nothing more than that.
Overall we all had a great time. We all thought we'd go back again, especially as there's bound to be better line ups and a better toilet situation.