Cross The Tracks 2024 review - ‘hard to believe so much talent was crammed into one place’

Despite the event’s sunny start, thanks to the past few days of wet weather, the south London greenspace soon became a muddy landscape, which was probably not helped by the thousands of music fans who were traipsing through it.

Entering through the south entrance, I found myself at the heart of the festival grounds, which also treats concertgoers to a view of the capital’s famous skyline with both the London Eye and The Shard visible among some of the city’s other skyscraper sights.

At the core, the event's eight different stages seemed to fight for your attention as you heard a mixture of sounds together. However, you soon drown out the others as you get closer to each and become captivated by the on-stage performers.

In particular, I spent much of the day at the D-Railed tent, which was slightly tucked away from the other stages, vibing to artists including Jamilah Barry and Orion Sun. As one of the event's few covered stages, it acted as a shady spot to escape the sun and, later in the day, shelter from the rain as it began pouring in the early evening.

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It was around the late afternoon that the sad news Erykah Badu, who was set to wrap up the festival with a performance on the mainline stage in the evening, was confirmed to no longer be playing Cross The Tracks due to illness.

Following the announcement timings of the mainline stage were delayed, with En Vogue instead taking the closing performance slot of the festival. The vocal group’s nineties throwbacks rounded up the festivities as they had festival-goers singing along to hits My Lovin and Whatta Man.

Having only been familiar with a few names on the festival’s lineup going in, Cross The Tracks offers a chance to expand your music horizons, and I can certainly say I went home a fan of several more artists.

With over 70 different acts taking to the stage across the day, it was hard to believe so much talent was crammed into one place. From big names to up-and-coming artists, the festival gave much-needed space for jazz, funk and soul performers and fans to come together.