Where is bugged out weekender

Bugged Out have been running club nights for well over a decade now, and after the huge success of their inaugural weekender last year, it made sense to see what all the fuss was about this year. The one thing that made Bugged Out feel a little bit special when I first arrived was the locations, Butlins. The central hub house numerous places to eat which, whilst not exactly Michelin Star standard, were better than some of the shite you can get at other festivals, as well as a massive arcade and pool parties that really brought out my not so well hidden inner child.

The arenas themselves were well equipped as well, wherein quality soundsystems and lay-outs coupled with alarmingly friendly security staff created an ideal environment to party in. The average age of a Bugged Out attendee appeared to be about Given that the parties have been going on for longer than most of the Stone Island wearing Shuffle crew have been alive, the weekend acted as a living testament to the current big room boom amongst the youth of today.

There was something heartening about seeing people lose their shit to records that some of us view as rinsed relics for the first time; the faux-weariness of late adolescence was momentarily replaced by the kind of incandescent joy that only the Juan Atkins remix of "Big Fun" can provide. Our brief exploration of the interplay between youth, intoxicating substances, and very loud music was interrupted by the desire to actually experience those things.

So we hotfooted it to that ever appealing big tent for another night of electronic excursions courtesy of some of the world's finest DJs. The joy of the multistage festival experience is that it allows one to act as a curator of sorts. If you weren't up for Tiga's punchy electro then you could have swung through and witnessed Jackmaster in full flow, or caught Artwork dropping boogie and disco.

You are ceded an element of control. If a DJ isn't doing it for you then you've got the option to bugger off and leave the Palace crew shuffling away merrily in attempt to seek musical solace elsewhere.

Another bonus feature of the BOW experience: you're never that far from your duvet. Bugged Out favourite Fatboy Slim was Sunday afternoon's special pool party guest and even if he wasn't quite as magical as we'd been he still made quite a splash. Our competition winner, Aaron Joll, kicked off the nocturnal session with a top set on the main stage. Tears of pride fell down our by now sallow faces as we made our way to the final night's finest act: the legendary Kerri Chandler, giving us a four hour masterclass in house neo-classicism.

Those interested can secure their place with a 50pp deposit with the final balance due no later than 7th Feb 4 weeks before the event. The money raised will go towards Shaun Roberts' potentially life-extending cancer treatments. As part of the course, she'll be giving away a free space to a female, female-identifying or non-binary producer - find out how you can apply