It was a cloudless and beautiful late summer’s day at the historic Shane’s Castle location on the western Shores of Lough Neagh as the intimate new site proved a big hit with clubbers and artists alike.
US DJ Erick Morillo, Pete Tong, Planet Love favourite Paul Van Dyk, and German popsters Scooter drew the biggest crowds on the day, with the festival’s own Love Arena and Essential Selection arena lauded as the most popular of the five gigantic tents.
The ‘Planet plane’ as Timo Maas called it on Radio One transported PVD to the festival before whisking Pete Tong and Timo Maas to Waterford later in the evening. The luxury private jet returned to Aldergrove around 1.30am in time to transport Van Dyk over to Gatecrasher for an early morning marathon DJ set. On Sunday, he headed off to Mauritius for his first holiday in 15 years.
Van Dyk, who has performed at every Planet Love festival since the first in 1998, described the County Antrim site as stunning and told promoters that this year’s crowd was the most amazing yet. As usual, the Love Arena was filled to capacity for the German star’s midnight DJ set which rocked.
Eddie Wray, the organiser of Ireland’s premier dance music festival, said: "This isn’t just a good result for us; it’s great for the Irish dance scene too. Our new site made all the difference and the Saturday aspect was important also. Next year we’ll be sticking to the same formula but with a few subtle enhancements and the possibility of an outdoor stage."
