Calvin Harris lowered the curtain on an eventful V Festival weekend with a set that electrified Hylands Park, Essex.
The Scottish DJ produced a headline set which was defined as much by spectacular lighting and pyrotechnics as it was by his chart-topping dance tracks.
Flares were a regular addition to the evening skyline during the performance, which featured hits such as I Feel So Close and I Need Your Love.
Ellie Goulding, The Script and George Ezra were among the artistes who performed to a packed field throughout the crisp summer evening.
Organisers expected around 250,000 people to attend V Festival across two sites in Staffordshire and Essex this weekend.
Scottish duo The Proclaimers got the action under way in the early afternoon and their classic I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) even had the food vendors dancing on the roofs of their vans. After a sun-soakedSaturday, brief rain showers yesterday ensured a comical variety of waterproof garments – including umbrella hats – were never far from view.
Ella Eyre injected some energy into the afternoon shortly after the heavens opened and got a sea of fans in anoraks dancing along to Waiting All Night. But The Script’s frontman Danny O’Donoghue put an optimistic spin on the initial gloomy weather. He said: “I love the rain, I was praying for the rain for our gig in Croke Park for some stupid reason, because it gives a whole other sense.
“The people who are standing in that pit are the real music lovers, because no one is going to stand in the rain to watch you if they don’t really like it.”
Later, O’Donoghue got the crowd on side by jumping into the first row during his performance.
Rapper Wretch 32 perhaps won the award for the weekend’s biggest entourage, after reportedly bringing 40 guests to watch his set.
The festival’s first day also featured a number of memorable moments, including singer Labrinth halting his set to propose to his girlfriend on stage.
That night, Olly Murs gave his hit track Heart Skips a Beat a UK Garage makeover by inviting DJ Luck and MC Neat on stage with him, later tweeting it was the best set of his life.