Orpington's glorious Priory Gardens once again played host to Priory Live on 18th July, a grassroots festival that has steadily built a reputation for punching above its weight with headline bookings.
Topping this year's bill was UK rap artist Professor Green, the Hackney-born MC whose 2010 breakthrough single "I Need You Tonight" and platinum-selling debut album Alive Till I'm Dead established him as one of the country's most recognisable voices in British hip-hop, alongside a run of Top 10 singles and a BRIT Award nomination that have kept him a fixture of festival line-ups ever since.
Joining him on the bill were Republica, the 90s alt-rock outfit best remembered for their era-defining hit "Ready to Go", a song that became inescapable on both sides of the Atlantic and turned frontwoman Saffron into one of the decade's most distinctive rock voices.
Also appearing - Heartless Crew, the pioneering garage collective whose "Heartless Anthem" and residency on pirate and mainstream radio helped shape the sound of UK garage and grime in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Alongside the headline acts, the festival's usual mix of emerging artists filled out the day, with the event running from midday through to 10:30pm and a street food line-up spanning Greek, Indian, Caribbean and more, keeping the family-friendly, all-day-out feel that's become a Priory Live trademark.
Orpington 1st BID Chairman Gary Valentine, whose organisation has backed the festival as a sponsor, said: "Orpington 1st have supported this fantastic festival from its beginnings back in 2014."
"It has grown to be an event that Orpington residents and businesses can be truly proud to call their own. Today has been an absolute triumph and we are delighted to see the festival go from strength to strength."
