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Kicking things off in the early afternoon, British singer-songwriter and The Voice UK winner Ruti enchanted their audience on the Rainbow Stage with powerhouse vocals and soulful songwriting. Miami-born alt-pop duo BETWEEN FRIENDS followed, debuting new single ‘WOW!’ and revelling in the crowd’s warm response.
Flowerovlove made a striking entrance, emerging from a giant stiletto and commanding the crowd with ease, while rising stars Aziya and Déyyess kept the energy building at the Birdcage Stage.
Scottish TikTok breakout Katie Gregson-MacLeod took to the Rainbow Stage amid 26-degree heat, joking about being “hot and sweaty” as she debuted new material — including tracks from her upcoming EP, ‘Love Me Too Well, I’ll Retire Early’, and fan favourite ‘Guestlist’, cheekily noting that the subject of the latter was in the crowd that day. Her soft indie anthem ‘Teenage Love’ came with an amusing backstory: the owner of her hometown bar she names in the song threatened to ban her. “You can ban me from the bar,” she shrugged, “but you can’t fix your hairline.”
girl in red delivered one of the most powerful sets of the day. The Norwegian singer-songwriter — real name Marie Ulven — was met with rapturous energy before opening up about the personal battles behind her time away from the spotlight. “This past year, I’ve been in rehab,” she shared. “I wasn’t going to live anymore.” New single ‘Hemingway’ captures that journey with raw intensity, while tracks like ‘I’ll Call You Mine’ and ‘bad idea!’ reaffirmed her as one of the most exciting and honest voices in alternative pop.
Caity Baser, meanwhile, offered an energetic, self-aware set that signalled a shift to something more true to her. “I’m over writing about hating men and being a bad bitch,” she told the crowd, leaning into more R&B and jazz-influenced territory, with hints of Paloma Faith and Lily Allen. Tracks from her new EP, like ‘Watch That Girl (She’s Gonna Say It)’, suggest an exciting evolution — and fans were clearly onboard.
Over on the main stage, The Last Dinner Party made a triumphant return to BST. “We played here as babies opening for The Rolling Stones,” lead vocalist Abigail Morris shared, reflecting on the band’s evolution with humility and humour. Their baroque-pop dramatics felt even more assured this time around, with highlights like ‘Gjuha’, ‘Portrait of a Dead Girl’, and breakout hit ‘Nothing Matters’ closing a spellbinding set.
As the golden-hour light poured across Hyde Park, the air was thick with anticipation for the main event. Olivia Rodrigo stepped onto the Great Oak Stage in sequins and a wide, cherry-red smile. “Oh my God, there’s so many people here I can’t believe my eyes!” she beamed. “I have a really special feeling about tonight.”
She wasn’t wrong. From the moment ‘bad idea right?’ kicked off the set, the crowd — dressed in purple cowboy hats and homemade merch — screamed every word like gospel. Rodrigo’s voice soared through hits like ‘traitor’, ‘drivers license’, and ‘vampire’, effortlessly balancing angst and euphoria with emotional precision far beyond her 22 years.
Between songs, she gushed about her love for London. “Did you know you’re my favourite city?” she asked. She also shared her latest British breakfast obsession — “a boiled egg and soldiers with a cup of tea” — and gave a shoutout to M&S sweets. Every detail added to the intimacy of the night — a genuine love letter to her fans and to this city.
The biggest surprise came midway through when she introduced “one of my favourite Brits and one of the best songwriters of all time” — Ed Sheeran. The pair delivered a stripped-back duet of ‘The A Team’, a cross-generational, goosebump-inducing moment between two of pop’s most beloved songwriters.
Rodrigo’s encore — ‘brutal’, ‘all-american bitch’, ‘good 4 u’, and ‘get him back!’ — was pop catharsis in its purest form, complete with pyros, pounding drums, and thousands of fans singing with abandon. It was the kind of set that sends you home breathless, ears ringing, and heart full.
From afternoon openers to the headliner’s final bow, BST Hyde Park delivered a full-spectrum celebration of women and non-binary artists shaping modern music. And as Olivia looked out over the crowd, eyes shining, she summed it up perfectly: “It’s nights like this that are so special I have to pinch myself.”
Olivia Judd
Images: @elliekoepke, @ISHASHAHPHOTOGRAPHY, @jrcmccord, @sophiajcarey
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