Festivals, they say, are more about “the event” than they are about any one musical act. It’s a day or a weekend out, where people loll about on some grass, listen to some music, eat funky snacks, get their faces painted perhaps, suck on a beer and collectively hope it doesn’t rain.

Despite the wide range of activities and acts available at the Hard Rock Calling festival on Saturday, by sundown it became face-smackingly apparent that every one of the 50,000 individual in the audience had come for just one man: Stevie Wonder.

Mr Wonder, you might say, is to music what the Dalai Lama is to Buddhism.  Or Edison to light bulbs.  He’s a shimmering ambassador for the art form of music.  You can mention his two dozen or so Grammys (one for every two years of his career), but this can’t summarise what he means to so many; from Tchoupi, the little woollen Eureka monkey to the little girl sat clapping along to Stevie from her dad’s shoulders.  The man cuts across the lives and experiences of so very many.   And it was a quite a sight to see, as the Master Blaster despatched hit after platinum hit, like endless waves of joy over the ocean of assembly humanity at Hyde Park.

Good day overall it was too.  Before Stevie wove his particular magic, Jamiroquai’s Jay Kay leapt about for us like an Apache, James Morrison massaged our blissed-out souls and sweet Corrine Bailey Rae (I’m in love…) serenely sang her way into our hearts. 

We didn’t get our faces painted, but we did have a funky Polish picnic, nicely rounded off by some contraband Pimm’s.  Perfect day really.  And it didn’t even rain…                 

This time, the lucky Eureka winners were Sandrine, Paul (our blogger for the event), Adam, Harry and Kate; guided by the wonderful Caroline. Watch out for the next Eureka events and tickets…