Get this party started!

Robbie Williams will blast out ‘Let Me Entertain You’ on Sunday night, in front of 55,000 people while, in the background, John Giddens will know it’s another job well done.

The sell-out IW Festival started last night (Thursday) with Groove Armada, keeping the early campers on their toes. They will also be entertained by Islanders, Meg Rasmussen and Jessica White and tribute bands, Foo Fighterz, on the opening day.

Over the next three days, Robbie, Blondie, Manic Street Preachers, Chemical Brothers and Sam Ryder will be among those performing on 15 stages across the massive Seaclose Park site in Newport.

John sat down this week to chat with the IW Observer saying: “So far all is going well. The weather has put us ahead of schedule. But it’s an important factor over the next few days, I normally have a crick in my neck looking up at the sky and looking at the clouds in case of rain!”

He’s pretty relaxed having revived the event in 2002, when around 7,500 attended on its only day. Since then, The Who, Elton John, Paul McCartney, David Bowie and The Police have appeared while the IW Festival has been expanded. He said: “Over the years you continue to learn and you see what people want and we try and improve everything. It’s a long walk from the entrance to the main stage, so we have entertainment along the way.

“It’s all about the experience. There’s no point in having 10 Indy bands on one stage because their fans won’t go anywhere else, we want people to see the up-and-coming-bands as well as the main acts.

“There’s lots more I would like to do, and have the big female acts here, but they are touring and have their own massive sets and light shows which we can’t accommodate, but we still have Anne-Marie, Sugarbabes, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and many more.”

Looking ahead, when asked when John will start planning for next year, he added: “Three months ago! I’m already dealing with various agents.

“Ideally, I would like to reform Oasis and The Spice Girls. Green Day have never performed here and the Foo Fighters are always welcome.”

In the meantime, it is estimated the event brings about £10 million to the Island economy.

And, as for the weekend, he added: “There’s a few surprises which I can’t tell you about, but there’s a lot to look forward to!”