Last week the rising stars of YouTube performed to their loyal fans for the first time. The nine vloggers on stage included Zoella, Caspar Lee and Tanya Burr and the venues were Brighton, Liverpool and Birmingham.
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| The YouTubers on stage |
Amity Fest lived up to its name of friendly affinity with Alfie Deyes (Pointlessblog), Caspar Lee, Joe Sugg (Thatcherjoe), Jim Chapman, Louise Pentland (SprinkleofGlitter), Marcus Butler, Niomi Smart, Tanya Burr and Zoe Sugg (Zoella). Between them they have over 12 million avid followers and growing.
The only disappointment for the screaming fans was the absence of Joe Sugg due, apparently, to possible food poisoning. However, after missing two of the venues, he did turn up in the last minute of the final show, surprising not only the fans but his fellow YouTubers on stage.
It was such a popular event that there were huge queues of devoted fans outside, who had been waiting since 8am in the morning to be at the forefront of the standing area.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the 75 VIP tickets, which entitled us to an hour to meet, take selflies and talk to the nine vloggers. The 75 people were split into groups of 25 around the room and the Youtubers were standing together in groups of twos or threes. We were able to move around the standing pit of the theatre to have our opportunity of meeting all nine. There was a big queue for Alfie Deyes!
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| My VIP ticket |
My first encounter was with Zoella, probably the most famous of all with 6 million subscribers and having just won the Radio 1 Teen Award for Best British Vlogger for the second year running. Her latest achievement was her new beauty line of which I have many of the products, including the makeup bags which she signed. Zoe was warm and charming. She had such a natural and kind aura I felt she could have been my bae!
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| Zoella, Louise and Alfie with their cardboard cut-outs! |
Next was Alfie Deyes. He is the author of the Pointless Book which has sold out in bookshops and is high up on best seller lists, right next to Girl Online by his girlfriend Zoella. #Zalfie !
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| Alfie and Tanya |
Afterwards, I went to Jim, who was offering the fans piggybacks! I couldn't take up the offer because my dress was too long !
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| Jim Chapman |
I also met Niomi, who is a fellow vegetarian. I often look at her recipes for healthy eating! I also loved her hairstyle - I really want to know how to do it!
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| Niomi |
With Marcus we took ugly selfies, and while I was waiting in the queue Marcus brought out his camera and started vlogging us! I also bought an orange Marcus Butler cushion for my friend!
One of the last people I met was Caspar, who had injured his back, which I asked him about and he said it was a bit better.
Without exception, all of them were patient and generous with the clamouring people and gave everyone the opportunity to take endless selfies for their Twitter and Instagram feeds!
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| The standing area! |
The actual show itself was a fun event but very loud and reached over 100 decibels by screaming! The YouTubers took part in challenges such as building a human pyramid and fighting each other in fat suits, and did the 'most likely to tag' live on stage.
Amity Fest worked because all the YouTubers are, in real life, great friends brought together by their success on the Internet.
