As we wake up, the usual camping fear hits us: how long will it be until the sun turns our tent into an oven and we're forced to crawl outside where it's cooler but you get sunburned... Seven am, 8am, 9am, still no baking alive. Praise be for cloudy festival mornings!

The campsites are full of people making last minute alterations to their outfits and the air resounds to the clatter of spray paint cans. As we walk onto the site we see the following: a maiden struggling to walk with a mast tied to her back; security staff wearing fairy wings dancing to 'Winner Takes It All' as people build a 12ft wicker swan; a tiger sitting nonchalantly with his legs crossed sipping a mug of tea.

On the main stage we arrive as mouthpiece for the left Billy Bragg is singing "I am the milkman of human kindness. I will leave an extra pint." After exchanging a few words with a heckler in the crowd dressed as a giant crocodile (presumably to attack the various Captain Hooks) he launches into 'Accident Waiting To Happen' featuring the possibly croc-themed line: "a dedicated swallower of fascism". You've got to love Billy.

Next up on the main stage is reggae legend Gregory Isaacs, who at 57-years-old in a dapper suit and white trilby looks every bit the grand old man of Jamaica. His rootsy sounds are perfect for the sunny afternoon and hits such as 'Love Is Overdue' and 'Night Nurse' get the assembled pirates waving their swords appreciatively.

Continuing the reggae vibe on the main stage are the Easy Star All-stars, a New York-based dub covers band who first made their name in 2003 with 'Dub Side Of The Moon' - a reggae take on the Pink Floyd album. But for today, they are here to get the crowd going with their 'Radiodread' project from last year - a surprisingly good reggae version of Radiohead's 'OK Computer' complete with Marley-style running on the spot and I Threes-esque backing singers.

Over in the Big Top, Ninja Tune label bosses and UK hip hop legends Coldcut are doing an updated version of their seminal 1996 mixtape 'Journeys By DJs' entitled 'Journeys By VJs'. We're not quite sure how they're doing it, but as they play 'True School', a video of Roots Manuva is being scratched on the screens that flank the screen. Matt Black and Jon Moore have always been at the forefront of music technology and today is no exception. As they launch into their classic remix of Eric B and Rakim's 'Paid In Full', the crowd is in no doubt that they're in the presence of true pioneers.

Overheard words #807: "Apparently there's somewhere you can have a posh poo. Do you think they'll have reading material and everything?"

Back on the main stage, Baltimore's Spank Rock are enthralling the crowd with their unique brand of sleazy electro hip hop. They've flown a four-piece drum band in for the occasion to tribally rock the afternoon crowd. An set of scrabble letters on wooden posts enters the arena and the carnival spirit gets turned up a notch or two. A group of leprechauns stride by and give an appreciative shout to a man who has fashioned a costume to make it look like he is baby on a woman's back.

Over in the Bollywood tent, 65-year-old white Bristolian reggae purveyor DJ Derek has pulled in a large crowd with Max Romeo's 'Chase The Devil'. The audience roars in appreciation as Derek 'toasts' in his trademark West Country-inflected Jamaican patois. A man in a full burka with trainers poking out underneath dances like a lunatic outside.

4Spy: Dexys Midnight Runners singer Kevin Rowland undoing his belt and pulling his oversized trousers up over his waist by the main stage.

In the Big Top for Swedish superstar Robyn, we see a ginger bread man doing The Lawnmower as Robyn reels out the best tracks from her eponymous recent album including 'Who's That Girl', 'Konichiwa Bitches' 'With Every Heartbeat'. She even gets into the festival spirit by donning a spinning planet head-dress for the opening song.

Overheard words #806: "Screw you guys, I'm off to get a new tiara!"

Back on the main stage, following special guests Madness, are UK soul legends Soul II Soul. Jazzy B is under no illusions about what the pirates are here to see and announces, "Now we're going to take it back to 1989," before introducing original vocalist Caron Wheeler and launching into 'Keep On Movin''. You've got to feel a bit sorry for Jazzy as he rehashes his heyday of nearly 20 years ago as his Soul II Soul partner Nellee Hooper sits in LA producing the likes of Madonna and No Doubt.

As headliners the Beastie Boys take to the stage, the pirates in the crowd are pushed to the side as hordes of people wearing 'Sabotage' seventies cop gear and 'Intergalactic' chemical suits rush to the front. The Brooklyn trio may be well into their forties with greying hair and less of a spring in their step but they still know how to rock a party. With classics like 'So What'cha Want', 'Sabotage', 'No Sleep Till Brooklyn' and 'Bodymovin'' under their belts, they can do no wrong.

Over in the tiny BBC Introducing tent, Jack Penate is astounded that so many people are trying to cram into his tent when the Beastie Boys are playing on the main stage. But the answer becomes clear when he plays his anthemic Top 5 hit 'Torn On The Platform' and can barely be heard over roar of the crowd.

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