Three Chords festival returned to Penzance this weekend, bigger, louder, and punker than last year.

The festival brought together everyone from grizzled 70s survivors to enthusiastic teens for two days of pogoing on the Trereife Estate.

The atmosphere from start to finish was fantastic, grassroots and inclusive with everyone bought together by a passion for the music and out to have a good time. It was rowdy, people got knocked about and put down in the mud, but there was always a helping hand back up.

Falmouth band Bobby Funkhouse kicked off a Saturday set that was pretty much straight up punk, bands with three chords and a whole lot of attitude such as Bus Station Loonies and Control.

Then the legendary TV Smith slowed it down with a typically political solo performance – ending his set with a few Adverts classics – before the tempo got cranked back up for the Lurkers and Vice Squad.

Two more Falmouth bands opened a Sunday line-up, the Red Cords on fine form for starters, followed by the Eyelids, whose set featuring a standup bass as well as a Blondie cover heralded a more eclectic programme to come.

The afternoon moved from returning favourites B Movie Britz to the young and talented ska punks Skaciety.

They were followed by the all-girl, almost post-hardcore Hearts Under Fire, the laddish punk of the Wonder Beers, all scatology and drinking, and their mates the Lagan, who packed the tent for their Celt-rock jam with fiddle, tin whistle, and good old foot stomping air punching tunes.

Heading into the evening, things got silly with Dirtbox Disco in a variety of fancy dress, before Goldblade and then final headliners the Restarts, keeping it political to the end.

Now in its third year, Three Chords somehow manages to be a family friendly festival, with kids activities and a roped off section for children, while in the pit fans slam dance and the beer tent keeps everyone’s spirits topped up. It’s healthy but not sanitised – with some of the sweariest songs imaginable but bands urged to keep it clean in between.

Packing in 24 bands in 22 hours, it would have been nice to get some slightly longer sets, but quick turnaround times meant this little two day festival really delivered.

Organiser Pete Kliskey Pete said: “The band quality is so high because we have over 600 band applications”, and added a “massive thanks” to the steward team that helped the event run smoothly.

Pete has built the festival year on year, with more and better food on offer this year, with around 800 people on site plus nearly 100 kids with tickets, and even proper festival wristbands.

Its DIY, by-punk-for-punk ethic gave fans and bands a chance to chat over the merch stall or grab a drink and watch the acts all as part of the same crowd – a bass player for one set becoming a crowd surfer for the next – while no amount of rain could dampen the spirits, or the mohawks.