Image Credit: Megan Holford

Charli XCX’s album BRAT was released on 7 June 2024 to critical acclaim and widespread media attention, with everyone from presidential candidate Kamala Harris to Collins Dictionary jumping on the bandwagon. Despite Brat fever seeming to take over the world, Charli XCXherself declared ‘Brat Summer’ was over in September 2024. But this year, a resurgence occurred, beginning with Charli’s performance at Coachella, where she declared: “it’s a forever thing”. So should we finally move on or can we live in this moment just a little bit longer?

For me, ‘Brat Summer’ undoubtedly continued into this year. Seeing the album brought to life at the newly created Lido Festival in Victoria Park on 14 June 2024 was a life-changing experience, bordering on something spiritual. Over a year after the album’s initial release, some may have expected the hype around it to die down, but in my day at the festival I could see that this was far from true.

A sea of lime green descended on the local area as thousands of people arrived, ready to dance their hearts out to those ‘Club classics’ as well as songs from other artists on the lineup. Personally, I loved The Dare, even if I did manage to lose my wallet in all the excitement when PinkPantheress turned up. After that, anticipation continued to build and we headed to the main stage.

By the time Charli entered the stage, the atmosphere was unlike any other gig I have ever been to. Women and girls (and the occasional token boyfriend) stretched back as far as you could see. Drinks, cigarettes and other substances of dubious legality were grasped tightly in hands. Eyes were locked onto the stage as the beginnings of ‘365’ echoed around the park. I almost lost all sense of what was going on and became one with the music. I even took off my shoes (the heeled boots were a real rookie mistake) to be able to dance to my full potential. Some personal highlights of the set were ‘Vroom Vroom’ as a girl who enjoys driving her car fast, ‘Track 10’ with rain pouring down onto the stage, and screaming: “inside that icon there’s still a young girl from Essex”. As a girl from Essex who considers herself somewhat of an icon, hearing this line was cathartic. Then, before I knew it, the show was over, with the words “it’s a forever thing” remaining on the screen.

So, why is ‘Brat Summer’ as a concept important to me? 

I believe that in a digital age where social media allows us to compare ourselves to others so stringently, being ‘brat’ embodies a complete acceptance of self and the ability to let go of inhibitions and others perceptions of you so you can be entirely free. No matter what this means to you. Whether you want to let loose dancing in a crowd of people in a way that you may think is embarrassing, or whether you want to stand on the edge of it, appearing mysterious and independent, redefining this as ‘brat’ helps you remove whatever feelings you may have about these actions and simply live. To embrace imperfection is brat. To be your true self is brat. To be whoever or love whoever is so brat. To put an end to ‘Brat Summer’ is to put an end to all of these things. So I say, we embrace it for as long as we possibly can. long as we possibly can.