Normally considered a milestone event for teenagers following their exam results, the Leeds Festival continues to draw one of the country's youngest festival audiences.

The crowds this year didn’t seem to be as large as in previous years: the line up on some particular days might not have been as strong in terms of headliners, though what they lacked in popularity was made up for with some impressive performances.

California outfit Wallows might have been a long way from home, though their brand of infectious rock even brought out the sunshine momentarily in a set that owed much to many a British indie rock band and in particular The 1975. Closing an accomplished set with I Don’t Want to Talk, the band had made the Saturday afternoon one to remember.

The Kooks appeared to be having a renaissance with their seventh studio album released in May and an arena tour in the autumn; the band, led by the youthful Luke Pritchard, scored an early goal with the radio-friendly track, She Moves in Her Own Way, that continued with a cool swagger and confidence that contributed to a winning set.

Chappell Roan, if you didn’t already know, is one of the hottest acts in pop music right now; her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is one of the best-selling albums of the year. Her Leeds performance was mainly one of the reasons why many of the audience attended on Saturday.

It remains a mystery why Roan was not chosen as the headline act. Her performance owed a little to the theatrical delicacies of Lady GaGa mixed with the mime of Kate Bush. The dance routine that accompanied HOT TO GO! was reminiscent of the one associated with the Village People track, YMCA. By the time Roan had arrived at her closing number, Pink Pony Club, the crown of the Queen of Pop rightly belonged to her.

After that superlative performance, it seemed a bit premature to think that headliner Hozier might as well have packed up and gone home. Granted, the Irish star could have never topped one of the most memorable Leeds Festival appearances – though armed with belters like Jackie and Wilson and his introductory hit Take Me to Church, he shone brightly.

Conan Grey’s version of light pop seemed rightly positioned for his Sunday afternoon slot. Dressed like a pirate and with a stage set that had a nautical theme, Gray and his stellar band seemed shipshape throughout, with The Cut That Always Bleeds adding a touch of pop perfection.

Leeds Festival has traditionally been a rock-orientated event; the final three acts on Sunday evening brought the festival back to its roots, with Enter Shikari bringing their abrasive anthems to an audience that had suddenly grown in age by at least twenty years from when Conan Gray left the main stage.

Lead singer Rou Reynolds introduced Sorry You're Not A Winner as “the song that changed our lives” as yet another mosh pit erupted in a vital, vigorous and vicious performance.

Limp Bizkit know what their fans want and always deliver. Lead singer Fred Durst invited the audience to party “like it’s 1999”, which of course they did. With lead guitarist Wes Borland painted up to appear like a skeleton of a unicorn and the fans pretending to drive a car during Rollin’, the party had reached top gear. Highly entertaining and not taking themselves too seriously, Limp Bizkit brought a sense of bedlam and good-natured bonhomie to Leeds.

Hearing the Yorkshire accent of Oli Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon felt rightly placed on the main stage as the Sheffield band headlined, closing the Leeds Festival. In a performance that included fireworks, flames, lasers and some nifty camera work that looked on the huge screens like Sykes was in a video game, this was truly a spectacle that was comparable to, if not even better than, those from German rock outfit Rammstein, who are noted for some of the best explosive rock shows possible.

MANTRA and Happy Song sounded magical, though the inclusion of the Oasis hit, Wonderwall, came as a surprise. Sykes grabbed the audience by the neck and refused to let go as he instructed the crowd to form a bigger mosh pit than witnessed for Limp Bizkit, with the Yorkshire outfit remaining victorious as they closed with Can You Feel My Heart – rock music had returned to Leeds, and Bring Me The Horizon had returned home with a triumphant performance.