It was as though the stars had aligned for the return of the Leeds Castle Concert to its usual slot in July last night.

Last year’s event was held in September – though the weather was still kind - and, due to some restrictions being in place at the time, it was kept to 50% capacity.

The crowds enjoying the music at the concert

But it was clear last night’s event was very much at full capacity, as there was barely a scrap of grass to find a picnic spot on even when we arrived at 6pm.

The place was heaving and as conductor and compere John Rigby told us, so many people had written in asking for birthday and anniversary shout-outs, he simply didn’t have time to do them all.

The weather was so perfect, most of the audience were sporting floppy hats and sunglasses, though there were also a healthy number who had gone all-out on the costume front.

We spotted a man in a full nun’s habit, a St George with his sword and a couple in inflatable dragon outfits.

Swing band Down for the Count warmed everyone up nicely (though we didn’t need to be any warmer!) before the main concert featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra started.

There was such a range of people all partying together – not everyone was sitting sipping their Chapel Down and lighting their candelabra.

The first half was rounded off with a fabulous rendition of Pomp & Circumstance No 1 when the sight of the entire crowd waving their Union Jacks brought quite a lump to your throat.

The second half kicked off with the iconic Spitfire completing its awesome display over the crowd and castle, with the stunning backdrop of the sun setting.

The soloists wowed us all, including soprano Kelly Mathieson and tenor Timothy Richards, while we were told that Jon Robyns had taken the night off Les Miserables in the West End to be at Leeds Castle for the night.

And Louise Dearman, back for her third appearance, who John Rigby described as “fast becoming the First Lady of British theatre” had everyone singing along with Disney’s Let It Go.

The concert featured all the usual favourites, but also included more popular film soundtracks, with Disney’s A Whole New World from Aladdin being a particular highlight.

The capacity crowd were all there to party, and the feeling of us all enjoying it together was great.

There were plenty of cheers for the sight of a few rubber chickens being thrown, and a foam plane which kept doing mini loop the loops making its way through the crowd.

The numbers of people also did not seem to put a strain on resources, and there was not the long queues for the toilets as there had been last year.

The only tiny glitch I saw anywhere was when the large screens went on the blink for a few moments.

The field guns were kept ‘til almost the last minute when the sun had gone down and the fireworks were beautifully set to some of John Williams’ most iconic film soundtracks, including Star Wars, Harry Potter and ET.

And just when half the crowd were heading to the car park, John Rigby swapped his DJ for a sparkly jacket and initiated full party mode, with songs such as Sweet Caroline and Oh What a Night – the song which summed it all up. What a night!

The event's headline sponsor was Brachers for the sixth year running.