Jess does her bit for the festival

Read Emily and Olivia's summing-up and Storify of Sheftival Day Two here.

To bring people, sport and music together for a weekend of Olympic celebration was Sheftival's ultimate aim.

So, with Sheffield's homegrown Olympian Jess Ennis bagging the gold for Team GB, whilst Toots and the Maytals pleased the crowds with their unrivaled reggae beats, we think they were off to a pretty good start by the end of day one.

Opening the curtains to torrential rain didn't bode well for South Yorkshire's weekend of festival fun. But, by the time the site was ready to open its doors to the public, the sun was out and the sky was blue. Sometimes the stars just align, don't they?

Gradually, the Don Valley Complex began to fill, and hoards of Sheffielders young and old began to make Sheftival history, with around 15 000 people coming to celebrate it's very first birthday.

Across its twenty-five acres and eight stages, festival goers were spoilt for choice between playing basketball in Don Valley Stadium, watching nail-biting Olympic coverage in the sunshine, or "doing the ska" to Jungle Lion at the JuJu Club Stage.

Over at the Tramlines Arena in Don Valley Bowl Sheffield pop group Sour Cherry kicked off the day, telling poptastic tales of teenage heartbreak, rebellion and wild nights out on a fiver (we've all been there).

The queue for Joe McElderry was comparable to that of a Hollywood heartthrob, with hundreds of hormone-induced tweenies vying for a chance for a meet and greet with the X Factor superstar.

And sandwiched between it all, and arguably Fame Academy's best success story, was Lemar, who had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand, playing some of his most notable hits, like "If There's Any Justice" and "50/50" as well as his brand new track, "Invincible".

Shtooshe: part of the playbill as Sheffield celebrated

Also gracing the stages, were pop sensation and style icons Stooshe, The Noisettes and local act Hot Soles. Plus, Sheffield's very Cats:For:Peru entertaining passengers as they bobbed along on the Busker's Barge.

Dave Healy, Festival Director said:

I'm really pleased with day one. Amazing atmosphere… and the perfect ending courtesy of Jess Ennis. A proud day for Sheffield and a great party to celebrate it on her training ground.

But by far the highlight of the day was Toots and the Maytals. It was clear from the audience that this gig had been a long time coming for everyone. And with decades making music, his voice is as strong as ever, never faltering throughout the entire set.

Frontman Toots Hibbert also made Sheffield feel extra-special when he instructed the adoring fans to belt out a record "Seven Times!" to his signature track "54-46 That's My Number".

When asked to describe Sheffield in one word, Toots simply purred "beautiful". So, perhaps Sheffield has won his heart as much as he has won theirs.

Roll on day two. And we'll have more on that tomorrow.

Emily Brinnand is a freelance multimedia journalist, producer and broadcaster. She is on Facebook here, Twitter here and About Me here.

Olivia Taylor">Olivia Taylor is a freelance multimedia journalist specialising in culture and music. She is on Twitter here.

Emily and Olivia present Mixtape Sheffield Live together.