Eco-Fest 2008

I went to my first ever music festival this weekend. Strange, you might think, that someone of my age has never been to a festival before, but there you have it. I suppose it's because I have never before been attracted to camping in a field of mud and then standing in the rain so far away from the stage that the band playing on it is unrecognizable. This weekend wasn’t like that at all. It was a very small family-friendly festival called Eco-Fest, held on a site near Louth in Lincolnshire. We had a fabulous time – we arrived at lunchtime on Friday and didn’t stop partying until we left on Sunday afternoon. The weather was mixed (a bit damp & drizzly on Saturday) but everything worked perfectly anyway. I’ve never cooked on a camping stove before and even though I only had one burner, managed to provide an evening meal for myself and a full English breakfast for James and me on both mornings! I’m very impressed, and even might do it again.

On Saturday we had a wedding party to attend. Alastair Paylor and Joni were getting married on the Solstice (yes, Saturday was the real Solstice – forget about this leap year rubbish making it Friday; that’s what leap years are for), and they had arranged a Druid ceremony. We had a specially cordoned-off area of the camp site so that all the wedding party could pitch their tents together, so in a way we had our own version of ‘Freetown Christiania’ (à la Copenhagen) where we flew Tibetan flags and had Buddhist prayer flags strung from tent to tent. In keeping with a total lack of tradition, Alastair & Joni had planned that the reception should take place before the actual ceremony, so the assembled guests gathered around to drink a champagne toast and cook whatever food they had brought with them on the various barbeque grills. There was a great festive atmosphere, but with a family bias, so it was all good clean fun. After the feast and the speeches (yes, there was even a Best Man), we all made our way from the campsite down to the main arena inside the festival site. At midnight we gathered around the burning wicker man while the Druid Priest did his stuff and once the marriage was consecrated we all cheered and then danced madly, long into the night. I think we should have danced naked – it was a pagan ceremony after all – but maybe that would have frightened the children. Or the horses.

Anyway, a fabulous weekend all round, and one which I shan’t forget in a hurry. Congratulations go to Alastair & Joni who seem so happy together – a joy to behold. Their children, Maddie-May and Bodi behaved impeccably throughout. A perfect time.

And the music? Well, I didn’t see all of it but most of what I did catch was entertaining and earnestly performed. The highlight was the outstanding percussion group Sambalada who beat their rhythms into the flame-lit night with such exotic fervour that we all became mesmerised. I’m thinking of an excuse to throw a party so that I can hire them as the act. I love percussion anyway, but this group – with its eclectic mix of mainly latin percussion instruments driven by the pounding bass of the SuRdos – is just extraordinary. See the link opposite.

Now it’s Monday again, and I’m planning. Yes, I'm planning for the New Life (again). Let's hope I get somewhere this time.