normally, it's like any other festival, buy a ticket and turn up - unfortunately, owing to their financial problems, there won't be one this year!
The following was written by a friend, following his first visit last year, and I reckon sums it up beautifully -
"Being with 20,000 other people, all individuals (and some just plain weird), and at no time feeling threatened,
Being appalled to find that a festival with no history of crime or violence was forced by the local council to spend £200,000 (a quarter of the entire budget) on unnecessary security in order to get a licence,
Seeing Teens without attitude,
Seeing kids who actually appeared to like their parents (and vice versa),
Seeing kids with disabilities and their own choice of dress and hairstyle, not their parents’,
Realising just how attractive people can still look without make-up and other artificial enhancements,
Realising just how individual dress can be, for males and females – don’t waste the opportunity to re-use that wedding or bridesmaid dress, costume you made for the school play or bought for that odd fancy dress party,
Being surprised at the amount of facial hair (mainly males),
Being surprised at the amount of body hair (mainly female),
Being impressed at just how many things you can power with a bike (lights, music, lathes, forges, drilling machines, band saws, grinders, polishers, washing machines, even wheels!),
Being impressed at how you can power a whole festival including lights, music, cinemas, cooking, saunas and showers without a single generator. The ticket warns that you will be frisked for generators – and we were,
Doing loads of stuff I’d never done (hurdle building, scythe sharpening. Making fire by rubbing two boy scouts pieces of wood together, Tai Chi, Chai Tea (clever little spoonerism there), meditation, laughter workshop, (watching) a Trance workshop, learning to juggle to the three ball level),
Hearing some amazingly talented bands and comics. Rodney Brannigan was awesome playing two guitars at once. The clip on Youtube doesn’t even begin to do him justice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QluXiXUycA4
Talking to Brigit Strawbridge about her forthcoming project launch,
Being surprised at seeing not a single cigarette produced from a packet – every one was hand rolled, including many very loosely and with a distinctive smell,
Not feeling embarrased or a minority by asking for Veggie options - there were no meat options in any of the many outlets- Phillipino, Japanese, Mexican, Caribbean and others,
Being impressed that some very young kids were allow to do lots of things that they would never be allowed to do at school, or even home – using a draw knife, hand axe, Stanley knife, forge, stone carving and lots of others, though I did cringe at the group of 8 to 10 year old doing fire juggling,
Being cross that Justin Rowlatt, ethical man from Newsnight, failed to turn up for his workshop, allegedly because he was frightened we’d all have a go at him for flying to the Caribbean at the end of his series,
Being impressed at the ability of the chap who filled 45 minutes hoping he’s still turn up for his slot,
Avoiding the Didgeridoo healing workshop as I wasn’t sure where they’d insert the didgeridoo.
And of course all the usual festival attractions, naked cyclists, nude mud wallowing, odd cakes for sale.
It was brilliant, we enjoyed it greatly, and we will go again next year."
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