I have just arrived home knackered from a wonderful Folk Festival. For the last 4 days, listening to Folk music while reading in the breeze, hiding under rain jackets when the storms came and generally relaxing is all I've done. At the end of every day, I wrote an account of what had happened, my views on the day and event and general musings. Thinking this would be somewhat interesting for others to read, I thought the account could transfer itself to here. So, close your eyes, sit back, imagine you're in a classic camping chair listening to 'The Proclaimers' while reading a gripping novel and holding Earl Grey tea. There. The stage, or rather tale, is set!
(Now open eyes to see blog.....) Day 1: I woke up today at 7;15am. Far too early. Considering I'd not woken up until 10am at the earliest over the last few days, this felt like 3am. Quite literally. Somehow managed to shower, dress and all that hygine stuff before getting very excited. After going to the Folk Festival in 2013 and 2014 but missing it last year, it was going to be awesome to go back. The gates to the event opened at 10am, so we set off at roughly 9:30am. As we walked up, it was easy to spot fellow Folk Festival peeps. Characteristics included: carrying chairs or tents, wearing hats, determinedly walking towards the area and a real sense of friendliness. Because we weren't camping, Mum and I were meant to enter a different gate. Trying to get into the gate however, was more difficult than expected. The queue was at least 100m+ long and went all the way down to the end of the road. Eventually, we crossed over and waited for a smaller queue before realizing that we could have gone in the original gate and not bothered with the queue. Great! A waste of time perhaps, but good exercise nevertheless. The atmosphere walking to collect our wristbands was so wonderful. Vast swathes of families attempting to put up a variety of tents, kids running wild with excitement, helful volunteers guiding everyone to where they needed to be. Thanks to all the tent building, the wristband queue was very short. As I was (and still am!) under 18, I received a plastic, bright yellow wristband, which personally wasn't the best, whereas my Mum received a very snazzy, cotton dark blue wristband. Ageist! After briefly exploring and taking lots of photos (on my Instagram), we headed to a local co-op that had opened on that day due to acts starting later in the evening. There was some great food there and people were very cooperative in the shop (had to get that in there!). Later on, we headed back down to the festival where things had really began to liven up, The gates were properly open, quick bag and wristband check and we were in. Stalls of all kind, the 3 main stages in the usual place, massive foxes playing the violin made out of wooden sticks. Just as I'd remembered it before. At first, Mum and I headed to the Club Tent, the 3rd largest stage, where upcoming acts can perform and feel a real sense of connection with the audience because of the size. Upon entrance, we discovered everyone was knitting instruments for a collage. Nice as it was, I could not knit so just sat reading 'You Deserve a Drink'. Mum meanwhile attempted a flute, or treble clef or a harmonica. Whatever it was, it fitted in really well. A whole dose of general exploring, meeting relatives, bag creating, instrument browsing, falafel and cashew nut eating and constant talking occurred before seeing the first artists in the Club Tent. Compared to the knitting, when it was very quiet, the Tent was packed full. Don't you think places seem much bigger when you see loads of people in them? Well that was what happened. The 4 acts consisted of 'Georgia Shackleton Tria', a brilliant group that sang well and played a variety of songs, 'The Dovetail Trio', again another group of 3, who sang for a very long time and had lots of stamina. We discovered the lady in the group was the only one from Wiltshire - a surprise. Will Varley was a very humorous artist, often incorporating politics into his songs which was interesting to hear. He has a good connection and lots of banter with the audience. Lastly, 'Flats and Sharps' were a group of 5 men from Cornwall playing a variety of instruments. The song and singing was excellent, though the sound was sometimes a tad dodgy. Think this was due to all the instruments (banjo, mandolin, guitar, double bass, fiddle) but hey ho! By the time all 4 acts had finished, it was 10pm. A very long, productive, enjoyable day. Most importantly, a great start to the Folk Festival. Day 2: I woke up far later today at 10am due to late night 'Orange is the New Black' viewing. The main artists on stage 1 didn't begin until 1pm, so a lay-in was fine. Instead of just carrying bags today, we took fold up chairs to sit on while listening to the acts. The area for stage 1 is divided into two: half inside the tent and the rest outside on an area of green, where people sit watching screens on either side. Due to our late arrival, the majority of area for seating had been taken and we therefore sat in front of a massive bin! For the whole day (12pm-9pm) we sat there listening to music and reading 'Private Eye'. Acts included 'Megson', 'The Mike + Ruthy Band' and 'KT Tunstall'. Highlights of the day included: meeting people we knew but don't often see, discovering volunteers transporting things in big boxes get people's attention by tooting as if they are ducks instead of telling them to move, eating a falafel, huddling under raincoats when the rain often came and exploring the other areas where artists performed. Upcoming and new artists performed in 'The Den', which was packed and there was a cafe with free wi-fi. Overall, a long day sitting down reading. Fun fun fun. Day 3: After yesterday's waking up late adventure and getting a seat far back, I would get up earlier and get a better space. At least that's what I thought. Yes, again, I woke up very late, managed to lug my chair to the Folk Festival and arrive 13 minutes earlier than yesterday. But still ended up in the same position. Yay - not. Luckily we could still see one of the screens even though it occasionally lagged out. Acts included: 'Le Vent du Nord', 'Cash Box Kings' and 'Kate Rusby'. Today was very odd for many reasons. Firstly, on 2 occasions when ordering food and drink, 2 different assistants didn't hear that I asked for 2 of each item instead of 1. Awkward glances and reluctantly getting the other item ensued on both occasions. When trying to eat a falafel with extra hummus, the falafel ended up going everywhere which wasn't the best. I started reading 'I Let You Go' by Clare Mackintosh, a gripping read which I intend to review in a future blog post. To sum up the day in 3 days = reading, mis-hearing, spillage. Who knows how that could be interpreted.. Day 4: The last day! This I was very sad about. For 4 days every year sitting relaxing to music without a care in the world was like no other. For it to come to an end so quickly was not the best. I really really tried to get up earlier. Kept looking at the clock, decided to get up at 8am. However, once again I fell into a deep sleep and failed to wake until 9:15am. Oops! Again, we arrived 14 minutes earlier than the previous day, but were still stuck in front of the dreaded bins. We were sitting near an ice cream van, which meant that if either Mum or I went off, it was easy to find our spot in the swathes of people. 'Varldens Band' were particularly special to watch and hear their story, as one of their bandmates couldn't get into the UK due to visa issues. A whole song was dedicated to their bandmate, stuck in Sweden (as a result, their entire set had to be changed). I hope that even when we leave the EU, as a country we won't isolate and ban those from entering the UK even for a holiday or trip. That surely, is a right. I managed to get over 100 pages into 'I Let You Go', which gets more intense and mysterious the more you read. Thankfully, the veggie burger I ate for dinner didn't go all over me. Always a positive. We bought 'The Mail on Sunday' to read Peter Hitchens' column, which was fascinating, even if you don't agree with it. Our view from the stage however, was even more obstructed when a bin was placed less than 1m away from us. The binmen had taken a bin to be deposed, and a couple had sat where the old bin was, meaning it was moved further to us. Great! I did perform a good deed of the day by getting someone's balloon out of the bin. At roughly 8pm, we were getting tired and decided to call Folk Festival 2016 a day. It had been a marvelous Folk Festival, for the talented music, the joyous atmosphere, the friendly artists and people, the tasty food, the connections, the relaxing relaxation. A truly wonderful occasion. Until next year, folk music! What a diary entry. I never knew how much bins, falafels and bands would be mentioned. As you can see, I had the most to say on Day 1 & 4. That was because on Day 2 & 3 we just sat and read. As you do. Whatever your music taste, folk is something that can unite so many continents, so many people and so much feeling. It can entertain, inform, teach, amuse. Surely, that is important.
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