I got an email from the festival organiser. On ringing Sophia I found out that the tickets were sent to Karen´s flat and not to Australia. I was so relieved. It just meant an extra stop. So we split up. josh went to Argos to get the tents while Dani and I went to Liverpool station to pick up the train tickets.
The tube was packed with peak hour traffic. We gave up and took the crowded bus. We got the tickets and made our way to Karen´s. It was becoming more and more clear that we weren´t going to make the train. But at least it was only a case of a new train ticket and not new festival tickets. We met up with Josh at the flat, where we ate take out egg sammiches with coffee.
At the train station I went to get new tickets. It turns out they are open tickets so we could use them on the next available train. We jumped on but couldn´t find a seat, so we perched in the hallway. Sharing our perching spot was an assortment of trendy types also on their way to the festival.
We were sitting next to the bathrooms. A blonde women was standing in the queue and started up a conversation with us. Turns out she was the scandinavian relative of the organiser Sophia who had helped us and was on the very same train. We sent our thanks for all her help.
At Salisbury there was a long wait for the couch bus that would take us to the festival grounds in the middle of nowhere. It cold,rainy and generally miserable. We also realised we had no food or alcohol. We didn´t get a chance to buy any plus this tiny town had no visible shops.
The coach bus took us past tiny towns and through green pastures. We moved deeper and deeper into the country. This place really is in the middle of nowhere, otherwise known as Dorset.
At the camp site I was surprised. The only camping experience I had with festivals was pukkelpop. The tents were crammed and dirty. This was different. The tents were spaced out and there were garden gnomes. We set up our cow tents.
The whole festival was kind of like that actually. Every stall was locally sourced, organic, fair trade and mostly vegetarian. Stalls with Goan fish curries and Moorish wraps. Kids everywhere with family activities, clay and paint. An ´arabian´ cinema tent showing short films. All very excellent.
All the first day it rained, much like in Belgium.
It made the ground a field of mud. I think the ground was filled with clay so it stuck to everything. It splattered onto my pants and everywhere else.
The Acorn were the first band we saw that day.
They were spectacular. I was instantly in love. They played songs that I had been obsessed with the entirety of my travels. Even the rain couldn´t spoil this amazing set.
A hawk and a hacksaw played next. I had heard good things about them. I wasn´t disappointed. A lute?, a violin and a piano accordion are strange instruments for a band but they work. We danced around and watched they spin tunes. Also, I watched the one guy´s enormous and charismatic moustache. Dani and I did more of our beloved synchronized hand dancing and then skipped around like a barn dance.
The rain started to clear. We were peckish so we found organic chocolate cake for tea.
We walked around. At the Scandinavian food tent we were delighted to find Koppelburg pear cider for sale.
Dinner was pizza and pear cider.
We went to the big top tent to see Akron/ family. I only knew one song but really liked it. It was a slow, pretty song. And not representative of the rest of their work, which was loud and crazy and funky. They shouted and had guitar solos. They even got the entirety of The Acorn on stage to play with them. The guest band took up drums and melodicas and aanything else they could get their hands on. The whole tent was full of music and movement and life.
Josh went to bed soon after. Dani and I got some warm cider to keep us going. We returned to the big top tent where the End of the Road DJs were playing prince and other dance classics. It was a great time had by all. We skipped around in the mud to New Order before making our way to bed later in the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment