Festival season is upon us, with the start being heralded proper by Wood Festival this weekend and in a couple of weeks, for me at least, Red Rooster, which has become an annual pilgrimage (although to be fair, it was cut short last year by Mrs H reaching the final of BGT and me having to return home to ensure that pre-show needs were met). From there, the summer stretches out with large and small gatherings taking place anywhere a stage can be erected and some loos lined up by a hedge, including personal favourites such as the wonderful Maverick and End of the Road. Of course, there’s Glastonbury, but insiders tell me it’s not really a festival; it’s more of a pop-up city. Never been so couldn’t possibly comment. For me, festivals are primarily about the music, and I have to say that the whole fancy dress and face glitter thing leaves me non-plussed. I could just be a miserable bastard, but friends tell me I’m not… well, not all of the time anyway.
I love sitting in a sun-dappled field listening to something whilst lustily imbibing something refreshing, although, in recent years, there has been less of that and more of wearing something warm and hoping the sun makes an appearance. Could be an age thing, I suppose, but I’m increasingly impressed with festival alternatives that involve an inside. Ramblin’ Roots has become a permanent fixture in the calendar and it remains resolutely about the music but with a roof and decent toilets! The Blue Heart fest I attended in Holland – all inside and fabulously comfortable. Black Deer have read the writing on the wall in the face of diminishing returns for large outdoor gatherings influenced by the vagaries of the weather, and they are heading inside in October. Expanding the festival season and revitalising the brand in one fell swoop. As the demographic that grew up on music weeklies embraces side two of the album of their lives (I’m on track 2!), the outdoor festival is becoming less attractive. When packing the car, you start to think about air beds, rain-lashed fields, and toilets (that are admittedly better than the apocryphal pits of yore with their tales of hapless souls falling through the piss-rotted boards and crawling to freedom through the effluent remains of three days of half-digested burgers and mezze—emerging as some shit-stained aberration of humanity heading to see Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts on the Main Stage!).
I’m embracing all of it for now, as we all should, but as the bones creak louder in the mornings, I’m less inclined to risk the full outdoor festival experience…..until the next one.
This week, I’ve been heading down some unexplored roads with the likes of Jonathan Erlich and Boulder Fields (on tour this week), and the radio show features Rickie Lee Jones, Shack, Mercury Rev, and Green on Red, amongst others. As ever…
Sums it up perfectly for us,, with Ramblin’ Roots being our favoured model, particularly with a National Trust scone being only a short stroll away. Harmony Voyages cater to the same demographic with their (more folk oriented) Costa Del Folk, where their next offering is set out so you can watch all the turns from your hotel room balcony if you wish. I’ll look into the Dutch event you mention, as attending for music is a good hook on which to hang a visit to a new place. We did think about Static Roots in Germany as someone enthused about it at the Ramblin’ variety, but it was sold out.
Glampimg at Latitude a few years ago, in what turned out to be a dog kennel with the associated showers still featuring the corn plasters of others (two more from them after the break), convinced us that we weren’t really cut out for the full festival experience and now attending (say) Wickham is mostly dependent upon being able to get a rental in walking distance. And this year we will be taking collapsible camping chairs….
It’s the way of all flesh Paul …
Blue Hearts has a hotel right next to the venue it’s brilliantly organised and Alkmaar is a lovely place with great links to all over Holland