Every year I book myself in to do two or three summer festivals with the
Oxfam Stewards. It's a bit of a summer ritual for me. Since I've now made my choices, and a lot of the lineups have now been announced, I thought I'd take some time to browse the options.
In recent years there's been a bit of an explosion in summer festivals, and I remember a few summers back there were people pondering whether there were "too many" festivals, as though choice and variety are somehow a bad thing. It's not as if anyone's being dragged to go to them
all, exhausted, muttering, "Can't take it...Liver about to explode....Can't cope...with...another...Keane...encore..."
For several years I was a regular at the
Reading Festival - first as a punter, then as an Oxfam steward.
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| Reading 2006 |
This is a bit of an achievement in itself, since so many people quickly find themselves feeling old at Reading/Leeds. To be fair, I've had a lot of good times at Reading, but as years progress you eventually get tired of the corporate lineup, the twatted twatty 17 year old twats, and of course those relaxing Sunday night riots...
True story from Brown Camp, Reading 2005. It's Sunday night and people are chucking baked bean cans onto campfires to make them explode. It's a bit like trying to sit and have a beer in an artillery barrage.
A guy comes up to my group and asks, "Are you people exploding bean cans on your campfire?"
Me, "No, that wasn't us. It's the people over there who are doing it."
"Do you know how long it takes to explode? Mine won't go off."
Ultimately, you will look back at Reading/Leeds in the same way as a clumsy adolescent grope in the Sixth Form library. You enjoyed it at the time, but it's very much part of your past, and there's a distinct lack of bragging rights about it.
Of course one can't talk about festivals without mentioning
Glastonbury. Yeah, yeah, this post has now gone too commercial. To be fair though, Glasto is always about far more than what's headlining the Pyramid Stage, so if big-name bands aren't your thing, there's always plenty of smaller venues to explore.
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| Glastonbury 2011 - yes, that is ankle-deep brown slime I'm standing in |
Seriously, I don't get people who whine about the Pyramid lineup. Do they really wander past the Green Fields, Arcadia, the Park, the Cabaret Tent, the Circus, the Cinema Tent, the Other Stage, the Dance Village, the Glade and the John Peel Stage muttering, "God, I just don't like what's on the Pyramid Stage. What am I going to do with my time? If only I brought a book." Personally I barely saw a thing at the Pyramid last year and still had plenty to see and do.
Speaking of whining, Glasto years can be divided into three categories.
- Years when people whine about the heat.
- Years when people whine about the rain and mud.
- Years when people whine about it not being on.
This year it's in the third category, because it's 2012 and therefore the London Olympics or the End of the World or summat. Hence people are going to have to pick alternatives.
One that I will be going to this year is
Bestival on the Isle of Wight. It started out as a little boutique festival. Nowadays it's a bit like a smaller Reading, only more eclectic and quirky, and less corporate and twatty. It has its traditional Saturday fancy dress themes.
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| Using the force at Bestival 2009 |
This year the theme is wildlife, which I think is a bit of a cop-out. A lot of people tend to go for furry animal costumes as a default anyway. Partly because it's cheap and easy, but also because Bestival is right at the end of the festival season and it's getting a bit chilly for that "slutty Jar Jar Binks" costume.
Personally I think there's a lot to be said for going to small, out-of-the way festivals. One that I did last year and will be returning to in 2012 is
Shambala. It has about 8000 punters, which pretty much equates to a corner of Glasto. It also has a secret lineup, so you don't know what you're going to see until you get there (hint: it's not likely to be Beyonce and U2). That way it's not about the lineup, it's about the experience. You just get to bimble until you find something interesting. You usually don't have to wander long.
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| Making new friends at Shambala 2011 |
On the subject of small 'uns, one I'll be going to for the first time this year is
Beautiful Days. It's curated by The Levellers, and I've only ever heard good things about it. It's got a reputation for being fun and friendly.
There's some that I've contemplated but never got around to going to, such as the
Secret Garden Party and
Latitude. If I were to go to the latter, I suspect I'd spend far more exploring the poetry, literature and comedy venues than the (frankly rather sludgey-looking) music lineup.
But then that's something I've noticed about myself in terms of what I've come to look for in a festival. When I was younger it was all about the lineup of my annual pilgrimages to Reading - I'd be dashing from stage to stage to see this or that band. Now I'm more keen on exploring the full package to get an all-round experience. Maybe it's the wisdom of age. Or maybe I've just learned not to be excited about whatever the media are touting as the Next Big Thing Future Saviours of Rock'n'Roll. There'll be another one along in a minute.
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