Throwback Thursday: Festival Love
Today is pay day and I had a long list of things that I needed to buy, including camping tickets for CarFest that we’ll be going to again this August. Handing over the cash made me smile at the memories of festivals gone by, so today, it’s time for a throwback post…
It’s the last thing that we do to close out the summer holidays. For the past few years, CarFest South has been a bank holiday treat that all four of us look forward to, thoroughly enjoy, and if you’ve never been, it’s a highly recommend from me.
Two weeks out I check the weather app every half an hour and keep my fingers firmly crossed. *Please let it be dry, *please let it be dry. Sunny would be awesome! Because, a festival in the sun with family and friends is one of my very favourite things to do. Of the four real festivals that I’ve been to, three have been soaked in glorious sunshine and the other one, and not to be too dramatic here, was a near-end-of-the-world experience. Seriously. Torrential rain, gale-force winds, tents, tables, and cookers flying everywhere. I’ve lived off the story-telling for some years.
Like going on any holiday or break, the journey to a festival is exciting. Unpacking the car with arms full of blankets and Pot Noodles. A good trolley is an absolute must – I learnt that the hard way in the near-end-of-the-world experience. Let’s not talk any more about that.
Tent up, bags unpacked, camping chair installed, the sound of that first ppssssttt of the lager ring pull is simple perfection! Sat in the sun, listening to the sound checks, waiting for the show to start. Granted, food prices are extortionate (but a great opportunity to try some new stuff – Goan fish curry, anyone?). I’m getting to like the air bed less and less each year, but the spirit is amazing. YOLO and all that.
When I close my eyes I can take myself back to Laverstoke farm in an instant. The roar of the cars as the whizz past on the tracks. The smell of the blue portable loo liquid that is supposed to keep “toilets” smelling fresh and looking clean. The feel of the sunshine on my face. The sound of happy, happy music and thousands of people all singing and swaying along in (almost) unison. The sight of my daughters experiencing their first taste of freedom (and the odd swig of cider).
Happy, we sway back to the tent once the music stops and then fight with our sleeping bags as we try to find the best way to keep warm all night. Me, I’m lucky, I sleep easily anywhere, and I love the sounds of others close by, in their groups still singing and partying as I drift off. When I turn over in the middle of the night I can hear the gentle hum of hundreds of others gently snoring.
Regardless of how much or little sleep we’ve had, the smell of sausage and bacon being cooked everywhere the next morning is the best. Dewy grass soaks my flip-flops as I walk to the toilet, the reflection in the mirror of a 45 year old woman who’s just slept on a deflating lilo after a day on the pop. It’s all soon forgotten once I look around me and everyone looks the same. By the time I’ve eaten my sausage butty I’m fighting fit and ready to start again!
CarFest is a wonderful, family friendly festival. Now, it is a festival, and if you’re not up for portaloos, camping and expensive street food, don’t go. But, and thanks be for the sublime weather that we’ve been gifted to date, it is a joyous weekend. A masterclass in selecting acts that suit parents and teens alike; a fun-filled, action packed environment that feels like a safe place to give the kids their first tastes of freedom; and a weekend that we look forward to all year. It’s a perfect way to close out the summer holidays and I’ve already bought my tickets for 2023.
