“No one looks back on their life and remembers the night they got plenty of sleep!” ~ Anonymous
This weekend the Photo Challenge over on our other site https://weeklyprompts.com is Festival. The response to the challenge is answered by my guest blogger, my eldest daughter Victoria. Here she gives her account of a long weekend spent at a music festival.
For the second year running we’ve taken our family to Leeds Festival. It’s a hugely popular music festival in England, with a very young crowd.
One of the sponsors is an energy drink called Relentless. It’s an apt name to partner with an event that is quite literally four days of relentless dancing, jumping, singing, music and drinking over the August bank holiday weekend. The wild crowd of 16-25 year olds take it all in their muddy stride and the partying goes on until 6am every day. This year we took ear plugs…
The Main Stage
Almost as bad as a teenager’s bedroom
Just one of the campsites
A moment – The BBC Radio One Dance Tent
We had the dubious honour of being amongst the oldest festival goers, whilst our 12 year old was probably the youngest jumping around in the Radio One Tent to the rapper Lil Pump. It got pretty rough and there were a couple of moments when I wondered if I was an idiot and she was actually safe. ‘Oh my God, are you a raving family?’ I was asked, ‘I wish my Mum had brought me here’. Raving: the act of wild, out of control dancing to electronic dance music and lots of strobe lights. It was fun, honestly!
Unforgettable Atmosphere at The Main Stage
Waiting for the next act
We cheated slightly because we took a camper van, not a tent. We were away from the wilder parts of camping and the drug pushing. We could cook, bring in huge amounts of alcohol, take a shower and avoid the rain which descended heavily on the last day. I even took a butter dish. How very civilised.
Snacking in the awning and keeping dry
My husband taught our 15 year old son how to pee in a cup under his coat. An essential skill if you have to stand for hours in a crowd. I taught my daughter how to smuggle Jack Daniels past security. Don’t worry, she didn’t drink any – we are bad parents, not really bad parents. We made sure they saw how vulnerable people became after drinking too much or taking drugs. I hope they remember this when they finally go by themselves.
At night this tree acted as our beacon – turn right here!
A collection of bras adorn the flagpole of a nearby caravan!
Festivals are amazing and liberating places. You can wear whatever you like – fancy dress, g-strings with fish nets, tiny shorts, wellies, raincoats, masks, glitter – all accepted.
Above – My daughter attempts to stay warm and dry!
A festival goer also attempting to stay dry!
There are thumping bass lines making your ear drums itch, chants full of swearing and cursing, famous rock stars performing, the all-pervading smell of weed everywhere you go, the anticipation of waiting with thousands of other fans as the sun sets and darkness descends.
It may have taken us a few days to recover – my hips are not what they used to be and my liver needs a bit of a rest – but we’ll be back for more next year. ~Victoria.
Thank you, Victoria, for agreeing to be my guest writer today. I thoroughly enjoyed your article – the first of many perhaps?
(c) SueW-nansfarm.net 2018. In response to the Photo Challenge Festival from Weekly Prompts. http://weeklyprompts.com/2018/09/01/photo-challenge-festival
A great article Sue, I love music festivals, hmmm, I’ve been to quite a few over the past 5 years, I’ll have to see if I can dig up some photos, and I’m sure I wrote a poem called “A Festival” about 5 years ago !!…. yep I’ll have to start searching my files.
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Looking forward to it Ivor and thank you I will tell Victoria x🙂
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I’ve already started searching, I’ve found the old poem, oh my… I was in love then…..
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Love your enthusiasm Ivor! Can’t wait! 🙂
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I’m like a dog with a bone😉
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Great post, Sue. Although I love music and particularly live music, I’ve never been to a festival. I don’t think I could handle the mud and sleeping in tents and probably feeling cold the whole time. I’m sure it’s not like that, but it does put me off.
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I’m glad you like Victoria’s post, hopefully she’ll read the comments. what they tell me it’s exactly like that, always raining. I’ve never been to one either. It may have appealed as a teenager but today I feel just the same as you. Thank you Trev
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I’m all for music festivals but it seems to me that today’s idea of a music festival, has nothing to do with music, just noise; what I’ve come to think of a a load of cacophonous claptrap.
Those that pose as singers are usually without any idea of how to sing, they do know how to shout though, and shout they do and the uglier the faces they pull whilst shouting the better ” singers” they are; or something like that; but then they haven’t been brought up with singers of the calibre of Sinatra, who I was fortunate enough to see twice, in his prime, in the 1950’s.
Perhaps if i went to Wales I’d get some real singing festivals.
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I agree Brian. There are some lovely voices in Wales so once again I agree 🙂
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Elder Daughter and family are into festivals in a big way, but I’ve never been to one. They ‘do’ the ones in the South of England. Handy campervan with all the comforts of home.
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Not for me either Les.
I think they’ve reached the age where they’ve become accustomed to comfort and camping is now a step too far and definitely at a festival. They enjoy everything else about the festivals and plan to go back for more!
I was delighted she accepted the offer to write for me, and I hope she’ll do more.
Thank you Les
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How the other half lives! I’d say earplugs would be an essential part of equipment.
Is that bottom really covered? Daughter’s Eskimo kit is more sensible.
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Agreed! The festival wasn’t too far from here so I can confirm that on particular day it was very cold as well as wet. What was the woman thinking?
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Obviously, that her stern is attractive and should not be concealed. As long as she doesn’t extend that theory to other parts of her anatomy . . .
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Very smart to bring a camper van, especially due to the rain. A mucky tent is no fun.
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I agree with you 100%, They did that pre kids, but never again!
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it was so much fun readig about your ciilized festival fun! lol i think its so refreshing to see not just young faces. I work with someone and she’s going into her 50’s and she was at some concert the other day. lol.
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Festivals, the high profile music ones, have something of a bad reputation regarding drugs etc and that’s a shame because a great time can be had by families. Thank you for your comment, it’s appreciated 🙂
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It’s fun to note you can go to these things and not have to participate in that sort of thing!
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