Many people are surprised to hear that I have never been to a festival. But those who know me best know that music has never much interested me. Sure as a moody teenager I used to sit in my room moping to the sounds of Blink 182, Sum 41 and later Panic! at the Disco. Then I sweetened to the smooth sounds of 80’s and 90’s pop.
The Campsite
However, I never felt that instinctive urge that most people feel to put on music when they are reading or on the computer. I have never felt the need to buy an MP3 player or iPod and listen to music when walking about. Even now in my travelling days I don’t listen to music on the go, I don’t find it entertaining enough to keep me going.
The view outside the house
Along with my distaste of camping from my scouting days and my fear of the dreaded porta-potty, festivals have never really appealed to me. However, when my friends said that they were holding a festival in the back garden in Germany I was eager to get involved.
A group of 8 of us arrived a few days early in order to set everything up. We cleaned the train carriage out and transformed it into a chill out area, we helped turn the garage into club and we set up tents so that everyone had somewhere to sleep.
Train Carriage to Chill out
I surprised myself. Despite my scouting memories of spending hours lugging logs of wood back and for all day in order to build a camp fire, and then all those dull campfire songs and monotonous hikes, as adults of course we were left to make our own entertainment. This meant lazy days, reading in the sun, playing cards with idle conversation and if you wanted you could snooze all day in your tent. This for me was bliss.
The Garage by day
And then in the evening, we would eat large help yourself meals, cooked by the group for the group, before cleaning up and people took it in turns to DJ the party. I loved the feeling of being involved in this community where everyone pitched in to make it a better experience for everyone else. I guess I am just a hippy at heart. And as for the porta-potty … I even mustered up the courage to poo stick it myself.
But will I end up going to a real festival in the future. I guess only time will tell.
Do you fancy the idea of setting up your own festival?
