I've just got back from Secret Garden Party Festival, and during my two day recovery time (trust me, you'll need it!) I thought I'd write a quick post about the pros & cons of a festival and how much fun I really had. Last week I uploaded my first lifestyle post, and whilst I'll still be writing about beauty & skincare products, I will also be posting tasty recipes, event recommendations and just general fun things to read about. Enjoy, x
I attended Secret Garden Party in 2014 and it was truly amazing; The weather was perfect & the music was great! I volunteered both this year and last, but I'm happy to do this; Working 14-15 hours on a bar gets you entry to the festival, free meal vouchers, free drinks after each shift, free parking and because you need to be there a day early, you don't have to queue for 4 hours in the heat, whilst carrying some very heavy bags.
This year was the first year that the event sold out so I was expecting something awesome. There were art installations all over, and something to keep you entertained everywhere. Whether this meant attending a wedding at the Community Hall, joining in at the dance-off stage, or hiring a boat so you could travel around a filthy lake, there were PLENTY of activities to keep you busy, you just need to look around. SGP is full of creative people who come up with these really fun ideas, and I really like that about the festival. It's something to differentiate it from other events.
This was my fifth (overnight) festival so I thought I was super prepared this time! Anything in comparison to my first festival away was a step up. I first attended Nass in July 2012, but I didn't bring any wellies nor a waterproof coat and then of course, the heavens opened up enough water which equated to a full month's rainfall during the only 2 days I was there! (Brilliant packing huh!) So with a northie, some water tight wellies and a couple of £1 ponchos, I thought I'd packed everything...wrong. Some of my friends didn't even brinf that! With my partner Jordan, we stayed in a 1 man pop-up tent, (1 skin thick) which wasn't good enough to hold the rain from the whole of Thursday and a lot of Saturday / Sunday!! So much water leaked into the bottom of our tent that we needed to use an emergency blanket to keep warm because our covers and bags were soaking wet, and the blanket, did NOT work in this emergency.
I really enjoyed the music last year, the Friday night of 2014 was one of the best nights of my entire life (that's a big big thing to say or live up to!), but I felt like the music this year didn't really appeal to me. There were a couple of good DJs on the line-up, but by the time you've queued, or somebody needs to go the toilet, half the group want to leave. If I had to pick out my favourites stages it would have to be between the 'collo-silly-um', 'the drop' or 'The Dance-Off' (that one's purely for entertainment value).
My friends and I crept off on the Sunday evening around 9pm, because we spent the majority of the day in the tent we didn't attend the famous 'paint party'. We also missed the fireworks & didn't watch the floating stage being set on fire which is something that I've always wanted to see. Last year, I worked on the Sat/Sunday evening and missed both! If you're thinking 'Seen one firework display, seen them all?' then you're completely wrong. The fireworks at SGP are truly spectacular and so so hyped up! If you use google images to search, you'll see a montage of fireworks from the most recent years - and you'll also see why I didn't want to miss them.
My friends and I crept off on the Sunday evening around 9pm, because we spent the majority of the day in the tent we didn't attend the famous 'paint party'. We also missed the fireworks & didn't watch the floating stage being set on fire which is something that I've always wanted to see. Last year, I worked on the Sat/Sunday evening and missed both! If you're thinking 'Seen one firework display, seen them all?' then you're completely wrong. The fireworks at SGP are truly spectacular and so so hyped up! If you use google images to search, you'll see a montage of fireworks from the most recent years - and you'll also see why I didn't want to miss them.
Ok so I live in England, and rain should always be expected during 'summer'. Even if I was at home, I would have been cold & wet so I should always remember the 'you're at a festival to have fun, regardless of the weather' line, but it's hard to think like this when your clothes are soaked, and you've got a 9 hour shift ahead of you; Especially on the one day that it's meant to be sunny. The good thing is, you're surrounded by your friends who can very easily pick up your spirits, which makes a long shift fly by. I always feel really close to my friends after coming back from a festival / holiday with them. You've spent 5 days together (sometimes without a break) and during that time, you've slept, ate, dance, got drunk, and probably showered together - some really 1) hilarious & 2) genuinely bonding moments.
Whilst the rain did dampen my spirit a little, I still had lots of fun. I do love Secret Garden Party because it's just so casual, laid back and full of love & glitter. It's hard to write what a place feels like, or use just 1 word to sum up the festival but the event really is just so creative. It's full of silliness and fun. This festival is great for music lovers who happy to go anywhere; talk to anybody, and for those who have that feel-good mentality.
If you've been to Secret Garden Party and would like to share your experience, or alternatively, if there's another festival that you'd recommend, please feel free to comment below.
Thanks for reading,
No comments:
Post a Comment