This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Generally I am to be found doing thrilling activities like ironing, wrestling with ground elder, or playing online Scrabble. Whoo hoo! I am very content doing those simple things actually and I find it harder these days to get enthusiastic if an invitation comes our way which means I have to step outside the safe haven of my regular routine. My husband, however, is far more adventurous and generally up for anything. So that’s how we both came to be at the Wildlife Festival near Brighton on Saturday. Although only he wore a silly hat.
After getting our wristbands and overpriced drinks, we orientated ourselves (mostly so we knew where the loos where!) and tried to look reasonably cool.
It was sunny but very breezy down on the coast and the first thing I noticed was how scantily clad everyone was (apart from husband and I who were very sensibly well wrapped up). Most of the boys wore tight t-shirts to show how ripped they were. Almost every girl had on the festival uniform of skimpy top (preferably with goose pimpled cleavage on show), short shorts (even the ones with overly generous thighs), fake tanned legs and clumpy ankle boots. What every single person wore was a big, genuine smile.
The atmosphere was so friendly (probably helped along by a few mind altering substances which bypassed the amnesty bins and security controls at the entrances). Despite the density of people (37,000 of us apparently) no-one pushed or shoved, everyone was polite. There were people of all ages – from small children to wrinkly old buggers like me, but mostly gorgeous young things having a fantastic time with their friends. When I was a teenager, we wouldn’t have been seen dead with our parents – but our kids tended to hang out with us (of course that could that have had something to do with the fact that we had the fuller wallets!)
We walked to the main stage area, stepping around or over festival goers who were sitting on the rubbish strewn grass, found ourselves a good spot by the sound mixer tent and listened to Soul II Soul and then George Ezra – an amazingly confident performer considering he’s only 23. Even I had heard of two of the songs he performed. All great fun and I even jigged about a bit. But it was the queues for the loos that got us in the end. They were just too long and, at my age, I need the comfort of knowing there is a convenience conveniently nearby at my disposal at all times. So, after pressing some notes into the hands of our offspring and organising transport for them to get home at midnight, we left them to it. While they were having a brilliant time watching Rudimental, we were having a brilliant time in the warmth of an Indian restaurant (with queue-less loos). Ah, each to their own. But I am very very glad that we went to see the wild life.