Secret Garden Party 2007

United Kingdom | by Anne-Marie Douglas | 16 August 2007

We enter the party and become ‘gardeners’ along with 6,000 fellow revellers.  We are confronted with signs - friendship, peace, unity, love and harmony.  It appears to be a playground for old and young alike, all manner people dressed up to the nines surround us, some are hula-hooping, some are playing outside the action tents; I can’t wait to explore and join the fun!

There are some rules here such as ‘turn your mobile off, you will find your friends’, ‘your Mother is not here, take off those clothes, paint yourself purple and get on stage,’ ‘cast aside your weekly worries, there are no pressures other than having a good time’ - you get the picture: this weekend is for fun and nothing else matters.

If you do enter with worries you can visit the ‘emotional rescue’ area where you can be alleviated of all worries or see the Bad Advice Bears, they’ll sort you out, the Emotion Police are also on hand to deal with any emergencies!

This is not a festival where you can plan a schedule, it simply won’t happen - there is far too much to get waylaid by.  Over the weekend I encountered many weird and wonderful moments, some of which I’ll attempt to recount, though I’m aware it will read as fairly bizarre, it should serve to give an illustration of what the festival is about.

Over the weekend there are a variety of gatherings, spectacles and parades.  I, along with an enormous crowd, witness the thrills and spills of sock wrestling, the Official Rock Paper Scissors Championships, the obligatory mud-wrestling competition and a paint throwing extravaganza.  I even take part in The Great Custard Pie Battle.

There’s a variety of music here selected specially to suit all tastes and moods.  South Central make playing the electronic guitar look cool, which is no mean feat by anyone’s standards.  Echo and the Bunnymen thrill the Main Stage crowds with 'Nothing Ever Lasts Forever' a personal highlight.  Reverend and the Makers even announce to the audience that this is the best festival ever and allow most of the crowd up on the stage with them.

The Sunshine Underground are brilliant with an astounding version of 'Borders' being their stand out track. There are some great DJ's on too, I dance to every type of music there is with the worst, though the funniest, being some 80's power rock ballads.

I dance along to the beats of Stevie Wonderful in the pagoda over the lake.  The lake sits in the middle of the festival, which makes it all the more magical when it has to be crossed to reach other parts of the event.  There is a huge hand outstretched sitting in the middle of the lake which is just one of the many curious artwork pieces scattered about the garden.

Despite the mud people have made a very serious effort with their fancy dress. I meet many colourful characters including a number of granny's who I'm told are sending Granny-o-grams.  There’s a man who is spending the whole weekend collecting articles from gardeners in his hat such as tampons, sweets, tickets, feathers - anything really.  I see him again on Sunday and his hat is overflowing with all kinds of paraphernalia and he tells me the best article he had was from man who gave him a photo of his girlfriend because he was missing her.

I visit a shop and buy some sunglasses, when I ask how much they are, I'm just told to “name my happy price”, so I do and everyone’s happy!  I'm greeted by various 'cats' lolling on the grass, purring and stroking one another at the 'Cats are Little People in Fur Coats' Action Camp.  A tall cat says “Meow” and washes herself before telling me they are just catnapping after some cat-aerobics and shows me round the cat-van, which is a caravan made up entirely of cat memorabilia.  I meow back and make my way to the postmaster bus for what has to be my highlight of the weekend.
 
At the entrance to the 'wish bus', I'm greeted by official looking people banging away on an old typewriter.  They ask whether I would like to post a wish to someone outside the garden or inside the festival, or would I like a consultation with the Fairy Wishmother.  I’m beyond excitement at this point and I decide to do it all – please!  I fill in a wish form and send some wishes to friends that will be posted in three months time by the official wishpeople and then wait on the bus for my fairy Wishmother consultation.

I'm in there some time with her and I think I love her, not because she gave me a jammy dodger, but because she took my wish to fly very seriously indeed.  I’m left floating away, totally thrilled that we may have worked out a way that my wish may come true.  Though she did inform she was a Fairy Wishmother not a ***** miracle worker!

Then I spend some time after dark at the Vampire tent, where people are lounging in coffins, and vow to come back for Vampire Speed Dating!

It's been described as a middle class festival and if the food and drink prices are anything to go by then I'd agree, however what was on offer was of a really high quality such as Pieminister pies, organic burgers, and curry to die for.  Pimms and lemonade, cocktails and Aspinall blush cider were my drinks of choice though they weren’t cheap with a pint of the apple stuff costing £4.50.  The burgers were around five pounds each too.

Seasoned festival goers will really appreciate this festival because it is the small details that make it most enjoyable.  There are seating areas everywhere from big Indian cushions to stacks of hay via the hammocks swinging from trees as well as sofas and armchairs.

There are funny signs directing you to random places and lovely areas lit by fairy lights to relax with your friends.  It all creates a very welcoming and much appreciated atmosphere.

This is not a festival designed to pull crowds with big name acts, as the organisers state: ‘it's not a concert, it's a party, in a garden, with gardeners,’ and if you get that you'll probably enjoy it!