VW Articles - Summer Solfest
Having been music festival aficionados for the last decade, T25 owners for the last 2 and new parents for 14 weeks, we decided to bite the bullet and take our new baby daughter aptly named Summer to the Solfest music festival on the Solway Firth. We had attended the festival last year with a borrowed t-25 and having loved it, we were hooked on music festivals with a camper van. On the strength of osur enjoyment of the festival, we had a bit of interest from friends and family for Solfest 2006. Kathy's brother Dave brought along his T25, Kathy's aunty Linda, Shane and Will brought their VW bay and our friends George and Shaun brought their T25. Along with this lot came a transit van containing a bakers dozen worth of party animals known collectively as "team quaff"! We'd already taken baby Summer away on 7 other camper van trips around the country and stayed on the more plush campsites with mains hook-up. So far, she preferred camper vanning to being at home, but we were a little more nervous about the madness and lack of facilities that Solfest would bring. We arrived on the Friday night fully laden with food, drinks and baby stuff. After a few drinks, we decided to push the pram to have a wander to find my Dad camped with his band "The Blowjangles" and also Kathy's brother with his T25 and "team quaff". We also mooched down to the main arena - it was looking even more resplendent this year with is finely decorated (but not huge) dance tent; main stage and dry stonewall stage. There seemed to be even more spectacular mini-tents this year like Disco Fromage, Space, interesting stalls, statues, décor, kites and more. So far so good, Kathy's Mum looked after baby Summer for a few hours whilst we went for a dance and our faces painted in the dance tent with team quaff. The one outstanding fantastic thing about Solfest is that there is so much going on within such a compact space. You can park your van up where you like and set up your campsite, and then it's just a short walk to the main arena. At previous Glastonbury's, the temptation was to leg it the several miles from one end of the arena to another trying to catch up with various bands or meet various people. Also - the days of hiking 18 miles with a tent and a tray of lager were long gone (yayy!) Having been to Vanfest with a similar crowd the previous 2 years, everyone was already much more enthused and buzzing about the entertainment and general craic of Solfest. There was a real buzz of excitement in the air and loads of VW vans also from splits, bays, loads of T25s and some spangly new models with flawless paintwork and awnings. Saturday at Solfest was pirate and faery day, so we got into the spirit of things. Kathy and Summer were faeries and I was a pirate complete with dreadlocks and telescope! We took faery baby Summer down to the main arena to check out the Blowjangles play a blinding set of their brand of hi-jinx carnival brass, drums and percussion. Crowd participation was the order of the day with the tambourines and shakers being handed out in the lovely clear sunny weather. As the day went on, more pirates and faeries emerged and it was a fabulous day of merriment, fancy dress and sheltering in interesting tents from the intermittent showers. Sunday was a chilled out day and everyone I spoke to was absolutely buzzing about Solfest 2006. Perhaps one of the best features was the encampments people had set up with flags, bunting, lights, tunes, open fires meant that visiting someone's camping site was just another entertaining place to visit at the festival! The mixed age group and relaxed atmos means that taking a baby in your camper to Solfest is highly recommended. Solfest is perhaps the most family and baby friendly festival we've seen so far with lots of kids and babies there. Having said that, the festival was just as entertaining for a transit van of hardened Manchester clubbers. In effect, Solfest has something for everyone; so if you love festivals, don't be afraid to take the little ones along with your van. Previous festivals we'd been to would have just seemed unsafe, but here, you felt in safe company. Solfest has just 5000 tickets keeping it to a decent size with no major crowds or queuing. If you fancy Solfest 2007, get your ticket early for an early bird discount. Located at the top of the Lake District also - the setting and surrounding areas are stunning. We booked the following week off to take the van to Buttermere and got as far North as Oban for a ferry trip to Mull. The weather was rubbish, but with a camper van, it was still a great experience all round. We vowed to take more time off after Solfest next year to see even more of Scotland. More information about Solfest can be found here: http://www.solwayfestival.co.uk |
