麻豆社

This being my first music festival, I prepared for what I thought would be a rainy and muddy day by packing my woolly hat and jumper, along with an umbrella and thick socks. What a bad decision this was.

I arrived at Faversham to clear skies and sunshine, and the heat was so intense, the first thing I did was to roll up my jeans, and leave my woolly hat in the car. The weather combined with the beautiful scenery of Mount Ephraim Gardens provided an unusual but nevertheless bright setting for the fun that was to be had during the day, with a great line up of bands to keep the atmosphere buzzing.

The crowd enjoy the first act of the day

Variety is the spice of life

The crowd of 14,000 were a varied group of people, from groups of teenagers to older, middle-aged couples through to families with children. It seemed there was enough music and variety to satisfy everyone.

As the festival was a two day event, with overnight camping as an option that was taken by most of the people attending, everyone made themselves at home on the grass, and the mood was a very relaxed one.

I was slightly wary that the music for the day would not exactly be my cup of tea, but was pleasantly surprised when I wandered around the gardens to find bands that I really enjoyed listening to. One of these was Pull Tiger Tail, and I was informed that the type of music they were performing was called 鈥淣ew Rave鈥�.

VIP Rejection

After luckily being given a free pair of flip flops, I carried on walking to find numerous food stalls, a Second Stage, and a MySpace Stage, showcasing the talents of various artists who have been discovered through the ever growing internet phenomenon.

Calvin Harris gets the crowd jumping

The heat finally took its toll, so I decided to sit in the VIP tent for a few minutes, in the shade with a nice cold drink. I couldn鈥檛 believe my eyes when Calvin Harris, (known for his songs 鈥淎cceptable in the 80鈥檚鈥� and 鈥淭he Girls鈥�) walked in, only to walk straight back out having seen how deserted the tent was.

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A charged up audience

The current #2 artist Kate Nash appeared on stage, drawing in a huge crowd, as she performed a brilliant set including her song 鈥淔oundations鈥�.

However, the highlight of the day, for me at least, was watching Calvin Harris perform. With a new album out, there were enough tunes for everyone in the crowd to sing and dance to, and the stage was filled with colourful lights and visualisations, making this a really electric performance.

The sun sets over the crowd

Supergrass were the last act of the day, a band that were predominant in the 1990鈥檚, and are most famous for their songs 鈥淧umping On Your Stereo鈥� and 鈥淎lright鈥�. After hearing them play a couple of their songs, it was time for me to travel the long distance home. It had been a long and hot day, but a really enjoyable one at that!