Attractions

It’s Friday morning and it is early. I had a restless night's sleep, my sleeping bag was wet and I had cramp up one side of my body. After coming round slowly out of my semi-conscious state and getting dressed, I was ready to go for a ‘bimble’ around the site. However, at this stage I think I should mention the ‘facilities’, aka toilets. Oh yes erm festival toilets… as well as the obligatory pebble-dashed portaloos, the other toilets resembled something along the lines of a German World War 11 prison watchtower, with a long drop down below. Compared to the portaloos these weren't too bad.

My first job of the day was to check out the jewellery and clothing stalls… well, a girl does need her retail therapy. Many of the stalls seemed to be selling more or less the same things, but there was a few gems tucked away amongst them. There was a lady selling handmade felt hats in a multitude of colours, another selling quirky, handmade puppets, lots of stalls with Fair Trade goods, carvings, sarongs, jewellery, herbs, clothing and accessories. I needed a bag, so I bought a bright green cotton one that the stall holder described as ‘big enough to put a small child in’ and after I got chatting to a South American lady who had a jewellery stall I bought a beautiful beaded necklace made by a group of ladies in Indonesia. 

Everything I came across for sale on the stalls was reasonably priced. I wouldn't say anything was cheap, but it was good quality merchandise. I would rather pay a little bit more for something if it is produced ethically and is of a quality that is better than something that is mass-produced.

I had come to the end of my first 'therapy session' of the weekend, so I decided it was time for some food and drink… I was spoilt for choice. After I walked up and down the food stalls for about five minutes trying to make my mind up whether to play safe and go for chunky chips and dips or go for something vegan and exotic, I got distracted by the sound of a girl's voice singing in the Fish Seeks Bicycle tent.

Sunrise Celebration Festival

The girl on stage had a voice that was pure and haunting (I read later on her web page that she was described as Kate Bush meets Jeff Buckle - I couldn't put it better myself). Unfortunately I only got to hear the last couple of songs she performed, but I took a couple of pictures and had a chat with her when she had finished her set. She was called Tallulah Rendall and she had a beautiful voice that really complimented her song writing. She has an EP out at the moment, which I was lucky enough to get a copy of, and is working on her first album with producer Marius De Vries (who has worked with the likes of Madonna, Massive Attack and Bjork). There are big things ahead for Tallulah I think. 

Well after that my tummy was rumbling and it was time to eat, so I headed back to the ID Spiral arena and got myself a large bowl of spicy rice salad and a pint of apple juice, which was to be my lunch and breakfast.

The ID Spiral arena was open 24 hours a day, and the dj sets ranged from ambient to electro. I got to hear Kate Technodolly and her partner Bez23 djing, playing some cool ambient tunes. Just what I needed to help me chill and rest my feet.

I was greeted by a giant pyramid wind chime, where a few people were sitting underneath it (maybe it had spiritual powers?), and it was surrounded by a semi-circle of tents, with signs outside each one advertising their services.

There was just about every type of massage available (Thai, Swedish, Deep Tissue, Indian Head, Ayurvedic) as well as Reiki, Gong Bathing, Shiatsu, Kinesiology, Tai Chi and Tarot to name but a few. 

As I was walking around the arena I was drawn to a Yurt tent which was set up as a heat wave sauna. I went inside and on one side was a sofa and an armchair and on the other a wood burning stove and a counter where you could buy a cup of chai (a kind of tea) and some rather delicious looking slabs of chocolate cake.

I was greeted by a man in blue overalls undone to the waist, with his chest bare. I wasn't sure if he was a customer of the sauna or worked there, but he was keen to show me round it and explained how it worked. He took me through to the back door of the yurt and out through to the sauna area.

To my right was another yurt, this was the changing room he explained. I looked inside and it was laid out with padded stools around the outside and rugs covering the floor.

To my left was the yurt that was used as the sauna. There was a heavy door at the front, which he opened for me so I could look in and experience the intense heat. As the door was opened, the heat hit my face and I could just make out, central in the yurt, the wood burning stove. 

As I stepped away from the yurt, I'm afraid I didn't know where to look as the man showed me the shower area towards the back of the yurts. Two naked men were having a shower, so I promptly averted my eyes to the ground and did an about turn, blushing as I went.

I left the yurt sauna and then had a closer look at what was on offer. I have a healthy respect for alternative therapies but also some scepticism towards them. I have wanted to try a few in the past, but it's something I’ve never got around to doing.

Sunrise Celebration Festival

This was my chance though, all these treatments being handed to me on a plate… where was I going to start? Seeing as my aching muscles from my restless night had now recovered, I didn't think a massage was necessary, so felt that something a little more intense might be in order.

I came across a girl that did Reiki treatments. I had heard about Reiki, but never really knew what it was all about, or how it was done, so after I had a chat with Amanda, the Reiki healer, I made an appointment to see her the next day. 

I headed across the wide open space towards a large decorated yurt which was the Tibetan Buddhist temple. I think they were holding a workshop in there at the time, so not wanting to ‘interrupt’ I popped my head round the door just to have a look inside.

The walls and the domed ceiling of the temple were supported by intricately carved wooden panels that were hinged together. At one side was a small stage with a sound system, and a small shrine was set up at on side, with pictures of Buddha's around the walls. A lot of effort had gone into putting the Temple together, and although I am not a follower of Buddhism, I felt kind of humbled. 

I decided not to stay around for the workshop, as I knew there was a lot of other things I wanted to see, so the next thing I came across was a tent with a large gong outside and a sign offering ‘Gong Baths’.

Now this was about as alternative as I could get. What on earth was a Gong Bath? I had to find out so I got talking to Colin, who was the healer. He explained to me that it was quite an intense experience, but I was up for trying it, so I arranged to go back for a session a bit later that day.

I returned to our tent for a short rest and a change of clothes to recharge my batteries before returning to the main site for my Gong Bath.

I was greeted by Colin and another lady who was there to help him. We sat down and took a few moments to relax before I was asked to lie down on my back on a padded bench.

I closed my eyes and listened to Colin explain to me that I would hear three different gongs and that I may feel the energy going through my body. It was an intense but pleasant experience, as the gong was played I could feel vibrations travelling around my body. The session lasted for about 45 minutes and afterwards I did feel good and refreshed. I was told though that it is a kind of therapy that doesn't suit everyone, it helps to be a grounded type of person to receive the treatment.

Psychedelic group The Ozric Tentacles were the band headlining the main Sunrise stage that night, followed by Eat Static, a psy-techno dance act formed by ex-Ozric members, Merv and Joie. Eat Static were more my cup of tea than the Ozric’s, and it was thought a short nap would be in order before we ventured out again to see them, as they were on late and Darren and I were tired.

Unfortunately for me, getting into my sleeping bag was the wrong thing to do, especially as I really wanted to see Eat Static. Once I was out of the cold, damp night air and tucked up snug as a bug in a rug, I wasn’t going anywhere. Not even the droning helicopter hovering above the site would disturb me. While Darren disappeared of into the night to check out the Ozric’s (who were pretty good by all accounts), I spent the next 12 hours in a deep sleep.