Attractions

Awake next morning and a decent breakfast was called for. So we went to a tent selling juices and smoothies and set ourselves up for the day with a couple of freshly-made, thick and delicious smoothies. Mine was made from bananas, dates and walnuts and it was a whole heap better than any other shop-bought smoothie I've had.

Sunrise Celebration Festival

Saturday was billed as the day for dressing up in your finest fancy dress glad-rags. It was quite early, but already people were getting dressed up for the day (and night). Top hats decorated with anything from day-glow fur to fake ostrich feathers seemed to be the order of the day, worn by both sexes.

Just next to the horse-drawn village, was the Enchanted Green Craft village. Central in the village there was a garden planted with wild flowers, rockeries and a tiny rock pool-like pond.

A couple of young children were playing with sticks in the tiny pool, others were sitting amongst the flowers. It was a special place.

My next stop was a walk across the central arena, where I passed willow sculptures of a man and a winged-woman, a full-size ‘pantomime’ elephant and a swan suspended in the air from rods.

Sunrise Celebration Festival

Then I headed towards ‘Galactic Central’ in the Visionary Arts and Culture Arena. A cloud-painted wizard was holding a disco-ball accompanied by a giant lion doorknocker; in the centre was a UV 3-D abstract art installation. It was a feast for the eyes and so much work had gone into the space and even the ‘Pyramid Portal’ was said to be cosmically aligned. 

After leaving my therapy session, it was time for a quick drink so I popped into a tipi selling chai and cakes, grabbed a mug of sweet, milky chai and a bottle of water, and watched the world go by.

I wanted to go and see the Breakfastaz, breaks djs and producers, in the Waveform Tent. I went the long way round though so I could check out a few more things along the way.

Next was a whistle-stop tour of the Alternative Technology area. This is something I don't know much about, but as I was going by what I thought I should go and investigate.

There was a demonstration going on by a tent, and I think that it was for some kind of windmill. It was hard to tell as a small crowd of people had gathered around it, so I moved onto the next display, which was something I had seen before on the local news which was a washing machine powered by someone riding a bicycle. Ingenious! Oh just think, cutting the nation’s obesity and saving the environment all rolled into one… hmm maybe I should get one?

I had a bit more time to kill, and saw quite a few people had set up smaller stalls laid out on the ground, selling everything from deep fried plantains, to ethnic jewellery, secondhand clothes and general knick-knacks.

Time was passing by and I didn't want to miss the Breakfastaz, so I found my way to the tent. I missed the first few minutes of their set, but stayed right until the end. I love their mixes, they threw in a few Prodigy tracks and a few I've heard before but not sure of the titles, and I managed to take a few photos, whilst dancing around with a large bottle of water I'd bought on the way and trying not to lose my headdress.

The Breakfastaz, Froe, Gav and Merf finished at about 8pm and by this time I was quite tired, wasn't feeling too good (the day had been hot, the sun was strong and I could feel my arms and shoulders burning) so I headed back to the tent to find Darren.

It was time for me to crash out for a bit. Darren was keen to go out, but I didn't feel up to it. The temperature had dropped quite considerably outside, and I didn't feel up to venturing out, but ‘country acid house’ group Alabama 3 were due on the main stage and I was keen to see them.

Sunrise Celebration Festival

So Darren persuaded me to ’get off my butt and go out’. I ended up putting on another layer of clothing over what I already had on plus a waterproof coat and then I wrapped myself up in a fleece blanket. Then I was ready to go. 

By the time we got to the main stage, Alabama 3 were well into their set, and had pulled a big crowd so we were quite far back from the stage, but we managed to see them.

I lasted for another couple of tracks and then headed across to the Waveform tent where we caught Psy trance DJ Scorb playing a set and then it was time for me to go because my sleeping bag was calling me.

Darren came back with me, but when he heard another DJ playing he decided he ought to go and check him out. After a while, he came back, sounding pretty excited as he managed to get backstage and have a chat with the DJ, Gacid from Phar-Psyde Records, about an event we'd all been at the previous Summer.

Saturday had been a busy day, so I was then ready for a good sleep.