Things I’ve Seen At Festivals #1

I love festivals. They’re the one place that no matter what you do or how weird it may be, you are not judged purely because there will be someone out there who is doing something 10 times weirder.

I’ve been to a few festivals such as Reading, Truck (it is music and not about vehicles) and Y Not which are more the indie rock genre. The vibe from the music, getting merry and enjoying your camp mates company just makes it an incredible experience. This experience also includes seeing some very strange things which I just find hilarious/ridiculous and make it worth sharing.

The Flying Chicken

The title of this speaks the truth. It happened at my first year of Reading and it was coming to the last day of music which is obviously a sad moment for everyone. So we picked orange camp at the beginning to pitch our tents because it was out the way and plenty of room for our massive group thinking it was going to be a little calmer. Oh how we were so wrong. To spice up the last day a food/every object you could find fight erupted. So there we were hiding in tents throwing friends shoes, wellies, cans of beer, left over breakfast bars and my carrots which I saw bouncing around in the distance over people tents.

As I think this wondrous event is about to end, I look up as I see the dense object moving through the sky and realize, oh my god that’s a raw chicken which has learnt to fly without the feathers. And as I scream to my camp mates who then all look up to see the raw chicken, we just couldn’t stop laughing.

To make this even better, later on that day I went with my friend to go see the last of the music and through the thick and oozing mud we see these guys with a piece of string rapped around a raw chicken being dragged through the mud. They were taking the chicken for a walk.

Making It To The Big Screen

Now this was quite possibly the best moment of my life, even though I didn’t realize at the time i’d made it to the big screen which broadcasts to live television on BBC1.

So my friends and I were standing in the crowd listening to the Courteeners and just dancing around when this incredible huge guy next to us turns to me and asks if I wanted to be put on his shoulders. I’d never gone on anyone’s shoulders before because I’ve always been conscious of my weight and the fact i’m above average height for girl. Straight away I said “no no don’t worry i’ll be too heavy for that” but this guy insisted that he gets me on his shoulders and still saying no throughout all of this he goes behind me puts his head in between my legs (don’t take that out of context you dirty minded people) and lifts me into the air. By this point my eyes are bulging out of my head in shock and excitement. Possibly the most exhilarating experience I’ve had at a festival. This video clip was filmed from someones TV and the rather drunk girl waving her arms aimlessly in the air, that’s me.

 

Tent Olympics

Honestly I found this more riveting than the actual Olympics. This is where a bunch of very drunk people will run at tents as fast as they can and commonly you’re meant to jump over them and make it without falling but most seem to either fall flat on their face before reaching the tent, run straight into the tent without even trying to jump or jump but still land on top of the tent. This happened at Y Not last summer and wow was it entertaining. Unfortunately the guards came and shooed the mad people away who then just proceeded to another camping area and carried on.

 

Now I have so many more stories from festivals that i’d love to share and writing about these just make me realize how much I cant wait to get back to the festival life.