Happy Glamping

It's taken me approximately 4.5 days to recover from last weekend's revelries at the 80's Rewind Festival. The single most exciting thing I have experienced in my 30's (apart from Motherhood).

Now, being a virgin festival-goer, the very idea of mixing with unwashed people, standing on my feet for days on end, not being able to use my hair straighteners, etc, etc. was completely ridiculous. Until Rewind. My goodness, I am a convert.

What you do is this: secure babysitter for weekend (not easy for most but this was booked MONTHS in advance), buy festival tickets, book yourself a tent with Tangerine Fields, ticking the 'glamping' option, rally your mates to join you, throw a pre-Rewind BBQ (80's fancy dress compulsory) to get into the mood, then count down the weeks till coming face-to-face with your music idols - Rick Astley, in my case.

Then, when the exciting date finally arrives, get yourself to Henley On Thames, drive up and enter the car park (note, no queue) faced by lovely, smiling stewards, walk 30 metres to the entrance, greeted by even lovelier, friendlier security staff. Walk to the Tangerine Fields reception desk, upon which you are handed brand new sleeping bags and escorted to your ENORMOUS tent which is to be your home for the next 3 days. Delight at the comfort of the double inflatable airbeds. When you walk past the hairdryer/hair straightener tent, refrain from shrieking/jumping up and down hysterically so as not to alert other festival-goers to your virgin status.

Jump aboard the Pimms bus, lining your throat and vocal chords with well deserved alcohol (after all, it's been very tough so far?) in preparation for the hard work ahead. Enjoy.

As you can see from the photos, I made it to the very front of the crowd - this did involve running at full pelt, once they'd opened the gates. Like a neon bull in a batwing top. It wasn't until I got to the barrier, clinging on for dear life, trying to control my now rapid breathing, that I turned around and realised that everyone else was still walking at leisure across the field. So I would have looked like a total loon.

The brief encounter with cardio exercise was worth it though - a great time was had at the front of the crowds. The music was awesome, if not deafening and the atmosphere just too good, you could bottle it up and sell it as a cure for depression. I loved every second of my first festival experience and will be repeating it next year (am currently recruiting for Team Rewind 2010). Set in the lovely environs of Henley On Thames, Rewind is really something special. Where else can you wake up on a Sunday morning, after 10 hours of partying along to 80's tunes, to go for a leisurely stroll along the sun-drenched Thames and pop into town for a Starbucks and panini, to rest that weary head.

The ONLY complaint I have is with Comfy Crappers. We all bought into the idea that festival toilets were going to make us gag, so after much internet research, we paid £13 a head to use the facilities of Comfy Crappers. Note that this should be renamed Eco Crappers. I was rather expecting shiny white tiles, thick quilted loo roll and maybe some classical music to soothe my very sore ears. But oh no. Rather a hole above the ground, no flush, a wooden spoon to lock the door and the smell of a farm. But apparently it was for the good of the environment. Comfy my arse (get it?!).

PS. Rick, you were brilliant - I've fallen in love with you all over again.