So, this is added after attending Latitude this year - what an fantastic weekend, did so very much in such a short space of time.
On Wednesday we finished work and got John and Pauline, packed the van - very full - and then set off for Southwold by about 5.00pm. Traffic wasn't too bad and we were making good progress and even stopped for a Maccy D's!
Arrived at the grounds around 9.15pm and it was busy then but we had a good spot, spread ourselves out and unpacked and got sorted, all good. Then had a few beers and off to bed.
Next day wasn't the best weather but I did a fry up and then the skies opened, it wasn't torrential but just persistent rain. We still went to Southwold as planned but had to do it by taxi because the bus service wasn't running. Walked around for a bit and I got two t-shirts from the Vantastic shop which was good and then we had a couple of beers in the Nelson, John almost got us on a brewery tour but there wasn't time so we set off for the Harbour Inn as recommended by mum.
Got there, bit of a long walk and a couple of wee-stops and had more drinks and some food. Traffic wasn't good but managed to sort another taxi that was a lot more money and when we got close it was clear the traffic wasn't moving and why he was reluctant to get us. No problem, we jumped out and walked half a mile to the entrance past all the frustrated drivers in the queue - it just wasn't moving! Found out later that it was taking 4-6 hours to get in because of the rain and mud concerns - terrible.
Just made our decision to miss the traffic and get in on Wednesday all the more sensible!
The field was filling up and we went for a walk to the main gates for the festival and walked around - exactly the same set up as last year to be fair. Watched a bit of music and a bit of comedy, nothing major though as it all starts tomorrow. Had a few more drinks and then back for the evening.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were just a whirlwind of music, drink and food. We were quite sensible with the drink, especially Saturday evening because that was the "big one"
But Friday was great - Scouting for Girls, "Stop Making Sense", Basement Jaxx, Feeder and Sting and then Club de Fromage. Really enjoyed it and I got to see what I wanted to see - got to the front for Stop Making Sense and Feeder so I was happy with that. Saturday in afternoon we saw Example, Clean Bandit, Kaiser Chiefs and then FatBoySlim - he did a 2 hour slot and it was relentless - absolutely brilliant - I was shattered. Very busy and got a bit heated sometimes because of getting pissed off with people pushing past you - but just had to block them out!
After all that time stood up on Saturday we were exhausted and just wanted to go back to bed, I found it had to walk if I am honest, I'd overdone it dancing and bouncing!!
Sunday was more subdued with the music but not the alcohol, we went for it bigtime and all got quite drunk! Alison Moyet was good and so were snow Patrol and it was good wandering around the woods to see what was on. There was also the Women's Euro Cup final - England v Spain and they had a big screen with it on and thousands were on the hillside watching - great spectacle that was and then they went and won it on penalties which was the icing on the cake!
Monday morning we were all hanging a bit, got sorted and took everything down and I drove us home - Maccy D's on the way back - Tash throwing up of course!
Got home and sorted - washing on and unpacked etc etc
A really brilliant weekend and I think we plan to do it again next year, we really should do because it's the 20th Anniversary so hopefully they'll pull out all the stops and get the big guns in but then, they will find it hard to beat Fat Boy Slim, he really was excellent and it was nice hearing people buzzing about it and not realising what he was like because it was the first time they'd seen him - shows how lucky we are for the times that we've seen him.
Buzzing still!
