Music Festivals

While I bide my time waiting for the end of the year I thought I'd make a special mention about Music Festivals. If you were to force me to tell you the one thing that I most enjoyed about living in Ireland and the UK I would unreservedly say that it was the music festivals. Having never sampled the delights of our most famous local offering, namely Splashy Fenn, I was overwhelmed when I went to my first festival over here. The enourmity and level of organisation that goes into these festivals is something you have to see with your own eyes.

My first festival was Reading 2002. I joined Mike Long (Tonto) and Kurt Lindley for the 4 day slog. I say slog because at times you really do feel like you've been 5 rounds in the Octagon with Chuck Lidell and often you have to dig deep to ensure your escape out the other side of these festivals. It's an all out assault on the human body from start to finish with warm beers making an appearance from as early as 8 in the morning....every morning.

You are a changed person when you come out the other side of a festival and nothing can really prepare you for what you are in for. Having said that, once the bug has bitten you'll find yourself wanting more and more and as soon as the weather starts changing and nature gives you the first signals of warmer weather on the way, all you can think about is that fact that Summer is coming ....and that means festivals are not too far around the corner. Time to get the credit card out and start booking furiously.

The festivals I've been to are as follows:

Reading 2002 (UK) http://www.readingfestival.com/displayPage_reading.asp?PageID=445
Witness 2003 (Ireland) - Now the Oxegen Festival
Reading 2003 (UK)
Oxegen 2004 Ireland) - Formerly Witness http://www.oxegen.ie/home/
Glastonbury 2005 (UK) http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/
Isle of Wight 2006 http://www.isleofwightfestival.com/home.asp
Oxegen 2006 (Ireland)

A Quick Synopsis

Reading for me is the hardest festival out of the above. The camping area is pretty standard, no lush grassy patches to set up your tent, miles and miles to walk to the main arena and the festival goers come from all walks of life. People are there to see the music and not neccessarily for a weekend away in comfort. I've witnessed Slipknot giving it horns at Reading and when you've got a band like them at a festival you're likely to encounter some crazy followers.

Witness / Oxegen is a much more chilled festival. There is a slightly younger crowd here but it doesn't seem to take any credibility away from the festival. The fact that I'm pushing 30 probably makes me think it's a younger crowd when in fact it really isn't. Recently Oxegen has put itself on the map by drawing all the big names and has broken through and lost it's reputation as a smaller Irish festival that couldn't contend with the likes of what is on offer in the UK.

Glastonbury I found to be the most enjoyabe festival of the lot. The sheer size of it makes you appreciate how great it is. The festival kicked off in 1970 the day after Jimi Hendrix died with a gathering of 1,500 people. I went to Glastonbury in 2005 and there were 153,000 of us. There is something for everyone at this festival and it's full name is 'Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts'.

Isle of Wight is also an awesome festival and it gives something that none of the others do. The festival comprises of only 1 stage whereas the others can have up to as many as 8. This means that you are always with the group of mates you have gone with and never split up, unless of course someone has either passed out or got lucky.