No. 6 in what I love about England: festivals! They really know how to live with contrast, and the summer is therefore a constant party. Every weekend another fayre, another set of carnival rides, another music festival dot the green spaces; with literally hundreds of festivals one could festival hop all summer, and some people do.
Besides our local fayres we choose a music festival in Wales to attend because it looked rather groovy, small and child friendly, and had an excellent history in musical taste: The Green Man. Adding another appealing dimension to this festival choice is the creation and burning of the green man himself. Druids blessed the site and built the green man out of wicker, bark, and leafy twigs back in the spring. He stood about 20 feet tall all through the summer, and on the last night of the festival he went up in flames. A heart in his chest was lit first, then fireworks went like crazy, and the bonfire of his body lasted through the next morning. It was spectacular, cyclic, energizing, and really anchored into my being the surge of spring and summer giving way to the release and quiet of fall and winter.
For 5 nights we camped, danced, took naps in the grass, spun poi balls and diabolos, and otherwise had a wonderfully joyful time. The landscape itself was great, really gothic like, and the people were friendly as can be. I think we will repeat this venture :)
1 comment:
I can't think of a better way to spend a summer than with you my dear. The Green Man was fantastic, and I hope we do repeat that adventure!
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