大象传媒

It's true, I had never been to a music festival of this kind ever in my life! I was understandably apprehensive having heard tales of people being pushed over in portable toilets or returning to their tent to find it had been de-pitched and nowhere to be seen.

I needn't have worried though as the organisers of Solfest adopt a no tolerance attitude to such behaviour which resulted in a calm and safe weekend of music, workshops and relaxation for all making it a perfect festival for families.

The venue

This year was the fourth Solfest festival held in the beautiful countryside at the Tarns near Silloth. I arrived early on the Friday morning in time to see everything coming together.

Decorative features at Solfest

The field was filled with wacky, thought provoking features such as seven brightly coloured teepees symbolising the Daughters of Eve and wooden sculptures spelling out words such as 'Why?' and 'Trees are oxygen.'

Solfest is very keen on keeping green and lots of effort was made to make sure most of the waste from the festival was recycled, people were giving talks promoting permaculture and there were even tree-planting sessions taking place throughout the weekend.

Camping

There were three camp sites at this year's Solfest - A noisy field, a family field and the quiet field.

Camping at Solfest

Personally I think the idea of a quiet field was perhaps a little optimistic. I was camping in the family field and on the first night only managed a restless two-hour sleep with music playing past five in the morning.

For all night ravers this wouldn't be a problem however for families with young children and people who need a good night's sleep I felt this was perhaps a little late and could have been solved had organisers positioned the dance tent further away from the campsite.

Facilities for the campsite this year were better than ever with more toilets and showers available for use than ever before. Every effort was made by organisers to keep these as sanitary as possible however a trip to the loo in the middle of the night was not advisable, it was best to wait until morning and stalk the cleaning vehicles on their way round the site.

The main stage

There was something for everyone at the weekend with a number of stages hosting a variety of different acts.

The main stage at the far end of the 64 acre site staged the weekend's headlining acts such as Chumbawamba, Easy Star Allstars, Badly Drawn Boy, The Undertones and the Levellers.

The first night saw a few technical problems with the microphones whilst the Easy Star Allstars were performing however this was only a slight hitch and the festival soon got moving again and everything was sorted in time for the Ozric Tentacles performance at twenty minutes past midnight.

The crowd watching Chumbawamba perform

Most of the well-known acts at the festival were performing on the main stage on the Saturday night including Chumbawamba who had the fancy dress clad audience singing harmonies along to their often satirical reworks of traditional folk songs.

They were the only act I saw all weekend that played an encore as the festival ran to a strict time schedule, however they didn't play their most well-known tune Tubthumping which was a little bit of a disappointment to younger fans.

The act that everyone seemed to rave about on Saturday night were The Undertones, who first emerged in the new wave boom in 1977. Reformed in 1999 with new front man Paul Mcloone and playing at this years Solfest they had the audience reliving their younger years and singing their hearts out to the ever fantastic punk anthem Teenage Kicks.

Emily Smith performing at Solfest

One of my favourite performers on the main stage was Emily Smith who hails from Dumfries and Galloway. I had previously never heard of her but found her interpretations of traditional Scottish songs very original and easy listening and both herself and the band's fiddler Jamie McClennan were very talented composers each having written many impressive tracks for the band.

Other performance spaces

In total there were over 150 performances taking place at Solfest 2007 and though impossible to get around them all there was certainly something for everyone.

The indoor Bar Stage venue hosted mainly rock performers with a slightly darker and more gothic feel and my favourite venue, The Dry Stone Stage, was home to jazz, folk and choral performances and was a much more family friendly, relaxed area of the festival.

Jonathan Draper singing Georgia

My favourite performer of the weekend was Jonathan Draper. Singing jazz songs such as Georgia On My Mind and classic Gershwin tracks such as I've Got A Crush On You the audience sat captivated by his alluring smooth vocals.

Other performance spaces included the Dance Tent which had raves starting at midday and the Chill Out area which was an area of random performances with a selection of听 DJ's, live acts, films and visual performances.

Workshops and Traders Fair

To fill in the gaps during the day there was a variety of workshops taking place and a fantastic traders fair with stalls selling beautiful, affordable goods.

Fun and games in the Storytree tent

Workshops included making and learning to play the digeridoo, hula hooping, rag rug making, learning to play the djembe drum, costume making and circus skills and there was even a games emporium run entirely on renewable energy.

The workshops provided more than enough to keep children occupied over the weekend, a favourite being the Storytree workshops which encourage people to use their imagination and celebrate their creative talents.听

Any more for any more?

As if all the above wasn't enough for you and in fact if all the above was too much for you then the festival also boasted a healing zone offering taster sessions with many healers and therapists including Reiki, Shiatsu and Indian Head Massage.

I certainly felt in the need for some TLC by Sunday morning and so booked myself in for a taster session of Bi-aura Therapy with practitioner Jayne Thorpe.

I'll admit I was rather sceptical before my session however there was no mistaking the tingling in my fingers and toes as Jayne worked her magic. At one point I felt as though my body was floating it felt that light.

Afterwards Jayne talked me through the energy levels she had sensed during the process telling me the colours of my aura and what all of this indicated.

Jayne was spot on with her diagnosis of my feelings and I am amazed at how she managed to sense it all without even touching me. Lets just say I'm converted!

Is it a winner?

Solfest is definitely a winner, proving to be a fantastic weekend for all packed with fun and a vast variety of performances all conducted in as safe and environmentally friendly way as possible.

Organisers certainly got it right this year by hosting the festival on the bank holiday weekend, I think everyone needed the Monday to sleep and recoup their energy for returning to work the next day.

Growing by the year Solfest is sure to be even bigger and better next year so make sure you're there.