Festival – Bearded Theory (May 24)
Well it’s that time of year again, so we headed off to one of our favourite places. Bearded Theory Festival in South Derbyshire.
We first came here two years ago and bumped into a bunch of beautiful people who are all connected in one way shape or form to the Sheffield club and dance scene. Luckily they’ve also picked up a few stragglers like us over the years – we feel so chuffed to be a part of it.
This year over twenty of this group made their way to the same corner of the field joining about 10,000 other folk for what looked like it was going to become a bit of a mud-fest, but it turned out to be a lot better than we all feared. It was also warmer, and the sun even made an appearance.
For us it was a 6am alarm clock call on Thursday morning, followed by a breakfast on-the-go, then a battle around the M25, before heading northwards up the M40 towards Catton Hall on the southern edge of the Peak District, between Birmingham and Derby.
When we eventually arrived around midday, the place was sodden and a sea of mud quickly formed on the footpaths leading into and across the site. The day before, the Peaks had experienced a yellow rain warning and it had rained all day… The River Trent, which runs directly adjacent to the site, was in full flow and looking worryingly high! Indeed the organisers had put up an announcement on-line suggesting that festival goers delay their journey until Friday in order to give them time to better prepare… hmmmm we didn’t receive that message!
As we arrived they had just closed the main car park on account of everyone needing to be towed “in”… so it ended up being a longer walk than usual from the car, as we were directed to a field about twice the distance away. But hey ho, at least the festival was going to go ahead!
Stupidly, some might say, we packed the log burner and all the trimmings for our bell tent, including a full size carpet, double off-the-floor bed, hippy swags and so on… and although it took a few trips back to the car, it meant we were cosy, warm and toasty at night. I was also glad we’d re-waterproofed the bell tent a few weeks ago as it tipped it down overnight on two occasions – the waterproofing held up!
The line up – If I’m honest I didn’t recognise most of the bands or DJ sets that were booked for this weekend, but Emma knew a few, mainly through her brothers deep knowledge of music and everything ’90’s. The pair of them are originally from Manchester and closer to the indie scene than I was back in the day. He’s a genuine Hacienda veteran, even clearly visible in one of the iconic shots of that venue that gets shown on documentaries from time to time.
It’s been great given the freedom I now have, to revisit the festival scene and to explore new experiences with Emma, who luckily for me enjoys the same things.
Of course many of the Sheffield group knew exactly who was on stage this weekend, along with their backgrounds and history! So we ended up listening carefully to what they had to say, taking their advice, or simply wandering and follow our ears.
The music here isn’t as quite off-the-beaten-track as Green Man, perhaps a cross between Larmer Tree, Beautiful Days and a mini Bestival (when it was on Isle of Wight).
There are also two huge areas set aside for all things dance, a large indoor tent, CODA and “Big Ed” which is outside. It was here that Greg Zogg performed a set on Friday at 8pm.
What’s lovely about the Sheffield contingent is the diversity of music preferences that they all have, which meant that on every stage and at every performance we were likely to bump into someone we knew.
So all in all, a blinder of a weekend, spent with some awesome people who are simply refusing to grow old.
