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Bloomin’ Heck! What a Ball! I couldn’t wait for the fourth Beautiful Days hoping it would at least live up to the previous three, which from its superlative start has been bettered each year.

I really should put more faith in the organisers, Exeter-based promoter Dave Farrow and friends who really have nurtured the growth of Beautiful Days carefully and are clearly realising their vision to put Devon at the top of the festival tree.

This year’s festival was better and grander than ever! Not only that seemed like everything I moaned about last year was fixed too. The rains of 2004 returned but our spirits weren’t dampened and I only wore a plastic emergency poncho briefly for about an hour all weekend as there was plenty of places, stages and tents to hide out of the rain and at some points lightning and thunder, making those in the crowd who went to last year’s Glastonbury skittish but it drained away leaving hardly enough mud to make hand prints out of.

At first glance the bill looked lightweight compared to previous heavy punchers in earlier years. But there were some great performances, which I really enjoyed over the weekend and the weather and the billing conspired to send people further a field and discover new things.

Whether it was the workshops of the kids’ area, entertaining performers. Escot Education, the ‘Pussy Parlure’ Spiegel Tent, the tipis of The Bimble Inn or of course the two covered stages of the two Big Tops or the Otter Brewery fuelled Beer tents, festival goers found new experiences in the cover from the rain.

The Pussy Parlure and The Bimble Inn were new additions to the festival as were additional traders and caterers but still not a corporation or mega franchise or advertising in sight. The great choice of festival shopping and wide selection of very sensibly priced food and some colourful characters to sell it to you had also been expanded.

The size of the whole site had grown with the car park now on the flat cornfield at the top of the hill opposite the site the family field running down the steep side of the slope and the campervan field on the more level flanks.

The number of tents seemed much more and the distance to the usual camp spot seemed much further, so thank goodness for Trikes4transport and their cycling taxis, it took just a few minutes to find one and for a very reasonable price everything from the car was transported to the campsite in one trip, more time to put the tent up, relax in the sun and enjoy a beer at a hugely grin inducing price of £2.20 for their very own Beautiful Days. Yummy!

I’d been concerned that busy crowds would lead to a lack of mobility about the site, shuffling in crowds is no fun and having no space anywhere would ruin the festival, but it never seemed to feel that full of people in the arena, numbers being comfortable and everyone happy. I met so many new people I’d not met before, random encounters, a chance comment, a grin or something amusing to watch would break into conversations that could last hours.

Then you’d meet them again the next day as the numbers are small enough to be able to do that, no need to phone my mates, old skool ‘festival meeting’ style returned where I’d just bump into them sometime later. The best thing about more people being there was that more dancing in front of the stages, more crowds to clap with, more to laugh with, drink with and mix with.

I’d possibly be worried if it continues its expansion too much more, but it was an effortless leap in these first four years really and with all the sight art, the performers, the bands, the children and the fun it retains the true spirit of festivals. The only downside the campsite toilets took a hammering from the extra numbers, as there didn’t seem to be any more than last year.

The small festivals really seem to be getting themselves organised into tremendous weekends of fun. I’ve not even mentioned the bands, purely because Beautiful Days offers so much more and this year they added the spicing on the top with the Masked Ball! The Ball was an occasion to remember with the audience masked in designs from the simple to the resplendent, the band members joined in, huge glitter balls hung from the stage, an amazing night and a brilliant festival idea.

It really made the weekend for me personally walking through a bizarre crowd of people. Seemed everyone was getting involved, from adapting wine boxes, leaves or caution tape to make a mask, to whole costumes which counter-pointed the robots, rabbits, scuba divers, mermaids, bears, bathing gents, camel riders, chefs and chickens, landing officers, queens, fairies, angels, giants, demons who were wandering around the festival all weekend!

I’ve been lucky to go to so many good small festivals this year and Beautiful Days has been the friendliest and once again at the top of the festival list for 2007. Thanks to Mr Farrow, The Levellers and everyone else involved in making it so wonderful and who make it better every year.

Another fabulous weekend in a field and let’s not forget the fantastic music. I said earlier before I went I thought the line up was weaker than previous years. Well that’d be because the organisers had found some lesser-known gems. See day write-ups for band reviews [(here).] In fact personally Beautiful Days was about so much more than the bands, they merely complemented the whole experience.

The whole family can’t wait to go to the fifth birthday one next year; I really wish I was still at the festival, a magnificent weekend Ball with an unsurpassable atmosphere. Beautiful site, Beautiful people, Beautiful Days!

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