Beautiful Days 2008
Friday 15th to Sunday 17th August 2008Escot Park, near Fairmile, Devon, EX11 1LU, England MAP
£90 for the weekend - SOLD OUT (car parking tickets still available)
Saturday must have been hard even for our children they didn't wake up until 8.45 on Sunday which is pretty unheard of for them at a festival. However, when we make it out of the tent to put the kettle on, it is amazing to see how many tents have already been packed away and there are more still in the process of coming down.
Still, Flogging Molly soon dispenses with any melancholy, bringing on the hoolie in advance of the headliners Levellers with a lack of grande finale. There are no fireworks, but again, somehow they have managed to hold back the rain, and that is cause enough for celebration.
Walking back to the tent we meet lots more lovely people. There really is a wonderful quality of 'random' at Beautiful Days. Pretty much everyone had a smile and time for a chat about something and it that that makes this festival special. Again, kids safely installed in the tent, we sit outside and chew the fat over what a great day it has been.
Eventually we are packed and ready to go so I talk nicely to my wife and she agrees to drive while I push. Walking through the car park to try and see the best way out of the mess we're in it becomes obvious that not many cars are getting out unassisted and many stuck ones are blocking other cars. I join a posse of people pushing stuck cars and return to our own - covered in mud but with a helping hand or six. We are aided half way across the slimy mud filled car park and then we're off and away. As the assistance stops, the car continues and I thank them all for help and make off after the car.
We make it off site without too much hassle, muddy but otherwise OK. The car park has reaffirmed my faith in humanity but surely a couple of the tracks that help the loo lorries through the sites would be useful here?
Regardless, we've got soaked, muddy and at times a little cold but those lows are nothing compared to the Highs of Beautiful Days. We'll be back again next year our kids wouldn't let us miss it!
review by: James Tayler
photos by: Karen Williams / Andy Pitt / Zelah Williams
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