Sunday

Norman Jay (MBE, dontchaknow!) brought his Notting Hill Good Times vibes to this hot Big Chill Sunday. A legend at the festival for the fact that his soulful house and smooth funk always seem to bring the sunshine out, his 2005 set was no exception. The field was packed with dancers and a friend commented that, coming down the hill from the campsites, it appeared that all the other stages were empty as absolutely everyone at The Big Chill packed into the Open Air Stage area to dance to his tunes. A carnival atmosphere seemed to take over as people of all ages danced together in the bright sunshine, and I felt pleased just to be a part of it.

The soulful vibe continued later into the afternoon at the Open Air Stage as Alice Russell and TM Juke took to the stage. The Brighton retro soulsters have worked together on tracks for both their Tru Thoughts solo projects, so a joint performance seemed the natural live solution. Their set was tight and funky, showcasing tracks from Alice Russell’s debut solo album, Under The Munka Moon, as well as those from the duo’s forthcoming album, My Favourite Letters, out later this year. Massive Attacker, Daddy G brought his mix of heavy dub, jungle and dancehall to the Open Air Stage next and the crowd danced on into the afternoon sun.

Our next stop was the Chill Stage for a festival act with a cult following, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. The seven-piece string band played a smile-inducing barrage of ukulele standards and pop classics, including Should I Stay Or Should I Go, Smells Like Teen Spirit and even an amazing 7-part harmony version of I Will Survive that incorporated elements from so many other classic ballads that I can’t even begin to remember them all. The set was a storming success and the band were summoned back by a rapturous reception from the early evening audience for two encores.

UK Ska heroes, The Beat were also on the Chill Stage on Sunday night, playing 2-Tone hits like Mirror in the Bathroom and Tears of a Clown, as well as a brilliant Ska cover of The Clash’s Rock the Kasbah. New track How Do You Do was another highlight of this set, written by new vocalist Ranking Junior, son of original and current The Beat vocalist Ranking Roger. After this we wandered over to dance to Gilles Peterson’s worldwide DJ sounds at the Open Air Stage, before Nitin Sawhney’s chilled out Asian-infused beats closed our very first Big Chill.

The Big Chill has an atmosphere that is very much its own, perhaps inspired by the diverse age range of the attendees and the festival’s wonderful natural surroundings. The Leave No Trace litter policy with its free No Butts mobile ashtrays (simple camera film cases – genius idea!) probably owes much of its success to the beautiful site, as certainly my friends and I were more motivated in ensuring we fully cleared up after ourselves than usual. My only small gripe would be the toilets, which were distinctly under-numerous resulting in many people taking a squat outdoors. If the festival wants to avoid the kind of pollution problems that Glastonbury has had to deal with in the last few years, they might be well advised to order in a few more portaloos for 2006. However, there were more working water taps available than I have ever seen at a festival before, the site was gorgeous, the music was great, the people were smiling and the sun shone: in short, a great festival weekend.

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