Rhythm Festival appeals to young and old alike

The Rhythm Festival 2010 was sold as "The Music Festival for People who Expect a Little Bit More." And it truly delivered. Now in its fifth year, the Rhythm Festival boasts 3 music stages, The Main Stage, Alternative Stage and the Marquee Club Stage, along with a Comedy Hut - The Tin Hat, and a real ale and cider bar called The Nags Head. With legends such as 10cc, and The Damned, together with numerous great new bands to discover, this festival has something for everyone to enjoy in its laid back atmosphere.

It is a family friendly festival, with a Circus Skills School and organized sports, as well as Workshops and puppetry to keep the youngsters entertained. There was also a Solar Powered cinema, showing a variety of movies from The Simpsons to the great classic The Italian Job, much to the delight of children and adults alike!

Set in a beautiful wooded area the festival is hosted on an old WW2 airfield, which is most famous for Glen Miller taking off from on his final flight. There are some fascinating museums on site, which were open (for free) during the Festival and well worth a look around. They gave a good insight into life during WW2 on the airfield.

It also had some of the best festival facilities I have experienced, with proper, flushing toilets that were regularly cleaned, and hot water showers. There was also a choice of 2 campsites, both on flat ground and with views of the Bedfordshire countryside. The Vegas site, is closer to the Main Arena and tends to naturally be quite noisy and livelier and the Buena Vista site which was a lot quieter, and is ideal for families with young children or those that need a good 8 hours or more kip at night. Both campsites were very clean and had access to toilets, showers, chemical disposal points and water. There was also a camp shop selling everyday essentials; even daily newspapers were on sale!

Food and beer are as important to music festivals as the bands and at The Rhythm Festival all food and drink was of an excellent quality at reasonable prices. It could possibly have done with an additional bar because you quite often had to queue and when the Hogs Head ran out of supplies on Sunday afternoon it was a long trek between the two remaining bars. There was a vast array of culinary delights from Thai Curries, Bangers & Mash through to Calzone Pizzas and of course Burgers all conveniently located in a spacious grassed area close to the main arena, the ice cream on sale was particularly delicious!

There were plenty of stalls selling festival goodies dotted around the arena, and the official Merchandise stand where you could buy your festival t-shirts and posters. Unfortunately there were no programmes, which made it a little difficult to know when acts were on, but running order lists were posted up around the site.

The festival was very safe as there were plenty of amiable security guards, stationed throughout the grounds. There was also a 24-hour ambulance service on site.

The Real Ale and Cider Bar proved to be a big hit with the adults, with DJ Wheelie Bag providing a wide variation of music and games, throughout the day and well into the night. The comedy tent which was also very popular, with a great mix of comedians on, including Peter Smith, Mary Bourke, and Kent Valentine and they tickled many people's funny bones! There were different comedians every day, so you were never going to hear the same act twice! The only minor criticism would be that it would help parents if some of the comedians could have been billed as over 18 only!

I was introduced to many new artists during the festival, and one of my favourites was Dala; two Canadian girls who were playing their first gig in the UK. Their sweet voices matched together really well and they had some great songs. They seemed to really enjoy the festival, which was lucky, because they played everyday! Another band I was introduced to was Chantel McGregor, with her awesome guitar playing and brilliant singing voice she proved to be very popular with the audience.

Other popular bands included The Damned, who had everyone on their feet singing along and Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, who interacted with the crowd really well. Billy Bragg was another hit with the crowd, drawing laughs and getting them to sing along. The Wailers were another brilliant band. And when the heavens opened on us everyone still enjoyed listening to the sounds of The Men They Couldn't Hang. But, unfortunately Saturday's headline act, Donovan, seemed to be a disappointment to some of the crowd.

And finally on the last day of the festival the weather picked up and was lovely and sunny, which lifted the mood even higher and made the last day totally relaxed, with everyone enjoying listening a great mix of sounds from Arlo Guthrie reminiscing about Woodstock '69 to the incredible wizardry of Wilko Johnson's guitar. And to finish off a weekend of great entertainment, 10cc were the final band with a massive back catalogue of hits that everyone would recognise. They drew the biggest crowd of the whole festival, and were enjoyed by all of its listeners, young and old.

The last act in the main arena didn't mean the entertainment was finished for the night - in The Hangar, DJ Dave Edwards would put on some great music to listen to so you could party on well into the night- and the early hours of the morning.

Overall, it was a great weekend, enjoyed by all who were there. Everyone, artists and public alike, enjoyed the relaxed, and friendly atmosphere. At the Rhythm Festival there is something for everyone, no matter how old or young you are and whether you want to rediscover old bands, or find some new ones!

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