Sunrise: Another World offers Edventures in the Sun

Hurrah! We awaken to another beautiful morning that promises more sun and we all search our rucksacks for the coolest clothes we have. One of our ladies sets off in search of the Spa where we have seen promises of showers but it remains elusive for now and she returns disappointed.

The boys in our group head down to The Shire early to build their own Rocket Stove; a fully-functional cooker made out of welded tin cans of differing sizes. Needless to say they are massively proud of their creations, and we have the added bonus that we can use it for future camping trips. The girls are having a slow day and decide to start by spending some birthday money at the stalls in La Plaza and pass a lovely couple of hours mooching. It's the Forage stall that really appeals to us and are there for ages trying on clothes until the children start to get fractious and we decide that refreshments are needed. We settle down near the area designed by The London Orchard in The Shire and spend some time munching until we spot The Edventure crew. Edventure is a local apprenticeship organisation who came to Sunrise to organise traditional games with a humorous twist such as Human Bowling, Paint Bulldog, tug-o-war, and an assault course. It's not just the children who love it, grown-ups are pulled in too to take part and the activities take up the best part of the afternoon while we listen to a succession of acts playing in the Spit and Sawdust pub such as the beautiful Sashi & The Wild Beans, and Will Varley.

A quick trip to the van is in order to get some warm clothes and on the way we stumble in to the procession going through The Global Village accompanied by the Morris dancers, the belly dancers, and the drummers as well as the children and toddlers and anyone else who fancies joining in. We are inspired to take some time and wander round the Cultural Crossroads area run by The Tribe of Doris summer school and we find at last the Pacha Mamas tent which came highly recommended to us by some friends who had spent much of the previous night there drinking tea, eating cake, and listening to lovely music.

A bit further on, we spot something that resembles The Teacups ride at some theme parks. We decide to find out what the large wooden tubs are and find it's the spa provided by Bathing under the Sky. An excellent offer we think – a shower, sauna, hot tub, towels, hairdryer, and mirrors AND a glass of sparkle for a very reasonable price. All but two of the tubs are full and this seems like a lovely way to end a day and start an evening.

We know we are heading back to La Paz for the evening's entertainment but before we head there, we stop by the Sunrise Inn and discover The Smokestack Shakers who ska sounds are drawing a good crowd. We put our plans on hold for a while to join in dancing to covers such 'You're Wondering Now', and 'Take It Easy'. I reckon I normally find at least one band per festival who I take home with me as a "must listen to again", and I really enjoy their set.

Before the evening festivities begin in earnest at the main stage, we decide to try something a little bit different and join up with the Whispering Wood Folk's performance in Storyland; a traditional folk tale told whilst moving through the trees complemented by aerial acrobatics and music. I have sat through many early evening story sessions at festivals with the children and this is something truly special.

The boys had headed back to La Plaza in good time for the start of The Neville Staple Band and are having a great time with 'Ghost Town', 'Monkey Man', 'Message to you Rudy', and another version of 'You're Wondering Now'.

On our way to join the boys watching Mr Staples, we stop off at Donut Dollies for the obligatory evening fare of chocolate-covered doughnuts and find ourselves watching a fire show performed by a brave chap wearing small gold pants who wows us by cycling through a hoop of fire and rotating in a fiery gyroscope. We catch up with the boys in time for the Dub Pistols who don't disappoint in any way. We saw them last summer and were disappointed by the lack of 'Mucky Weekend'. This time however, they play it much to our delight (and this is another festival highlight for me), as well as a cover of The Specials' track 'Gangsters', 'Dubtown' (to the tune of Ghost Town), 'Gunshot'. They play with special guests Rodney P and MC Sir Real. By the end of the set, everyone is going bananas!

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