a lovely, laid back weekend at Plymouth's Volkfest

Volksfest isn't just a festival for Volkswagen enthusiasts, it's more of a proper quite small festival catering for festival goers of all ages, and showcasing a lot of local talent alongside a few big name acts. The main disappointed over the weekend was that the amount there for Volkswagen enthusiasts seems to be shrinking every year we go.

The amount on offer for VW owners still includes the stalls selling VW inspired merchandise, but there wasn't as much on sale as previous years, perhaps the weather forecast had put traders off, and the site was practically devoid of autojumble, and the conversion specialists were much reduced year. The 'Show 'n'Shine' was moved out of the arena this year too, and it showcased less vehicles to drool over this year. I suspect this was done to the inclement weather and owners not wanting to get their pristine vehicles muddy.

There was still much more to ogle in the VW Camping fields, which were well set out this year, I hope this layout is back next year, and the camping as a whole had been improved, with better laid out loos, more urinals, taps with pallets under them to stop feet getting wet, and they were regularly cleaned and replenished with bog roll and hand wash.

The weather was expected to be dire, but forecasters hadn't predicted using Plymouth's micro-climate and whilst Saturday had precipitation most of the day, the site wasn't muddy, and quickly dried off, and there were plenty of options to get out of the rain if a shower did happen overhead.

The entertainment again was pretty decent, with four stages of music and entertainment this year. The best (I felt) was split between the large Big Top and the Bar Stage. The festival had to make a few alterations to the programme, switching headlining acts and the days they appeared on, and despite the programme being incorrect there were large chalk boards to let us know what was actually on.

Musical highlights were festival stalwarts The Beat, Zion Train, Mad Dog Mcrea, Peachy Farmer, and Toploader, and three new acts I enjoyed were Hogan, Freshly Squeezed, and Gentleman's Dub Club (worthy of their headlining status).

I thought Saturday's headliner of Ali Campbell was a disappointment, there was no energy about the performance, and it was billed as him from UB40, but their hits were few and far between, instead it was a night of cover songs. There were a host of local acts keeping us entertained during the day as we wandered about the site, and the showing of both the European Cup Final and the Formula One Race in one of the coffee stalls was an unexpected bonus. I liked the stage light rigging in the Big Top which gave the impression that there was another, more usual shaped, festival stage inside the tent.

Drinks, from both bars were reasonably priced, offered a good choice of ales, lots of festival specials, real cider, lagers, proper juices, and the main spirits, with a round of four drinks coming to £12 it felt sensibly priced, and festival goers were also able to drink their own supplies. Whilst the choice of caterers wasn't huge, there was depth of festival favourites on offer, from burgers, to curry, home-cooked dishes, veggie to Mexican and sausages & mash. All the food I tried was tasty, and well priced from £1.50 for snacks to around £6.50 for a main meal, this is a festival which doesn't blow the budget.

During the day the kids are entertained on the many bouncy offerings, or the remote controlled campervan racing track, as well as the wild west themed area complete with Westerners and Indians. The Volksfest tent offers seating, a cake and cup of tea and a chance to catch a poem, or laid back acoustic act, alongside storytelling, cheap sarnies and the like. There's also a useful festival shop added this year selling tobacco, and supplies. During the day the festival arena is quiet there's mainly families and kids about, and the Marquee, Beer Tent Stage and Marquee are fairly quiet, even though the entertainment is pretty good. It always seems with this festival, that it's not until the evening that the festival moves up a gear as more and more turn out to see the headliners or the comedy acts such as Ian Cognito, or perhaps watch the Burlesque show.

The festival does have a lovely tree lined location, despite it being in the middle of three Plympton housing estates, and the verdant green and towering trees make this a lovely spot for a weekend at a festival, the security were low key, the two police officers far too young, and I didn't see a jot of loutish anti-social behaviour, and the site was cleaner than previous years by the end of Sunday.

Once again the organisers, and those who help put it together are to be congratulated for putting on such a lovely, laid back event, the perfect festival to get back into a summer season of festivals. I liked the site improvements, although perhaps the Saloon area felt a little like a 'ghost town' at times. I do hope there's a bit more of a VW flavour again next year, I guess that'll depend upon the weather.

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