Equinox Festival 2024 - The Review

It's the end of the festival season, and the weather is becoming slightly colder and damper. However, at Equinox Festival in the Lincolnshire Wolds, revellers gather to welcome the changing season in style. This year's festival is a week later than last year and falls on the Autumn Equinox but remains at its usual site of Chalk Farm. If you look on google maps, a satellite view will show you the word 'Equinox' etched into the chalk next to the chalk amphitheatre, which looks lovely at night with the lights and shrubbery.

 

I arrive on Friday midday to get straight in and am guided by the friendly stewards to my camp within the live in vehicles. I quickly set up and go find some friends in the campsite who took advantage of the early Thursday entry ticket. As I speak to performing regulars, they have noticed that this Thursday has been busier this year. I do spend a lot of time in the campsite this year, a spot of food poisoning the day before has slowed my progress. Every past trip to Equinox I have ended up in the medical tent; one time I sprained my ankle ligaments in a dip so bad the damage led to a broken ankle the following year, and last year I drank a wasp from my cider can (along with my neighbour). Thankfully for myself and the medics this year I escape unscathed.

There's nothing like a cool boxed cider from the bar, and at £5 a pint or spirit and mixer, £4 a can, and £2 for water and soft drinks. there is no reason for drinkers not to take advantage of pub prices. The food is averagely priced for a festival, £10 for a pizza, £9 for loaded fries. Along with crepes, jerk chicken and toasties the food is a standard festival affair but very tasty.

 

The amenities are substantial, I rarely queue for the compost loos, which are kept relatively clean. A few more lights around those areas may help with the cleanliness at night, but they are usually stocked, and the cleaning warriors are always smiling. There are rubbish areas here, but the festival is very clean. It makes me think that most of the attendees live this life outside of the season and know how to respect the land, which rubs on off others. I barely see any litter at all.

 

Walking into the arena, with my own (non-glass) drink it's nice to see the layout is the same as past years. The car park to campsite distance is around 300 metres, and the arena sits adjacent to the campsite. It is very easy to get around, well, apart from the amphitheatre area, which thankfully has a longer more accessible path. I walked up from the lower section, and it was extremely steep, and my ankle still throbs thinking about it. Talk about feeling old! This section houses the dance areas, with psytrance alongside the chalk features of the land, and another dance tent along the pathway. Nestled between these two stages is the constantly burning communal firepit, where I spend many a moment chatting to festival goers. Walking back around the chalk path or straight up the hill (not jealous of these mountain goats at all) you reach the arena entrance and the SoundScape stage, an undercover solar powered area. Acts playing this weekend in here include Skiprat, Abdoujaparov, The Unstoppable Sweeties Show, Tarantism, Girobabies, Fidget and the Twitchers, Activistas, Suburban Toys, Lyford, Duck Thieves, Legs on Wheels, Kangaroo Moon, Featherteeth, Satsangi, Dancing Wuli Masters and Lara Fairy Love.

The main outdoor Crispy Disco stage has its own corner of the festival on the top of the site near the stalls. Acts this weekend include Dreadzone (sadly without MC Spee), Eat Static, Guadi, Mental Block, Picasso Blot, Break the Code, Don Letts, General Levy, The Majestic, Dub Catalyst, Omega Nebula, and Mungos HiFi featuring Solo Banton.

The dance and psytrance Lunar and Sunrise tents play host to a lot of music including DJ Hype, Nicky Blackmarket, Miki... there are well over 100 artists playing the three days, it really is value for money at nearly £145 for super early bird tickets, raising to £187 for three days and £224 for next years full price tickets. There is also a payment plan over 10 months which from now is only around £20 a month. There's no excuse really!

 

 

Next to the Soundscape stage there is a fenced off kids area, where kids and adults alike can play with circus apparatus (I mean juggling balls and hula hoops). A group of carboard and silver tubed robots hang out in this area as well as roaming the site. Other walkabouts I meet are a puppet enthralling some young children and a couple of inflatable dinosaurs and some cave people having a lovely time. Mixed between the food stalls are clothes stalls selling some really cool stuff like clothes and jewellery. My friends and I all get friendship bracelets. Around the corner is an indoor oasis with cushions, comfy seats and a real coffee house chill out vibe. This sits next to the healing tent where friendly staff can offer advice and friendly chat. Alongside this are fire shows, crafts workshops, detailed crochet pieces, amazing artwork and plenty of colour. And bubbles, a lot of bubbles.

The Big Dub bar tent has a large stage and is a good central point to meet. Thankfully the weather stays dry so there is no need to all squeeze in here. The Friday is grey, the Saturday is lovely and sunny and the Sunday we wake up early to mist and fog, so something for everyone! The site can be quite sheltered within the arena due to the chalk built up areas, like the steep viewing area opposite the main outdoor Crispy Disco stage. In the campsite however it can be very windy and open at times. My friend's windbreaks were a great idea amongst the openness of the tents, but the gazebo sadly did not make it. The wind threatened to take it down several times, but in the end my drunk compadre took it out with one fall. Mr Wompy, a yellow ice cream van converted to a DJ booth, was always pumping out amazing tunes through the day, to campers and those queuing for the £3 showers. I actually think selling ice creams from this vehicle too would have been an idea, nothing like a dessert and a dance!