Mud, mud, glorious mud..

Nothing quite like it for cooling the blood
So follow me follow, down to the hollow
And there let me wallow in glorious mud
The fair hippopotama he aimed to entice
From her seat on that hilltop above
As she hadn't got a ma to give her advice
Came tiptoeing down to her love
Like thunder the forest re-echoed the sound
Of the song that they sang when they met
His inamorata adjusted her garter
And lifted her voice in duet

(The Hippopotamus Song)

Well, I have got a ma, though no garter, and there was no enticing nor a duet (and those that have heard me sing are saying thank goodness for that!), just lots and lots of mud, mud, glorious mud!

It was of course a music festival, in England, in summer, so of course it rained! And I have to say that it didn't really put that much of a dampner on the festivities either!

We headed off on a cloudy Friday to join a wonderful group of people for the Beautiful Days festival in Escot Park, Devon. We set up camp.. tent to sleep in, tent to chill / cook in and a gazebo for sitting under in either sun or rain - it's one of those huge fancy ones with the able to zip in middle bits that keep the rain out or the zip out the middle bits to sun off! And how fabulous it was when it rained most the time - enabling us to chat in our camper chairs, rather than be stuck miserable in our individual tents!

As it's the Levellers festival they opened the Friday festivities, then it was a weekend of great bands (Xavier Rudd was wicked), comedians, DJs (loved Hybrid and Eat Static), random bits of walking art and the Levellers closing with a great set of the old and the new (must remember to buy their new album!).

It was my first time attending and I must say that I was well impressed at the set-up, the friendliness of everyone, the range of music styles and it seemed that no matter how hard it rained, everyone was smiling! Awesome!

Though I must say, what a great invention wellies are! Rock on wellies!!


http://www.beautifuldays.org/