Hi all! Long time no speak! Sorry I’ve been silent for so long. 2020 has been a weird/horrible/crazy year for absolutely everyone, but I’ll keep things on topic and say that the absence of festivals for a full year has turned my life upside down, and left me rather lacking in inspiration for Where’s My Tent? posts. That’s a poor excuse, considering my pal Dulcie of That Festival Life has managed to use this time to write some excellent blogs. Go and check her out if you haven’t already, she writes excellent guides and how to’s.
First, a new puppy!
The changes in my life all started just before Lockdown 1 was announced, when Glastonbury had just been cancelled, and it was looking grim for Summer 2020. I decided to take the plunge and get a puppy. I’ve been thinking about getting a dog for years but I knew I would need lots of time to train them, particularly because I wanted an office dog, one who would come to work with me. Whispers of a national lockdown were all over Twitter, and it was now-or-never. So say hello to my little bundle of joy, a female Pomeranian, Merida!
The rest of 2020 flew by: training my fluffy baby Meri, still working my day job (luckily we’ve carried on being busy, but of course all working from home since March, almost a full year now!), and trying to make the most of the summer days where we could. When we realised the pandemic wasn’t going to pass in a matter of weeks, and festivals were all dropping like flies, I started looking in to what kind of camping escapades we COULD do, under the new rules, which were changing by the minute.
Anyone who knows me knows I love organising things, particularly fun activities for groups of friends. It’s the reason I actually secretly enjoy organising the convoy down to Glastonbury, ensuring we can all camp together by collecting coach friend’s tents and coordinating arrivals. So I was more than happy to step up to the plate and attempt to ‘save summer’, or at least get some camping fun back into mine and my friend’s lives.
Camping in Hampshire in Betsy the Classic VW Type 2 Campervan
Our first excursion was in mid-July when we took my campervan Betsy to a campsite not far from Winchester for two nights, with a small group of my Southampton friends. I took Meri along, and my new boyfriend Ben (I’m sure I’ll fill you all in about him soon enough!). Meri was only 5 months old at this point but she was a dream in the campervan with us! Didn’t keep us awake at night or anything! This trip was our first out of lockdown and I remember just how great it felt to be outdoors with friends. We had BBQs both evenings, went for walks in the countryside, and just relaxed.
Returning to The Green Escape glamping in the woods
After dipping my toe in with that first trip, I then decided to go all in, and gathered a group to return to the frankly, WONDERFUL Green Escape in early August. They’d added in lots of COVID-safe measures, we were sleeping in huts of 2-4 people all arranged by household, and spent most of our time outdoors in the excellent weather. We were lucky that they had a last minute cancellation because they’re usually booked up a year in advance.
My friends took it upon themselves to make this as fun and festival-like as possible. We each brought something to the weekend, such as a crafts workshop, the offer and ingredients to cook a meal, a game, or cocktails. Ben and I decided we’d do Bottomless Brunch on the Saturday morning, but we also had things like Drag Aerobics courtesy of Eldon (/Sharon), Paul’s Pizza Party (he brought homemade dough and we used the outdoor pizza oven), Luisa’s vegan chocolate cookies, and Patti’s homemade Green Escape ‘wristbands’ for everyone. It was all these little bits of fun that really made the weekend.
We stayed from Friday afternoon to Monday lunchtime, and only left the site for a walk on Sunday and lunch at the Parrot pub nearby. It had been 2 years since we’d last visited The Green Escape and the site had some upgrades since then, the biggest one being the new Zipline that had been installed between the trees! The whole group loved being able to fly through the woods, it was exhilarating! And we could do it without even leaving our home away from home!
Our evenings were spent outside by the fire pit, making s’mores, drinking various cocktails, telling stories… We were there in the height of summer which meant the evenings were so lovely, no jackets required! This was my 4th Green Escape and I think my best! Definitely cannot wait to go back…
Girls glamping in my parents back garden!
I have a great group of girlfriends, we have such fun together, and in 2020, two of the group both became pregnant within a few weeks of each other. This should have been a super exciting time for us, all fawning over them, shopping for baby clothes, etc etc. COVID-19 meant we barely got to see each other in person, because of course the two who were pregnant (Chan & Kita) were particularly vulnerable!
In the summer, I really wanted to find a way for us all to meet up, and I suggested a camping trip as it was outdoors. I was trying to find somewhere that had glamping (real bed!) options for Chan and Kita, and tent space for the other 5 of us. This proved difficult, but determined not to give up, I asked my parents if we could “glamp” in their garden in Hampshire. It was perfect because it had an outside accessible toilet for the two pregnant girls to use exclusively, and lots of space so we could all keep our distance from each other.
My Dad took this on as his little project – he’s retired, he likes these things! – and we ended up with the perfect set up. The campervan was parked at the bottom of the garden, with an awning, gazebo, fire pit, electricity point, and even two fridges for food! Each person bought their own tent, we had hand sanitiser and wipes everywhere, and sat in a large circle, keeping our distance as best as possible. It just felt so good to be able to see my best girls, and actually get to witness part of their pregnancy in person!
Paradise Camping – a festival-like weekend of camping with a bar, restaurant and even some entertainment!
This was my discovery of the summer! The team behind Shindig festival and a number of other events had put together a family-friendly, festival-atmosphere campsite that operated for a month in August. You could book as many days as you liked, it was relatively cheap at £20 a night per person, and the location was the same place as usually hosts Valley Fest, a gorgeous big field overlooking a lake not too far from Bristol. They had a big restaurant/bar which you had to book a table at and which had strict COVID safety measures, and also a few daytime entertainments and evening music acts.
We booked for the August bank holiday weekend, when we would usually be at Shambala, so a group of us headed over to this idyllic location to experience as close to a festival as was possible in 2020! Each booking had a pre-allocated very large pitch of 12m x 12m, making it super easy to social distance. We had emailed to ask for our pitches to be next to each other. Ben and I had of course brought Betsy the campervan again, but she was there as a kitchen/lounge this time, as I’d also brought my brand new Boutique Camping Rainbow Polyester Bell Tent to be our bedroom! I was so excited to get this pitched up!
Our friend Shambala Ben (a different Ben, not my boyfriend, hence me calling him Shambala Ben to differentiate 😉 ) had also brought his slightly more modern campervan, and we we able to put up his epic event shelter – like a gazebo but much bigger/better/more stable – between our vans. It was a great set up, particularly when it got a little windy in the evenings! We did get to witness the most gorgeous sunset of the year on the Saturday night, genuinely stunning.
We mostly spent our time catching up, enjoying the incredible view, and drinking. It was just magic to once again be in a field with friends, and because it was mostly the Shambala crew, we definitely still dressed in our best sparkles! The campsite set up was great, being able to park in your pitch was a dream (no tent carrying!), and the toilets were all compost loos cleaned on the hour, and with plenty of disinfectant spray and hand sanitiser available all weekend. They also had hot showers from Posh Wash, and you only usually had to queue for 10-20 mins for one at peak time in the mornings.
One of the afternoons we helped Betsy relive her youth, and set up DJ decks inside her on the kitchen area. We then hooked them up to our big speaker, and she became our DJ booth for the day, pumping out tunes for us to dance in front! It was a great set up as you can see below! I’m sure it reminded her of the 70s when she was a young camper.
We booked a table at the restaurant for Sunday night, which was brilliant, however the only downside was it was the very last night of the Paradise Camping set up. They were packing up the campsite the next day, so lots of the food options had run out. I still had a very delicious pizza, a couple of lovely cocktails, and watched some music with my group who were sat over 3 tables.
At the time of writing, vaccines are rolling out fast and there is hope for summer 2021. However, if things still aren’t in the completely all clear, I’m hoping the team behind Paradise Camping will set up something similar again! I’m itching to get back in Betsy the campervan!
Summer 2020 was different to my usual but we still made the most of it under the rules at the time!
Considering 2020 was an absolute cluster fuck of a year- I think you did bloody well fitting all of that in and getting some Festival vibes! I also did a festival in the garden! Enjoyed it so much it’s going to now be an annual thing! Fingers crossed we can get back to the festival scene properly soon! Kat xx http://www.shesagentry.com
Hi Kat! Mini festivals in the garden were a definite upside of COVID! Hoping to host one myself again this year too! Thank you for reading and commenting! Also thank you for having me on your podcast last year! Lots of love! x
Hi,
Is buying a festival ticket on depop risky?
I ask incase the festival gets cancelled and seller (card holder) gets a refund..
Leaving me £250 out of pocket .
Regards
I would say this is very risky! For the refund reason and also even receiving a legitimate ticket is easy to fake, and you won’t know til you’re at the gate and the ticket won’t scan so you get turned away. I would only ever purchase tickets from the official seller, Twickets, or TicketSwap
Thank you so much for reply.
Xxx
It was certainly different but so glad that you got to make the moSf of it !!! Looks like you all had some great times regardless of the lack of festivals
Awww thanks Keeley, yes I tried to do as much as was allowed! Hoping to see you in a field this summer! x
What an excellent set of trips and adventures! Do you have plans to head back to green escape this year?
Hopefully should be back in October!! Woooo!
I’m impressed you managed to fit so much in! I miss festivals so much. Honestly I’ll be grateful just to get in a pub this summer but next summer I’m more hopeful things will be a bit more normal! Either way – I’ve got my camper van at the ready and can’t wait to get out camping!