It's been a long time. Boomtown, my favourite festival, an interactive timne of mayhem and unexpected delights interspersed with music and dancing. Unexpected discoveries, weird costumes, lovely people. Drugs, drink, dangerous living and yet filled with joy and love and calm. For two years no Boomtown. No dancing under the stars, no trying to sleep while a huge festival city breathes around me.  ..read more

For a long time I have searched for the perfect comfy night's sleep when camping. As I'm in my 50s the simple thin foam mat favoured by my teen is just not enough for my older bones. So while a yoga mat may do for the young, for the more discerning sleeper something comfier is required. I have tried camp beds like these but found them to actually feel quite hard and uncomfortable. Then I ..read more

Fancy a new festival? Looking for a festival for grown ups that is still child friendly yet not full of teenagers? I think that the Cornbury festival might be just what you need. This year, once again the weather was amazing. Glorious sunshine always helps at a festival. (though mud and rain can make for some fun memories) This year DD and I pitched up in our usual spot on the corner near the ..read more

Every blogger that does festivals has blogged about what to take. I've done it myself because it's a thing that newbies, festival virgins, the uninitiated, always ask. But the more I think about the planet, the irony of banning plastic straws but taking wet wipes in your festival kit, the more I thought I needed to 'eco up' my game. Now festival going is never going to be all holy. You'll ..read more

Anyone that goes to a festival in the UK knows to take wellies. Wellingtons have become a staple item in the wardrobe of the festival fan because whether it rains or not there will be damp bits. Often these damp bits will be near the showers, or the water points, or the toilets...we shall not dwell here. Wellies have come a long way from the days where green was fancy and black was normal. Now ..read more

Life and death? Bit dramatic, we are only going camping.  Every year there are one or two stories in the news about people that die, actually die, in their tents often while asleep. But what is killing them I hear you ask? The invisible killer is carbon monoxide. If you cook in your tent, if you use a heater in your tent, if you use a barbecue near to your tent, you are at risk. Carbon monoxide ..read more

I recently wrote about my number one camping essential over on The Mediocre Dad, and that made me think. If I had some spare money and wanted to treat myself, what would I add to my camping arsenal? Which extra bits and pieces would I buy? So I had a little hunt about the internet, and asked a few companies what they thought I really 'needed' to add to my kit. Here are some of the things I found ..read more

It's about time I got my festival fancy dress underway. Because I attend a few festivals each year I try to ensure I wear a costume that will be suitable for a few of them (I'm not made of money!) but I also like to get a new costume each year, and I like to lure my daughter into dressing up too. Getting kids to dress up is easier when they are small. At 10 she was happy to dress up and join in ..read more

#AdGifted  Summer is the best time of year. Summer is full of sunshine, beer, relaxing, big skies, music on the breeze and the gentle tickle of drying grass underfoot. Of course being Britain it's also muddy, grey, dreary, windy, cold, full of umbrellas and it smells of damp tent. But one thing it is always full of is festivals. Some years it can be hard to choose which ones to go to ..read more

#AdGifted  Regular readers will know that I'm a regular at Camp Bestival, the fun, family, festival held in Dorset each year. Last year the fun was slightly dampened by such dreadful storms on the last day that the festival had to be closed early. But better safe than sorry!  Seeing Mary Berry on the TV the other week brought back all the memories of the sunny days before the last day! And ..read more