So?

Summer time is over, I've brought my winter slippers from Marks and Sparks, I've put my tortoise shell sun glasses in the bikini draw until next year and I've convinced myself that one should eat what one wants as I'll need to put on extra pounds for winter. But, what a summer it has been. I've been on holiday as you can see! June, July and August left no time to blog so in moody September, here's what I've been up to and the focus is Festivals, in order of greatness. I'm also going to keep this short or I'll be batting on for ages.

1) Glastonbury
Celebrating it's 40th anniversary, it was my first and my mates 40th! With a surprise burst of hot sunshine, a phenomenal atmosphere and offering so much more than a festival, this by far is the best event I've ever attended and it should be experienced by all. I can't really explain it's greatness, it is just GREAT. Highlights included - if I can put any few highlights together - Shangrala, the Green fields, Stevie Wonder, the array of excellent food, The Park area, Bombay Bicycle Club, Toots and the Maytals and soooo much more.

2) Melt!
Set in an old GDR mine, Melt! (with an exclamation mark, not an over hyper blogger), as a site is truly spectacular. Huge cranes with green lazers and bright neon lights shoot off from sterile pieces of metal. This festival is surrounded by an artificial lake in Germany, Ferropolis, about an hours drive from Berlin. Offering Dance and Indie music, highlights included, the site itself, Groove Armada, this fantastic Saxon German pizza bread, Ellen Allien and Massive Attack with their phenomenal art music show combination. Another great thing about this festival is that the Germans really know how to party, the festival gets started at about 7pm and goes on until about 11am and in some areas until 7pm, for the party to begin aaaalllll over again.

3) Standon Calling
This self proclaimed 'boutique festival' is held in Hertfordshire and has been going for 10 years, after starting off as a birthday party with thirty friends. It has now grown into a 3000 person festival with a very special feel. The music, dress up and smallness of it all is what makes it unique, as well as the up and coming bands it features. Highlights included Buena Vista Social Club, sock wrestling, Factory Floor, The Alcatraz tent, The Liars, a pop up cinema, the wonderful Steve Mason and a Pool.

4) Reading
Now, if you're looking for a rock and roll festival, look no further as you all know. I am a big fan of Reading and have gone there a good few times and it never fails to disappoint. Ok, so crowd wise it is quite horrific, full of greasy food, annoying 15 year olds who burn tents and portaloos and the site truly feels like hell on earth, BUT, and there is a big but... The line up is amazing! Highlights included The Libertines with their epic comeback gig, Sub Focus, The Like, Queens of the Stone Age, Tame Impala and The Maccabees etc etc etc.

5) Offset Festival
Every September, Epping Forest in Essex is swamped by lots of cool kids and bloody hell, the coolness needs to be stressed, it's as if the whole of Shoreditch bop on the tube, down to celebrate. The music that plays here is all very alternative, left field and generally weird, which I am a big fan of. It also supports up and coming bands and is a very progressive forward thinking festival. Highlights include, Telepathe, Art Brut, cheap vintage clothing from up North and Batty Bass.

6) Secret Garden Party
Dozens of my friends were going so I couldn't give this a miss and actually, I was pretty curious. It was an interesting festival with good food, dress ups and the burning of a 'ship' in the lake, but sadly, that was not enough to make me love it like most of the crowd. I found the music mediocre to say the least and the atmosphere dull. This was all made worse as 99.9% of the crowd were off their nut, with me being in that 0.01% category. I was told it was better the smaller it was as it recently held 30,000 people but still, never again. Highlights included, bumping into friends, The Correspondents, The Jungle Tent and the odd little tents playing strange trippy music at every corner.