My Day at Secret Garden Party

Despite the fact that it was the most wettest weekends of the entire summer, I insisted on going to the Saturday of Secret Garden Party. Just like Gottwood, I attended SGP last year and was enamoured by its celestial beauty of art installations, music and incredibly friendly crowd. There was no way I was going to miss SGP even if I was only attending for a day!

Whilst the weather from Friday washed out all the secret garden partyer's, their spirits were not dampened and remained high as the sunshine began to appear on Saturday morning. As soon as I entered the camp-site I was immediately appreciative of my late arrival - the relentless rain from the day before meant that mud gushed from everywhere and I was well prepared by taking the appropriate shoes for the day.

The first couple of hours was spent at the forest stage right next to the camp-site with DJ's dropping lively, feel-good House tracks. As soon as I entered the forest I was just so glad to be back. Watching everybody dance in their spectacular costumes full of colour, sequins and glitter gave me a sudden rush of eagerness to really get the party going. As I wanted to get the most out of my day as possible, we decided to embark on a mighty long trip through the churned, thick mud and bumbled around the hills of the festival. Annoyingly, I didn't explore as much as I could have this year - the lines for the Pagoda were way too long and running around in the mud made it twice as hard to get from one place to another. We finally settled in the Disco Picnic tent where residents played a range of tech-house oldies but goodie's such as the bright Your Words Matter by Ramadanman & Midland. The tent sucked us right in. Everything you needed was inside: street food, bars, dance-worthy music and great company!

Following the amazing annual firework display, I felt that I still needed to check out some other of my favourite parts of the festival. So our next stop was the secluded and wonderful woodland area they call The Labyrinth. Deep inside The Labyrinth, gardeners can find a sea of fancy dress wigs, fairy wings and disco sticks (ours shone beautifully) bopping along to the music upon the hay bales. As night time set in, the DJ's increasingly headed for a more rhythmic, bass-led flush of beats inviting a full-house of a crowd.

But, all good things must come to an end and I just had to keep exploring before daylight rose! The night ended at one of my favourite stages of the festival - The Drop. As we plodded through the mud to get there Use Me Again was distantly playing in the background. I suddenly darted straight to the front of the stage where the back drop presented psychedelic visuals as Tom Trago carried on his funky set onto the early hours of Sunday morning.

Like my Glastonbury experience, I only experienced a tiny drop of this year's Secret Garden Party. Being there for one day mean that I wasn't able to look out for those hidden gems and random events that make SGP so unique (the mud didn't help this either). I give serious ratings to those survivors that stuck it out throughout the whole weekend ... What's an English festival experience without mountains of mud and heavy rain anyway?!

Beauty Georgia modelling our Disco Stick

This year's theme was 'Childish Things'

EMBRACE THE MUD!

Tania x

House Festival: A Non-Stop Day Party Full of Glitter and Style!

In today's crowded festival market, House Festival have set out to bring music lovers a more exclusive summer party to celebrate some of the best live acts around. I was extremely lucky enough to grab a ticket as a guest of Freuds and got to spend the day at the beautiful Marble Hill House located in Richmond, indulging in unlimited food provided by Dirty Burger, Pizza East and even a buffet with as much lobster that guests desired!

It was a day full of free-flowing cocktails, fairground rides, glitter stations and you could even get a massage whilst coolly watching talented acts such as Slaves, Honne and Foxes throughout the day. However artists such as James Bay, Rudimental and the original diva Chaka Khan really stole the show.

James Bay delivered a compelling and captivating performance with his renditions of Hold Back The River and his even more recent Let It Go. Unlike any other festival, I could actually get to the front of the stage and dance freely - seeing James Bay up close and personal was a beautiful sight! By the time Chaka Khan arrived on stage the party vibe was fully established (mainly from the amount of cocktails consumed.) As she belted out her legendary tracks I Feel For You, I'm Every Woman and Ain't Nobody, the crowds bonded together, joyfully singing along to her uplifting, diva-licious performance.

But the day belonged to the energetic performance delivered by Rudimental. The Hackney-based band smashed their live set containing a group of gifted singers, brass players and hype men that certainly boosted the audience's spirits. With hands flying, bodies jumping and heads shaking, the crowds chanted along to Feel The Love and Not Giving In, hugging each other in true festival hippie-love style.

Waving some festival tinsel for Rudimental!

In the midst of scoffing all the food and drink I could muster, giggling along with work colleagues, and spotting celebs mingling the crowds (Goldie being my fave); other great acts such as indie titans The Vaccines and Electro-pop lords Pet Shop Boys played on the main stage. I only managed to watch the last half of the Pet Shop Boys but they sure did not disappoint with a mesmerising finale show and very interesting choice of stage costume...

The whole day was fantastic - full of unlimited food, drink, music and glitter! I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend my Thursday afternoon :)

Tania x