I’m happy to announce that campervan ticket holders will now be able to arrive on Wednesday from 2pm to make as much of your time away as possible, enjoying an additional afternoon in the campervan field and set up your van at a leisurely pace so that you can get straight into the festival mood on Thursday. There won’t be any food or drink traders on the campervan site at that point so don’t forget to bring your own food and drink for Wednesday night – picnics encouraged!
We will be opening the main campsites earlier than usual too. Campers will be able to arrive from 8am on Thursday. The Village, with its food traders and Co-Op will be waiting to welcome you.
The Kids Area now opens at the same time as the rest of the arena (we aim for 10am!) but the Enchanted Garden in the Family Campsite has a lively programme for early risers from 9am.
We were bowled over with the outpouring of love for The Listening Post at our 2019 edition and we’ve grown this exciting arena for writers, podcasts, poets, speakers and authors. This area has supersized for 2021 and will take over the former location of the Speakeasy, but fear not, we have authors and poets spilling out all over the site, from The Listening Post to The Outpost, our new destination for the ones to watch from page to stage.
If you’re looking for masses of new music to seek out and enjoy, you are coming to the right place. Although the structure of the Lake Stage won’t be with us this year, be sure to look for cult artists, tomorrow’s stars and specialist treats on the Sunrise Arena, in The Alcove, and popping-up in different places all over the site throughout the weekend.
For those who want to waltz in to the festival spirit, we now have a Ballroom of our very own! Think Strictly meets Suffolk and come along each morning to dance through the decades with instructor-led classes, until a quick heel-toe step takes us into afternoons of talks from visual artists and late into the evening, interdisciplinary shows and arts-focused film screenings.
We’re conscious that we need to look after our minds and bodies with equal care and attention and our new Mind, Body and Zen area is the perfect place to do just that. Talks, classes, mediations, installations and a host of workshops, spa treatments, sound healing and more will greet you in this multi-sensory celebration of mental health.
In the Faraway Forest, shambolic garden sheds collide with the visual arts. New for this summer is The Workshop, where you can learn new skills from a range of makers, from pottery throwing to activist cartoons.
Another huge success from 2019 was the Trailer Park – our ‘mobile-tropolis’ hamlet for the absurd. There will be a new home for this glorious carnival of the ridiculous and not only will you get to experience these mini-marvels individually, but this year you will be able to join in the mayhem at their own ‘Mobile Home’ stage. Expect caravan carnage.
It feels fitting that as the wider world builds a new normal, we are too. We’re so excited to share everything we’ve been working on. I really can’t wait to see you all there.
Melvin