Into the Wild Festival. I was there supporting my friend with circus pole for kids.
End of Summer vibe, the endless heat of this extraordinary summer finally come to an end
Rain! tho not enough to ruin the festival, but the seeking of shelter gave it a distinct flavour… intrepid ways of overcoming the hinderance
Folkkadelic playing on the Sun and Moon stage.
People were gently grooving and gyrating, but then a huge downpour came.
The majority of the crowd rushed straight to shelter within the ‘Into the Wild’ Cafe.
But I and a few bold, foolish others ran towards the stage.
the band and their equipment were covered, the awning stretched out far enough that there was space for two rows of people to dance without getting wet.
About 20 of us gathered there, a lifeboat of survivors… we went absolutely crazy, twirling and whirling, euphoric bedlam
outside the raindrops hopped like frogs!
I spent a lot of time in the Buddhafield sauna.
something nourishing and ancient about being naked and warm, the cozy womb-like atmosphere.
Chatting, sometimes impromptu chanting, occasionally singing.
It’s always a unique blend of people. You stay for 5 minutes, the sweat starts to drip, you retreat to the cool outside.
once outside, sway gently or dance naked, arms upraised, as the rain pummeled and cascaded down, looking up at an ash tree likewise swaying in the wind. Resonance
An easy win! because the minute you got tired of this, the cold, the clammy starts to creep, hop back in the sauna, heat up again…
three cycles of this, until it was time to head to the chill-out room, where musicians would play, and you could just lie and relax.
For a similar reason I spent much time in the late night dance tent, silent disco, ear hugging headphones on, subside into the music… delirious, geometric rhythms, the laser strobe and looped visuals, club vibe… it felt like you weren’t in a rainy, muddy festival at all!
Favourite band was BCUC… conscious Soweto sound, hugely intense with an urban edge! soulful singing and rapping, with a crescendo of disparate psychedelic, acoustic drumming! went mental
spent a sunset hour sitting by the fire, firstly chatting with a couple of new found friends, but then appreciating the closely woven voices and acoustic guitar of a young hippy couple, sat directly next to them, a very intimate energy
they got a few of us to sing along, a song about rivers and home, they’d only written 5 days previously, its first fireside performance, enchanting
helping out in the kids area was a pleasant change, we’d lug the portable pole up from where it was stored in the tent, then set it up
My friend would dangle upside down for a short while, long enough to entice the first batch of kids over… warm up stretches, then a gentle choreographed routine of spins
Aww and R was there! My lovely friend from BF, the first person we saw as we drove onto site, I stopped the car and vaulted out to give her a hug… fancy meeting you here!?
I only saw her twice more, the first time we halted 3 metres apart and did a little leg shimmy dance, before passing on
we have a friendship that seldom erupts into words, she is not that kind of person… every time i embark on one of my stunning, well honed anecdotes, her brain evaporates, skipping somewhere free, far away across the field
and that is mighty fine by me… usually we end up with a symphony of beeps, honks and gurgles
oh but a long, heartfelt hug… transported to the realm of perpetual bliss… a shimmering delicious thing… a yearning, solemn silence… forever, somewhere beyond the further shore of love
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setting up with J, such a novelty to have any pictures at all! fist evening sunset then phone off for the subsequent 3 days
below: long ago… 2017? 18 more likely? with lol, fran and alex
