You Will Miss the fabulous state of the festival toilets. Armitage
Shanks, that's right... Armitage Shanks inside the prestigious toilets behind
the main stage. I've often found myself cringing inside these ridiculous unhygienic
toilets at the 100k plus audience festivals. Thankfully, the average age level
and civility of Cambridge, its people, and the fans of folk, have a dire need
for smell-less, well cleaned toilets.
You Won't Miss the crowded arena footpaths. This is down to the
countless folk goers who pop up a chair or two, blocking your route from A to
B. To put it into a Cambridgians perspective, it's like trying to overtake a
party of cyclists on one of Cambridgeshire’s constantly busy roads. These
chairs leave the young and restless audience with nowhere to relax.
You Will Miss the rain in the evenings - bear with me. When it rains
at the Cambridge Folk Festival, the chairs vanish. There's a wave of panic, and
it's one of the most releaving feelings. You can actually walk across the arena
care free and without hazard lights on.
You Won't Miss the pointless pre-slot announcements made by members
of the Cambridge City Council. Over four days, these councillors gave brief
descriptions of the artists ready to come out and shine, but it wasn't so. On
occasion, the councillors delivered a well-thought out honest introduction. It
doesn't make up for the useless speeches lasting minutes, taking time off of
people's sets. It was awkward for some artists who were visibly put off by
their introduction. Most were read out from a piece of paper, copied from
Wikipedia with very little detail.
You Will Miss quiet camping and fantastic amateur (though this can be
disputed) performances at the Coldham's Common campsite. If you're planning a
trip to the Cambridge Folk Festival, I recommend staying at this campsite.
The toilets are clean, the showers are... More a less clean, and the entertainment
is fantastic.
You Won't Miss waiting in line for the bus. When the clock strikes
11pm, the Coldham's Common campers flock to the bus stop - queue. It takes
about 30 - 60 minutes every night after the final acts finish. Granted, these
busses are reliable, fast, and free, but catering for thousands of sleepyheads
is a ridiculous task. More busses won't make a difference because once one
leaves, another one is ready to load. It's just frustrating to wait in a long
bus queue when it rains.
You Will Miss the excellent variety of food stalls. Mexican, Indian,
Italian, and British, are all well represented at the Cambridge Folk Festival.
The prices are lower than most festivals, and the portions are fairly average,
but filling. You don't need to walk to Sainsbury's, or cook your own food at
Cambridge.
You Won't Miss the appalling consistent sound mistakes caused by
the sound technicians. This is more than a pet peeve. I experienced vocals too
high and instrumentation too low, bass too loud making the sound system shriek
an incredible level of white noise, and incidents which left vocalists without
a working microphone.
You Will Miss the fantastic music the Cambridge Folk Festivals has to
offer. From the travelling festival stage - The People's Frontroom, to the folk
left-field stage - The Den, Cambridge offers some of the finest up and coming
acts around. Then there's the two biggest stages, filled to the brim with
energetic and fun performances. I can't wait to see what they come up with for
their 50th anniversary next year.
You Won't Miss stuck up middle class pensioners. They bring chairs,
they criticise everything, they take 50 minutes in the shower they moan waiting
for the bus, they moan on the bus, they moan getting off the bus, and their condescending
actions make for an unpleasant experience. Inside Stage 2, these stuck up
middle class pensioners set up a mini-picnic during sets, staying seated during
the music. When this happens, people are unable to get in the tent or have a
decent view. The festival already has pop-up chairs and blocked paths, now you
can't even see or hear the music. It takes a call out from the artist on stage to make
people move forward, though the stuck up middle class pensioners are reluctant
to leave home base.
~Eddie
