Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | July 30, 2013 | 31

Badgers, bikinis, badminton and nakedtrampolining at Secret Garden Party

IT’S ever so inventive, SecretGarden Party.

A trippy kind of dream withadded bikinis (you couldn’t movefor girls in bikinis and boys withfetching vest-shaped burn lines,but then, it was pretty damn hot),art installations carving colourfulshapes in the rolling skyline – myfavourite was a giant hand createdout of blown-up rubber gloves –topped up with hay bales, flagsand fire-breathing DJ sets.

In fact, it’s like an amped upStrawberry Fair, except with morenaked mud wrestling and nakedtrampolining than a summer Sat-urday afternoon in central Cam-bridge. You will not be frownedupon for jumping in the lake inyour underwear (yes, I should havepacked my bikini like all the othergirls), you can dance with badg-ers in the woods, drink tea and eatscones in The Living Room (idealfor lazing around in the afternoonlistening to acoustic sets - SaintRaymond and Gabrielle Aplin weredefinite highlights), row out to thepirate ship on the lake – whichwas torched (deliberately, mind)on Saturday night amid an eyeballblazing fireworks display as wegeared up for Faithless’ amazingheadline set.

And if this all seems garbled,that’s because SGP is a bit. At oncecutesy and quirky – you can playhopscotch and croquet, cartwheelon the green and play badminton,after making lino prints, going on

the swings and hulahooping – it’salso a bit mental. You can rave allday nonstop, crawl back to yourtent at 6am and start all over againafter a power nap. There’s no letup, which means you’re much

better off ditching the programmeand rambling aimlessly... hencehow we caught the rather wonder-ful Public Service Broadcasting,danced around to Mo, caught atrapeze act twirling above a 1920sspeakeasy and chatted against abackdrop of John Newman on astage made out of trees. Althoughwe did make a concerted effort toget to Bastille – and they made itfully worth our while – bouncing,leaping and overwhelmed by thenumber of people crowded roundthe main stage to drink them in.

Fantastical, it’s tough work too.Luckily there’s a hog roast goingnon-stop, which is how I just aboutsurvived the heat, the strangenessand the mess. Because it is, in thesame way Strawberry Fair has a bitof a reputation, you can definitelysee why SGP has one too... but Iwon’t be forgetting it in a hurry.

SUN SPOT: Bikinis were this year’s must-have SGP accessory. Below, Ella Walkerfinds many hands make thirsty work. Pictures: Warren Gunn

Review: ELLA WALKERfinds it tough butterrific at this year’ssun-baked SGP.

End of another golden year the swings and hulahooping it’s

beanhofudatraspbastawegefulleanuth

Lunosu

IT was one of those golden moments.As twilight began to fall on Cherry HintonHall, The Whole of the Moon was beltedout to sell-out crowd on the last night ofthe 49th Cambridge Folk Festival.The Waterboys helped sign off four days ofmusic with their signature anthem on thebig stage – as just a small sliver of cloudfloated in the otherwise clear sky.The crowd sang along to the hit – definedby Waterboys mainman Mike Scott as ‘BigMusic’, a metaphor for seeing God’s visionin the world.The rousing number certainly helped thespirits of the crowd soar. The synth-heavytribute to Prince, Bowie and The Beatleswith its crashing brass fanfares and spine-tingling lyrics gave me goosebumps – andthe crowd lapped it up.Rousing stuff, but then Scott donned atriple-face horror mask for the next songand it all went a bit pear-shaped and darkfor a while. But a more traditional rockblues encore got us back on track.Earlier it was pure folk on the main stage,but it seemed all too much for Capercaillie.The singer told the crowd: “We’ve beendoing this for 30 years and we’re tired.”Well, folk is all about honesty.Over on stage 2, Martin Simpson had theaudience captivated with his songs of

journeys, pain and redemption - was itredemption? I’m no folk buff - although Iknow it’s deep in my blood, but this wasgood stuff.Back on the main stage and the final act ofthe night was The Chair. This band, fromthe Orkney Islands, started off with a slownumber but, pardon the pun, you can’t sitdown for long when the Scottish folk groupplay their fast-moving set.They rattle through the tunes like a whirlingdervish on a spinning top on anotherspinning top. One member of the bandshouts out: “We’ve been waiting for thismoment all of our lives.”It was an electric atmosphere as The Chairgave the last moments of this festival extralegs – as the crowd danced the end ofthe event away. “I want tae see the crowdjumpin’ right back to the beer tent”, wasthe call from on stage – and it did, to awild Orcadian reel.The Chair ended with The Big Set and itlifted the crowd out of their camping seats– those that were left in them.So that was the last day of the festival49ers. Older than Glastonbury - theeclectic Cambridge City Council-run eventalso boasted the likes of KT Tunstall, TheMavericks and The Levellers. Next year itcelebrates its 50th birthday so expect theywill pull out all the stops for the big 5-0.Bring it on.

Review: CambridgeFolk Festival, Sunday

For Friday and Saturday FolkFestival reviews, visitcambridge-news.co.uk