Rock On!

What a weekend! Our first time at the Y Not Festival but definitely not our last. 

A back-to-basics grassroots festival for real music lovers with four stages, each offering eleven hours of live music and the organisers were awarded winners of 2011's Cleanest Festival Toilet Awards!

Y Not is refreshingly free of the things that manage to piss us off about other festivals. No corporate sponsorship, no VIP areas, no Champagne bars & hair straightening stands, very few logo-emblazoned designer wellies & no people barging you out of the way to film the bands on their poncy mobile phones or posh kids called Tarquin & Saffron being allowed to run amok over your picnic blanket by their over-indulgent, dim-witted parents. Heaven.

Reverend & The Makers never fail to get me dancing.

The folk in the mosh pit know the words of every song and are far more interested in getting down to some serious dancing than calling their mates or updating their status on Facebook/Twitter.

The campervan field had glorious views of the Peak District complete with traditional dry stone walls and grazing cows.

Hand-printed 70s maxi (courtesy of Sarah) worn with Poundland socks, turban-style headband (50p, Peacocks 2010), Frida pendant (made by Tamera) and purple & stud bangles (made by Krista)

Occasionally the sunshine was warm enough to bask in,

but we enjoyed a fair bit of torrential rain, too,

which resulted in a veritable mud bath,

Not that it bothered us. This is England, we're used to it.

How do we do it? Easy, we drink slowly and steadily from 10am in the morning until bedtime, it sure helps you see the funny side of being constantly covered in mud.

Festival fashion? My advice, avoid it like the plague and be you, not a weak imitation of a magazine feature. Denim cut-offs can look great but on 500 other women combined with the same tartan shirt/animal print blouse, aviator/Wayfarer sunglasses, neon/floral print satchel and khaki army jacket it's like a bloody uniform. 

Sportoville catsuit (Second To None Period Clothing Emporium, Walsall), feather headband (jumble sale)

Playing havoc with the art installations.

Supermarket own-brand ready mixed Gin & Tonic and Vodka & Cranberry juice, 21st Century miracles.

Fake fur jacket (£5, car boot sale), 1970s high-heeled wellies (Liz found at a jumble sale), Marks & Spencer Kingfisher opaque tights (sale bucket), 1960s vinyl bag (the pink-haired Clare)

My Komodo jacket is my fave festival coat ever - warm, lightweight, ethically-made and with built-in beer mittens.

No access to hot water or a decent-sized mirror for over three days? Pah! So what? Stick on a few bindis and a Sassy Vamps head band and no-one cares. Life's too short to worry about looking normal.

We spent a whopping £4 all weekend - Jon's Kangol beret was £3 from a vintage stall,

 and my appallingly trashy pole dancer platforms were £1 from the Arthritis charity stall. 

Silver maxi dress (Courtesy of Curtise) worn with a Krista-licious pendant

Favourite acts? Reverend and The Makers, Jake Bugg, Roots Manuva, The Pigeon Detectives, The Wombats, King Charles, The Subways, Hadouken! and GhostPoet.

The birthday boy!

Roots Manuva set 

Less than four weeks until The End Of The Road Festival...I can't bloody wait!!

I'm off to do battle with a bagful of mud-encrusted clothes then I think we'll reward ourselves with a takeaway.
See you soon.