Next
it’s over to the on-site newsagent for a banana milkshake
and a paper before retiring back to the tent to read the thing
whilst waiting for my comrades in arms to stir.Up surprisingly early, Friday traditionally starts either with a trip to one of the local pubs for a full English breakfast or a shorter trip to the van by the Jesus Tent for an egg and bacon roll. This year the shorter trip won the day.
Next
it’s over to the on-site newsagent for a banana milkshake
and a paper before retiring back to the tent to read the thing
whilst waiting for my comrades in arms to stir.
The journey back to the tent involves passing the welfare area. St Johns Ambulance have a large tent here. There’s also a counselling service and the Samaritans have a tent if it all starts getting on top of you. You can also get homeopathic remedies from the Travelling Homeopathic Collective should you develop a headache or stomach upset for any reason.
Whilst Glastonbury is infamous for it’s toilets, Cambridge has a reputation for making sure that theirs are not only working, but clean as well. It means there is no sense of fear or dread when carrying out ones early morning ablutions.
To
allow people time to arrive, music doesn’t start on the Friday
until late afternoon. When the rest of the team eventually surface,
we decide to head into town to top up on a few supplies. All the
indications are that it’s going to be another hot day so
a large container on mineral water joins the more traditional
festival drinks purchased at the local supermarket.
Back at the site, final preparations are still being made. Soundchecks are carried out on the two mainstages, lights and flags are mounted on polls, bins emptied, toilets cleaned and fencing checked. We take the time to look around the Traders Marquees.
As well as the newsagents, this area includes musical instrument sellers, purveyors of hippie ephemera, juggling equipment and practical jokes. Direct Music provide a record shop that included cds from pretty much all of the festival artists.Outside the main maquee, the Mexican Hammock Company was attracting a lot of interest. The rising temperatures making the idea of spending the day lazing away in a hammock all the more appealing. In the end we decided to check out a new feature this year, The Adhoc Folknet Café.
Situated
by Cherry Hinton Hall, was Cambridge’s first cybercafe. Adhoc
are the official providers of the Cambridge Folk Festival Website
and they had a large presence there this year. Most of it centred
their cybercafe. People were already gathered at the Macs catching
up on e-mail and other news. In addition to providing free facilities
for the general public, Adhoc would be updating the Festival Website
during the weekend.
One thing that was noticeable was the number of mobile phones on site. Equally as noticeable was the discipline that people showed in their use. Apart from backstage where bands and the like used them to keep in touch with each other, I don’t think I heard a single one sound inside any of the venues. Still with lunch fast approaching it was time to head off to the beer tent, stopping off briefly along the way to indulge my sweet tooth with a crepe.
A visit to the press caravan after lunch confirmed that it was time for work to get underway. The evening’s artists were starting to appear on site. Some like the SAW DOCTORS had already been seen enjoying themselves around the field. As it was, the SAW DOCTORS were to become our first interview of the festival, with Leo and Pearse both taking some timeout for a quick chat. The SAW DOCTORS were one of the hardest working acts at the festival this year with two sets and a football match to complete.
