Saturday
Right time to eat or my stomach will be growling through Kate Rusby's set, especially if Andy Cutting does one of his recipes. If there’s an interlude in Kate’s set Andy has been known to fill in the gap with a quick recipie
Kate comes to the stage with a veritable orchestra behind her, strings and horns. The front row is the very familiar line up of John McCusker, Ian Carr and Andy Cutting. A great collection of musicians at half the price.
Kate is wearing a white dress with vents that lift slightly whenever she walks in front of the fan that she has in front of her on the stage.
As well as having a mountain stream pure voice that tumbles around the rocks and eddies, Kate's Barnsley upbringing has given her a highly distinctive voice. Instantly recognisable and a great asset in an age when too much production has homogenised so many female singers.
I'm running out of superlatives; suffice to say this was another set that will have to punters talking.
Kate launched her new CD here. It's not officially due out until September, but there's a special edition available at the festival.
Earlier in the day Ms Rusby broke her own record for the size of queue for the Mojo Signing Tent. She was the first artist to fill out a two hour stint. It was when setting her previous record that Kate introduced the concept of offering refreshment to the queue. Kate offered her queue wine. Show Of Hands followed that up with the cider barrel.
Kate also blagged one of the Fatea crew shirts this year! Blagging is not a one way sport, apparently, as Sharon Shannon will testify.
After the first three songs, no flash, I drop into the artists and guests bar backstage for the first time this year for a sherbet or two. Catching up on festival's past and even talking through ideas for festivals yet to come. A chance to relax for half an hour and chill out with the rest of Kate's set playing too good to miss.
It's time for one of those contrasts that Cambridge is famous for. Following on from Kate is World renowned Romany weddings and Funeral band, Fanfare Ciocarlia, now probably best known for providing the music at the end of the Borat film.
Bob and Alan, the stage DJs, have the job of gradually changing the mood from traditional English folk to Balkan party music.
Fanfare Ciocarlia are literally as bold as brass, well bass and a drummer/percussionist.
They are not a band the words quiet and reserved could be applied to ever. They exude excess and personality as they hit the stage full on. There's a lot of running about and it's difficult to know where to point the cameras. Gypsy funerals really must be a celebration of life. All from a band they look like they don't understand the meaning of healthy diet.
It was difficult to see how they were going to maintain their remarkable pace but they did. The timing of the set was impeccable, leave the audience wanting more and judging by the shouts for an encore they were definitely after more.