Festival Season 2008 is with us at last & we kicked things off this year with a great new event near Carsington Water in Derbyshire. Bearded Theory is tiny with only 500 punters in attendance this year and with a fairly impressive line up and tickets priced at a mere £12 they were all snapped up long before the event took place.

Officially it was only a one day festival but the vast majority of attendees were keen to get their tents up after the long cold winter months and most were already partying long and hard into the night on the Friday with some live music & DJ’s being provided for entertainment.

The festival is set in the grounds of a country pub with views over the lake and of surrounding rolling countryside. The main stage is small but most of the audience area is covered so we were able to shelter from the often rather drizzly weather while we enjoyed the scheduled entertainment. The dance stage was situated under cover in an area adjoining the pub. There was plenty of real ale & cider available from a well stocked bar, a beautifully decorated Tea Tent with an open mic stage, plus a smattering of stalls selling food & clothing.

Unfortunately the toilet contractors didn’t show up to empty the loos but there is a portacabin toilet onsite and you could also use the pub’s facilities so the situation never got too unpleasant.

So all in all a very pleasant start to this year’s summer festival season and with so many people joining in with the bearded fancy dress theme it was a great way to celebrate my girlfriend Lisa’s birthday. Many thanks to Rich and all the organisers for their sterling efforts in putting on such a great little event. Hopefully this will be the first of many happy bearded returns.