This was another new festival for us this year. Held among some gorgeous scenery in the Brecon Beacons, Green Man has grown during the 7 years of its existence from miniscule proportions to an event for 12,000 punters.

The main stage is in a large bowl with screens either side to allow good views from the very back. There were excellent headline performances from The Flaming Lips and Doves but otherwise the line up here was predominantly rather downbeat and folky. The second stage was in the largish Far Out tent and there were other stages courtesy of our old friends the Chai Wallahs as well as outdoor stages both at the Green Man Pub, in its walled garden, and the Solar Powered Stage. Further tents housed the Literature/Comedy Stage and a Cinema.

Four large bars served a reasonable if somewhat pricey (£3:50 to £4:00 a pint) selection of ales and ciders. Officially you weren’t supposed to bring your own alcohol into the arena but security was very low key and there were never any problems bringing in a couple of cans. The variety of food was excellent and although there was a smattering of craft stalls there was rather less in the way of clothing and jewellery stalls than one might have expected. Toilets were plentiful, cleaned regularly and always had both toilet roll and sanitiser. Some were even lit at night.

If I’m honest Green Man is probably a little too genteel for my tastes to entice me back year after year. It is certainly kid friendly to an extent that in my experience is probably only equalled by Wychwood and WOMAD. There’s a huge kids area close to one of the 2 main gates to the arena plus more science based fun and games in the Einstein’s Garden area.

But the only real downer of the weekend was the weather. We’ve been very lucky this summer so far, but within an hour of setting up camp on the Thursday lunchtime the heavens opened and it didn’t really stop raining for 48 hours solid. The main arena held up very well despite the wet conditions and the sun shone on the Sunday but the heavy rain returned in the evening to make the fire show and burning of the Green Man a rather soggy experience.