This is usually WOMAD weekend for us but we were too slow getting a campervan pass so we opted for Secret Garden Party instead as we had heard great things from friends and it seemed an excellent way to celebrate my 100th festival.

Let’s get my little moan out of the way first. The gate policy was an excessively intrusive shambles! Every punter was searched to ensure that nobody exceeded the 12 cans per person limit on alcohol. There were nowhere near enough security or stewards to deal with majority of the 22,000 attendees who turned up on the Thursday afternoon and as a result many people queued outside for 4 hours or more. What’s more we were subjected to further bag and body searches and sniffer dogs at the gates every time we re-entered from the campervan field. We weren’t allowed to bring any alcohol in on re-entry so even though we stuck to the 12 cans rule we were penalised for paying £50 for a campervan ticket which was never even checked. Bar prices were generally £4 a pint so we basically had a choice of a very expensive or a very sober weekend. The festival website states that “as an independent festival bar sales keep our event alive so we need to limit what alcohol you can bring” but if events like Bearded Theory can put on a stronger line up, only charge half the ticket price to quarter the number of punters and still allow them to bring their own booze, then frankly this statement just doesn’t hold water and somebody somewhere is making an absolute killing out of it.

Having said all that, once through the gates, SGP is a festival wonderland with at least 15 music venues dotted around the site. The main stage is in an excellent amphitheatre and many of the smaller venues had bands and DJ’s playing until dawn. The site is centred around a small lake and everywhere there are lots of quirky little environments where you can hold an electric cucumber, photocopy your bum & boobs, indulge in a spot of S&M or mud wrestle with your best mate. At night all the trees are beautifully illuminated and there are plenty of sculptures and installations to admire and explore around the site.

Kids are well catered for with a largish area set aside for them with things to make & do and also circus skills to learn. The choice and quality of the food available was as good as I’ve seen anywhere other than Glastonbury and like the Big G all of the camping fields are inside the main perimeter fence. Unusually for these days of excessive health and safety restrictions a few dogs were allowed provided they were registered in advance. Toilets could have been more widely available and were often difficult to find for newcomers but I have to say the loos in the campervan field were pretty much spotless throughout which was a refreshing change from recent experiences.

The age demographic was generally younger than most festivals I attend, with the majority appearing to be in their 20’s but the effort that most people put into their fancy dress costumes was quite astounding and if the organisers can only sort out their gate policy I’ll definitely be back for more Secret Gardening in the future.

Unfortunately I don’t have the names of all the performers I saw so if anybody is able to help me out with any of these please leave a message under the appropriate photo.

Thanks