Willowman; The end of the trilogy.

Mass, Ross and myself, ready for a Friday night out. Photographer;Dave

Saturday morning, June 21st; officially the longest day. It didn’t disappoint that’s for sure.

I was awoken at 6.45 am by people talking very loudly outside my tent. I couldn’t understand the reason for the volume because there were no other sounds to shout above, except for the odd Blackbird chirping away in the background. The distinct lack of sleep and post real ale hangover meant that my tolerance levels were considerably lower than normal. As a general rule on a run of the mill day they usually run at zero, so now we were into serious meltdown territory, but the smell of the coffee brewing nex door managed to appease me and thoughts turned to that first life support machine cuppa. I unfurled myself out of my cramped nylon Aga and greeted the morning sunlight with a weary, fuzzy feeling through screwed up eyes. Today was only going to be half a day because I had double booked a date with Billy Bragg in Holmfirth, which was a shame in one way; I would have liked to have spent another full day at the festival, but another part of my brain was telling me that I was not 21 anymore and a third night of Olympic drinking and Endurance non sleeping was not in the best interests of anyone.

Business was slow and it took a while for the arena to fill up, probably due to the excess partying that had taken place into the early hours, but just after lunch things were getting very busy. the weather was once again behaving itself and so was I because I had to drive back home later that afternoon for my rendezvous with Mr. Bragg. Ross came over as did Mass and Dave whom I had also befriended yesterday. Mass was the DJ from the first night and his knowledge of the original ska and reggae genre was encyclopaedic, plus he was actually playing vinyl with ONE deck only, unlike the headline act from Friday night who was just pretending to knob twiddle to a pre-recorded set (alledgedly). Another few books sold and it was time to pack up and leave the festival. Dave, Mass and Ross all helped me get my wares into the van and by 4.00pm everything was done. I donated my open plan gazebo to Mass and thanked them all for their help and company over the preceding few days. Rick and the boys came by on their way to the beer tent, looking a little delicate but they were going to soldier on until Sunday. I thanked them again for their hospitality and then I was off, like a dog in the fog, disappearing into the sunlight leaving a dusty haze behind.

All I can say was that it was a great experience; really chilled out festival, everyone was there for the music and beer and I would recommend Willowman to anyone, it was brilliant. Next up, Rebellion!

G.