Festivals!

There seem to be as many festivals as there are towns at the moment, which is wonderful. I was at a local music festival last Saturday where a couple of my friends were playing. The weather was glorious and it was lovely to be able to drift between the four stages (via the beer tent and food outlets, of course) and soak up the atmosphere. One of the 'stages' was simply a clearing in the woodland (pictured), where the amp was powered from a solar panel and the singers were accompanied by birds, butterflies and dragonflies. Sadly, the Sunday was cancelled because of the atrocious weather, but some of the bands that were due to play relocated to a couple of pubs and played there instead. It was all very organic.

James Herring at Woodfest 2014, Northamptonshire

Elsewhere in the Shire, Boughton House, which is the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, should have been hosting Alt-Fest this weekend, an extravaganza of heavy metal, industrial, alternative and the like. Sadly, this was cancelled for reasons that aren't clear, but seem to be connected to ego, greed, mismanagement and confusion. The ticket-holders will (I assume) get a refund - but what about all those hotel rooms, campsites and train tickets that have been booked? The Kettering spirit has come to the rescue with the wittily titled 'Ctrl Altfest Delete' which has been organised at incredible speed to salvage something from the fiasco. Two pubs in town will be venues for a great line-up of acts.

Meanwhile, Boughton House is gearing up for Greenbelt next weekend. Let's just hope that the Goths and the God-botherers don't get their dates mixed up.