It's back! The festival party that is Valley Fest will be lighting up Chew Valley Lake once again in a week's time (4th-6th August) and founding farmer, Luke Hassell, is inviting you to 'Get on Our Land' (love that).
Last year, we experienced Valley Fest for the first time and we chatted to Luke back then about what to expect. This year, we've grabbed him for another chinwag to find out what's in store for you - and to get another secret out of him! ;) So... here's Luke's Four Thoughts for Valley Fest 2017.
1. Can you tell us what's special about Valley Fest this year?
So much! We’ve got a brilliant team working hard behind the scenes to create the best Valley Fest yet. The festival will be jam-packed with entertainment, not only from fantastic musicians but also from DJs at 'The Yard', where you'll find circus performances and daytime activities like the hobbyhorse gymkhana too! We’ve got some incredible spoken word performers setting up in our Bedford truck for the ‘Bed Talks’ – which will also be a place for children to bring their cup of cocoa and snuggle up with a bedtime story. There's stuff for kids round every corner, including walkabout performances and activities galore.
The' Chew Down' food tent will have top chefs cooking up a storm again and there'll be food-based performances from a theatre company - not to be missed! There'll also be our wonderful feasts of course. The Midnight Feast and Sunday Picnic offer everyone a chance to come together, share delicious food and a beautiful view... and this year, all our traders are organic which is something we're very proud of. There’s basically way too much to tell you about to fit in one blog chat, so people need to come along and get on my land to experience the magic for themselves! :)
2. Which bands are you most looking forward to seeing & why?
I'm really looking forward to Jose Gonzalez – he's one of my favourite artists, and to be experiencing his performance looking out over that beautiful view of the lake? Well, I just know it’s going to be very special. Also, the outstanding Tankus the Henge are returning to Valley Fest for the third year in a row. The talent and energy those lads bring is a sight to behold. They literally get the whole crowd going and it’s always so much fun. We’ve got a good old fashioned hoe down on the Saturday night, including a barn dance – this promises to be a squeal! The fancy dress theme for it is glitter and sawdust, so I'm just trying out outfit ideas at the moment! :)
3. You've got lots of really cool areas at the festival. We tried them out for ourselves last year :) So in 2017, If you could spend an hour in just one, which would it be & why?
That’s a really hard one, but I think 'The Yard' is going to be a lot of fun this year. This is where we have a load of vehicles in a circle, including a boat, a train carriage and a fire engine with a DJ booth. Inside the circle is where the magic happens - people can dance the night away to great DJs and delight in circus performances. Then by day, kids can come and learn circus tricks, DJ skills and lots more besides!
4. Tell us a new secret about Valley Fest that no-one else knows! :)
Well, we’ve got a couple of actors coming to host as walkabout performers. They'll be dressed up as farmers, getting people to play games and shouting ‘get on my land’ as much possible. They may have an extra farmer to join them (if I can get another outfit sorted!).
Well, whether it's glitter, sawdust or farmers dungarees... we can't flipping wait! We're practicing our shouts of GET ON MY LAND right this minute and if you fancy a bit of Somerset partying, great music and fantastic organic-only food by the lake (YEAH!!!), go here for remaining tickets.
And if you want to know even more about the festival by the lake, have a read of how we got on last year...
