Music festivals are an important part of the British summer time. And the Brits do them like no one else. This weekend it was the Dumfries, Scotland-based Wickerman Festival, (which draws it’s name from the classic cult film, set in Scotland) a new and very different kind of music festival.
For our American readers I should probably explain the difference between a music festival in the UK and one in America. In the UK a music festival is a whole weekend – in The Wickerman Festival’s case it was Friday and Saturday – during which time you do not leave. There is no going home at the end of the night – which isn’t usually until around five a.m. anyway (this is Britain for fuck sake, we party all night all long here).
Music festivals, of which Glastonbury is the most famous example, are held in the country, on farms usually,taking up many hundreds of acres of land. You are fenced in and once you arrive you can’t just leave and come back, you stay all weekend! It’s a fabulous party that lasts for three full days during which time you camp, drink, listen to fabulous music, drink, rarely sleep, and do things with strangers that would generally cause your mother to cover her mouth in wide eyed astonishment that such things even happen, except on the pages of Penthouse Forum (but I’m sure your mother doesn’t know what that is).
There are many tents which feature music and/or preforming arts and then a large main stage for the big/famous bands and a smaller second stage for lesser known bands. Then there are five or six smaller tents which are frequently themed – i.e. acoustic tent, indie tent, far out and funky music tent, that kind of thing; there are also carnival rides, hundreds of trade stands selling everything from beads and tie-dyed t-shirts to African wood carvings and vinyl records along with any kind of food you can imagine.
The General Idea
It’s a good idea to arrive sometime on Thursday if you want a good camping spot. Or show up on Friday if you have press passes and camp in the VIP area (smug self-satisfied smile). To get your tent all set up, it’s helpful to have a friendly guy from a great local band to help you with this part. If you wait too late you will camp in the overflow camping, and no one wants to walk half a mile for the toilets. And believe me after two days of nothing but a bit of fruit, some chips (french fries in the US), and enough alcohol to poison a college frat house you want to be as close to the toilets as possible.
Then on Friday morning the fun begins usually around noon-ish, when the smaller tents open and start their days activities.
The Wickerman is different than most of the other music festivals in several ways.
First, the festival hasn’t been overtaken by the corporations. You don’t see the the blatant and irritating commercialism seen at all the others. It has managed to maintain a counter culture feel to it. You can’t help but feel like you have stepped through time and into Woodstock.
Second, the music. Because The Wickerman Festival hasn’t been taken over by those huge commercial corporations with record labels that just want to push their own artists, you get an amazing and diverse selection of very talented musical artists that deserve a chance to be heard and maybe even signed.
Third, the audience. This was the most diverse group of people I have ever seen assembled; all were interesting and eclectic and a few were rather astonishing. They ranged in age from six months (riding on his daddy’s back) to 75 years old. The organisers of this festival have gone out of their way to make sure it is family friendly and handicapped accessible (as much as you can make a giant field accessible). Children twelve years and under were admitted free and there were children’s tents and activities all weekend. And families could camp in the “Quiet Family Camping” area. Perfect for people who didn’t want to dance until dawn but instead put the wee ones down early and sit out in the cooling air looking at the waning sun with a nice glass of wine and listening to the music across the rolling green hills of the Scottish countryside.
The Children’s Activities
The children’s activities included the usual fare: bouncy castle, face painting, and games. But it also included some interesting drama and music concerts just for them. One of these was the of the story of the lonely “Wicker Man”, a puppet character and story created just for the Wickerman Festival by puppeteer Graham Moffat of Dragonfly Dreaming. This delightful tale walks you through Bella the Butterfly’s search for other butterfly friends only to find that the Wicker Man has taken them and put them in his belly. But the Wicker Man isn’t really a bad guy — just a lonely one — and he eventually shares his friends with Bella. This is a good example of the lovely whimsical feel that all the child/family events had.
The Music
The music was good, bad and occasionally even ugly. The bands ranged from reggae to ska, from freestyle rap to thrash metal, and offbeat jazz to Brazilian percussion. There was certainly something for anyone in the Wickerman’s lineup. Let’s rundown some of the standouts:
SambaYaBamba are a Brazilian percussion group that originally started out as a community arts project but continued after the project closed. That was nine years ago and they are still going strong. According to their website, their “repertoire of Brazilian percussion covers a variety of styles from Rio style Samba Batucada, Samba Reggae, Maracatu and other styles from the north east of Brasil through to contemporary interpretations with influences of Drum ‘n’ Bass, Hip Hop and Bhangra.” They are a fun, wild bunch to watch and listen to. And one of my favourites of the weekend.
They began their lunch time session by playing outside the Rowan World Music Tent. Their unique rhythmic sound and perfectly choreographed dance moves quickly drew a crowd outside the tent that they then played into the tent pied-piper style. With their distinctive yellow and red outfits and clever choreography that was only part of what set them apart from the from everyone else. The packed tent stayed crowded for the full hour of their energetic performance. They were a real treat.
Attic Lights are an Indie/Roots Rock band from Glasgow and they played the Scooter Tent. Their sound is a little Beach Boys mixed with a bit of Grandaddy and a dash of Frog Holler. With a slight twang, fantastic harmony, and the distinctive sounds of a pedal steel guitar they are easy to love and hard to miss. I managed to get the guys to sit for a quick interview. I also got a couple of their EPs to review and Blogcritics.org will be featuring Attic Lights as their very first Band Of The Week this Friday.
Big Strides are another stand out band who played the Woodward Stage (the main stage). An Indie/Blues Rock band that have an unusual mixture of blues, rock and funk. It’s a sound that makes you feel good all over. We were also lucky enough to get a few minutes with Big Strides to talk about their new single “Smiling” and they will be another one of Blogcritic.org’s Bands Of The Week soon.
Saturday night at almost midnight the crowds gathered for the ritual burning of the 
Wickerman, a 30-foot-tall wicker effigy who is “sacrificed to the festival gods” at midnight. What a sight it was with fire dancers at the base and then the giant fiery torch that sets the giant wicker man alight! After that it was party all night dancing in the Eden Zone tent until 5 a.m. What more could you want in a festival?
The only complaint I have was that the sight had to be vacated by noon and after a night of intensive drinking and only five hours sleep that was a tall order. I could have done with at least three more hours of sleep.
Overall the Wickerman festival was a huge success with fine weather, fantastic and strange people and a feeling of friendship and community that I found refreshing at a large music festival. I am already looking forward to next year.
Photos taken by Creina O’Leary
