What is The Glade? This review sums it up pretty spot on:
“This is Glade festival, a three-day electronic dance music festival in a field near Reading, and one that was fully sold out. Directions to this year’s event was only sent out on the week leading up to the festival.
The line-up is filled with quality; underground and credible dance music talent, one that confirms Glade’s status as the most leftfield electronic festival in the country. For Glade’s attendees, dance music is a lifestyle choice and a hedonistic attitude, not a weekend pastime, or something you would hear on the radio. Here the hippies are very much in the majority.
It’s like a village, full of young, happy, people, all intent on the same thing - having a good time.
From the moment you step out of your tent at dawn to a barrage of morning greetings, to the queues for the toilets, and the shared germs. Dirt is a unifying factor at Glade, it’s an all-pervasive dust that covers you from head to foot, and gets under your eyelids and toe nails. There’s no use trying to stay clean - best to embrace it and accept the smell for a few days- you cannot escape the dirt!
The chillout zone is called ID Spiral - which is an area of immense beauty, comes complete with a transparent bio-dome and floating objects - wouldn’t look out of place on a Mars exploration mission.
People are wearing anything, from pixies, angel wings, to Y-fronts, and pirate hats. This festival isn’t reality. It’s a fairy tea party, a pirate ship, and a tree-hugger’s paradise.
It’s anything you want it to be.”
So yes in a nutshell, that was it. There were about 12000 to 14000 people that were sprawled out in a maze of tents and marquees that surrounded the enclosure. Oh and it was a scorching weekend with temperatures well in the 30C and above.
Security was really tight – which of course is a necessity at these sorts of things, but I won’t deny that it put a damper on things a bit.
And it must be said that as far as logistics go, someone clearly didn’t do their homework – 80 toilets and 20 showers for 12000 people. The maths just don’t add up! But such is the nature of a festival I guess! Luckily Jo, Shazz and I found a bunch of less used cubicles and we stood by at 7am when the cleaning van came round and sprayed anti bacterial in – we were straight in there. My chant was “Find a Happy Place, and don’t touch ANYTHING”!!! And this is why we never drank as much water as we should of (considering the heat and all) because we just didn’t want to go to the loo – ah such girls hey!!
The showers were separated male and female and were very much prison style. We got in there at 8am on the Saturday morning, waiting (half and some fully naked) under the shower nozzles and then we are told that the water had run out!! But we were not deterred and we waited until not very long when the water was refilled.
Being clean again - Life’s greatest pleasures as so simple when you suddenly feel deprived of them! Of course our clean and fresh feeling only lasted for about an hour, then we were back in the sunshine, dust and breathing in the sweaty air and bodies!
But I am going a bit overboard, as I should be used to all the roughing it hey?!
Anyway, back to the festival. We wondered around to all the tents and one can appreciate the different sounds and music, even if it’s not really your sound. The décor and organization I cannot criticize – it all went off superbly.
My favorite tents were Origin and ID Spiral. ID Spiral was just such a happy place and was open all the time at whatever hour of the day and night you just felt like escaping. It was nestled in the corner under the forest trees and shade. And they served yummy Chai Tea – horray!! The music was also so….sublime.
The inflatable Glade Church was set along side The Rabbit Hole and yes people were getting married! Along with a pop infused reception to go along – very random. A bit of a mockery some would say, but then again I was not surprised as this was a festival and anything goes.
The food was also amazing – mostly vegetarian and a lot of organic stuff too (so I was in my element!) with fresh fruit juices and smoothies. So we ate healthily!
We had a good crowd with us too – Jo, Shazz, Chris, Mark, Irene, Zane and Mike and we could always just retreat back to our tenting spot and unwind and relax for as long or as little as one needed.
Overall, I am glad I went – it was my first British Festival! At times I found the big crowd a bit too much, so many different energies and vibes that are constantly changing and moving about. I prefer a smaller and more intimate crowd – maybe I have just been spoilt by the Alien Safari and Origin parties back home.
But still, it was an experience and I had a fairy fantastical time!
Festival Love and Peace
Orangeblossom xxx
