subject: Secret Garden Party [print this page] Secret Garden Party is undoubtedly my favourite of all the festivals that occur on most weekends throughout the British summer. I used to work for a festival production company that is involved in the organisation of the majority of the major ones and so can get free tickets to lots of them. Saying that, Secret Garden Party is not one of those that I can get into for free but I still always make sure that I lay my hands on a ticket somehow as it is a spectacle that I am loath to ever miss. It occurs on the first weekend of August in the grounds of an old country mansion in Cambridgeshire, not far from Huntingdon and Corby.
It is four days of hedonistic and exceptionally wild celebration that is characterized by its astounding eclecticism, which is a consequence of the fact that the festival organizers let various other people programme and decorate sections so there are loads of different influences throughout the site rather than it all being the brainchild of just a few people. This organizational style emulates Burning Man, which occurs in September in the Nevada desert and is famed for the mind blowing art installations that you will stumble upon dotted through the desert, as well as the mutant vehicles that roll through across the planes as though straight out of Mad max on which can catch a lift to whichever corner of Black Rock City one is headed.
Whenever I go to Secret Garden Party (which isnt so much of a secret anymore though originally only being five thousand people, it has now swollen to twenty-five thousand) I always make sure that I get myself a room at one of the dozen or so Corby hotels. Corby is a town about ten miles from the festival site and though there is space for camping at the site, in my opinion it is situated too near to the main arena I am a very light sleeper and so the one year that I tried to camp, I was kept up all night by the bass from the dance tents. Thats why I always make sure that I get myself a room at one of the hotels in Corby, so that I am able to get a bit of shut-eye and so have plenty of energy over the four days for pure enjoyment. If you are thinking of doing the same thing, make sure that you book your room early as all of the hotels and bed and breakfasts in the area get completely booked up at least a few weeks before the festival.
