Eastnor Castle was again the setting for the Big Chill festival from the 4th to 7th of August. It was the first time for Sorazora to be exhibiting at this big UK festival.
Located within the Enchanted Garden, Sorazora was there to provide organic products to those who care about the environment as much as we do. The weather was typically British and offered a mix ranging from glorious sunshine, cool grey cloud cover to miserably wet!
Some of the art installations within the festival site were pretty impressive and the Enchanted Garden was very well decorated. The line-up was of little interest to us, but then it would be hard to follow the musical delights from the previous weekend's WOMAD.
A giant birdcage provided the focus for entertainment within the garden, making this area the best for chilling out by far. We rarely ventured into the main arena, although we could clearly hear the happenings of adjacent fields.
This large festival was set up to cater for a crowd between 30,000 to 40,000, but the actual turnout was around 12,000. This made the entire site seem too large with areas left almost deserted for most of the time. Those that did come to party tended to be of a younger non-family age group. The childrens' area was out of bounds for those without children or the correct wristband. It was the first time for me to experience this kind of segregation and it didn't go down too well with the general customers or activities held within that area.
It was a rather disappointing festival for us as we had heard so many great things about this well promoted large festival. Weather can not be blamed for the overall turnout, so I think some positive action is required if the festival is to once again live up to its reputation. For more information about this festival, check out their website by clicking here!
