Meadowlands Festival

Situated in the gorgeous location of Glynde Place, a few miles East of Sussex, Meadowlands has grown into a first-class boutique style festival. With twice as many people as last year, but within a more compact and pleasing site, it managed to avoid the best of the previous two weeks’ weather but also the worst, especially on the Jubilee Sunday when practically all the rest of the country was wet…

Musically, there was a very strong emphasis on quality and diversity – Fink, Portico Quartet, Lamb, Skinny Lister and Speech Debelle all produced superb performances, while many local acts were excellent; from the unhinged psychedelic roots of Peppermint Beat Band to the enchanting acoustic cabaret vibes of Apples & Eve. One of the reasons the festival works so well is because of the incredible depth of talent in the area. Bang Said The Gun did another fine job curating the comedy/spoken word tent (Chris Lynam’s firework-up-his-bum routine being a particular highlight), while the ‘pop-up’ casino was a fun place to dance the night away.

Kids were very well catered for this year with storytelling, workshops and disco dancing for teenagers. And there was some great DJ action throughout the weekend, particularly from new kid-on-the-block Banks, Brighton veterans Roots Garden, and LTJ Bukem, who finished off the festival on Sunday night with a high energy drum’n’bass set. But it was perhaps the Chapel Stage that stole the show – based on Pourtuguese chapel designs and purpose-built for the festival, it was situated  in the wooded area of the site, and featured a host of great music and theatrical perfomances throughout the weekend.

A festival that really matured this year, the overall atmosphere was very friendly and relaxed. We are already looking forward to next year!

Glynde Place, 1-3 June 2012
Rating:
Julie Andrews