Photo: Press
Festival culture can get a bit gruesome after a while. Mud up to your knees, vomit worthy toilets, crammed campsites, predictable bands, huge queues and overpriced beers. You know what to expect with the big hitters. But if you still want a festival that's more laid back without paying ridiculous amounts for a 'luxury camping experience' then a boutique festival like Port Eliot Festival is exactly for you.
Dedicated to the local Cornwall culture, Port Eliot Festival is a four day annual celebration of words, music, imagination, ideas, nature, food, fashion, flowers, laughter, exploration and fun.
With artists including headliners Public Service Broadcasting, Beth Orton, Slow Club, Andrew Weatherall, Louis Eliot & The Embers and Gruff Rhys, the festival has a range of breaking acts and legendary talent, promising to give anyone a great time.
Music isn't the be all and end all though with comedians, poets and guest speakers this year including Sean Hughes, Luke Wright and Rachel Cooke, you'll certainly go home learning something new.
Photo: Press/Michael Bowles
Organiser Louis Eliot told Western Morning News: "I don’t know another festival where you can watch a cookery demo with Nathan Outlaw and then go for a swim in the river. Or catch BBC Sound of 2014’s Luke Sital Singh playing in the church, laugh till your sides hurt with Sean Hughes, then make a hat with Stephen Jones OBE in the Wardrobe Department before witnessing the magnificent Public Broadcasting Service Broadcasting, then discovering a clearing in the bushes where legendary producer Andrew Weatherall’s is playing a DJ set."
The festival is also known for whipping up some amazing food, far away for your standard festival burger van. With chefs such as Jack Stein and Caroline Davey producing mouth watering meals, you'd never expect to be eating what this lot cook up in the middle of a field.
One of the most unique additions of the Port Eliot Festival that you're unlikely to find anywhere else is the Wardrobe Department. The British Fashion Council’s Ambassador for Emerging Talent, assembles a team of the most unique and and gifted designers in Britain, to create clothes, accessories and make up for the Port Eliot audience. This year includes designer Jenny Dyson, founder of cult zine Rubbish. The department will even host florist collaborator Haughty Culture.
There's even plenty for the kids to do. They're bound to never get bored at The Hullabaloo Wild Summer Ball (we're even a bit jealous of this).
With previous spoken word sessions from Jarvis Cocker (who announced it as a "festival of ideas") and Caitlyn Moran, alongside performances from Noah and the Whale, Frank Turner and British Sea Power, the standard of acts is extremely high and not something you can afford to miss.
Port Eliot Festival is held 24 to 27 July at St Germans in Cornwall. For more details check out the festival's website
Below: The most beautiful festivals in the UK
.jpg)
