A festival built on “unconditional love”
Bold, brave, blissful …. bloody boss! Just some of the words to describe this year’s Beat-Herder festival. From British Airways to secret swimming pools to church on Sunday. (Forgive me father for I have sinned) It pulled out all the stops this year as well as all the B’s. And we were there for it all! (Bar the secret swimming pool and which we never actually managed to locate but hey, God loves a trier). Despite being a relatively small-scale festival, with a capacity of 16.00, it didn’t take us long to get wonderfully lost within the idyllic surroundings, relaxed vibes and endless hidden gems. Beat-Herder had something for everyone. As though we’d fallen headfirst down the rabbit hole with Alice, we embarked on a crazy adventure the minute we walked through the first gate. Greeted by friendly staff, we were welcomed into a kaleidoscope of colour, mysterious yet flamboyant chaos and the weekend
was already one to remember. Located in the heart of Ribble Valley and overlooking the beauty that is Pendle Hill, Beat-herder is a pocketful of all things weird and wonderful.
Beat-Herder is undoubtedly bonkers in all the right ways and there was a real sense of togetherness and freedom in the air as we floated from one whacky stage to another. We missed the memo on the fancy dress ‘B’ theme but were delighted to see many ingenious attempts around us from British Airways and Boris Johnson (I even got an opportunity to give him a thump!) to my ultimate favourite…Bovril!
The main headliners were the legendary Nile Rodgers and CHIC. Hot Chip and The Wailers and it wouldn’t be a fezzy without the Craig Charles Funk and Soul show which got everyone dancing and singing together. They tore the house down, playing all the classics setting the vibe just right. Admittedly I am not usually a fan of dance and techno, so I was pleased to see that there was an
eclectic choice of music.
Evidently, the creators of this obscure festival are off their bloody rockers with a much-received politic message portrayed around the different hidden gems and areas. A message of love, peace, kindness was painted around, and a clear mockery of our current government “situation” was portrayed. Another welcomed part of the event was that it wasn’t quite as much of a rip off as every other festival we tend to frequent.
Disclaimer – if you are contemplating the Waltz’s after a few sherries, I would advise wearing a hard hat of some kind, unless you are one of those pay for pain types then just go for it.
Co-founder Nick Chambers said “he hoped people had forgotten the magic of being together”during the pandemic and it felt like we were all making up for lost time. We laughed from start to finish, made a variety of colourful characters, and embraced the inexplicable nature of the festival. It is hard to believe that such an authentic event started off back in 2016 as a few hippies raving in the woods. Beat-herder you have come along way ma dear and although we are uber excited to come back we hope it doesn’t grow too much as the size felt spot on – not too big and not too small – I’d love to say we didn’t get lost, but we did…a lot.
Can’t wait to ‘herd it up’ again next year. Beat-Herder, thanks for havin’ us!
