It was predicted to be one of the hottest weekends of the year, little breeze, no clouds and an average temperature of 32 degrees. Luckily, we had previously purchased a good fan, because if its 32 degrees outside, in Hygge it’s going to be at least ten degrees higher! Six large containers of fresh water for drinking, light summer clothes, a good sunscreen and 50 factor sunhats. We had never before had to pack for such weather for a short weekend away in England. We reckoned Twinwood was going to be an unforgettable experience in more ways than one and we weren’t wrong.
This was our first Vintage Festival for Music and Dance in Hygge. We chose Twinwood because it seemed to offer so much more than music and was geared not just towards music lovers but all the family too. AND it offered extremely good value for money! Held on a huge WW2 aerodrome, the location Glenn Miller flew from on his fateful last flight, when his plane disappeared over the channel, Twinwood is a truly atmospheric place. There is an open embanked main arena, surrounded by a wonderful wood with many music venues set amongst the trees, some inside the old aerodrome buildings and some in marquees, offering differing music and entertainment, from Northern Soul to Classical.
A huge vintage market wraps itself around the main marquee which houses the Colonial Club with its traditional tea-room and delicious cakes (yes, we did try a few it has to be said). The market has a marvellous variety of stalls, some with beautifully made clothes and original accessories from the 1920’s to the current day. There are hairdressers who can style your hair to suit any period requested. There’s a carvery restaurant, dance studios for learning those all-important steps and a children’s play tent, entertaining the little ones with a packed programme of events. Museums that tell the history of the aerodrome, one covering some of Glenn Millers time here and another takes you around the Control Tower, plus the living quarters of staff and a garage, with mechanics. There is a late-night comedy club – Club Marlene – very risqué. Hidden amongst the trees we found The Moonshine Glade with its American Roots music. Le Monde Electrique with its energetic garage rock and electro swing. The Soul Shack – brought back some memories I can tell you. Difficult to know where to go first if I’m honest. On top of all this wonderful entertainment you have the main arena with a full programme each day which included bands, orchestras and dance music. It was fabulous!
On our arrival at the festival we were surprised by the sheer size of the camping fields surrounding the venue, luckily we had booked a few months in advance and managed to secure a field pitch quite close to the main arenas with electric and facilities at the bottom of our run. Very handy as it turned out with the heat, although and this would be our only niggle with the organisers, they did have a problem with water supplies, as the temperature got hotter the demand went up and it was very obvious they hadn’t really planned for such unprecedented heat levels. I ended up washing my hair in a bucket outside the van because there was no water to the showers, but that wasn’t really a problem. They had got a tap for drinking water, which was good because all the venues selling it ran out! There are a few walks from the site, which as it is on a hill means there are lovely views.
We are amazed by the friendliness of everyone from the organisers, security people and stall holders, to the festival goers and our fellow campers. There was no trouble, no fighting, no aggression - that we came across anyway. Even the security people loved working on this festival they told us, I wonder why? We were all out for a good time and that’s exactly what we got.
The number of festival goers in period dress was impressive. Many were immaculate and in original gear, some changing costume several times a day. There was the Mr and Miss Vintage UK 2019 competition. A display of impeccably dressed men and women. I was suitably impressed too as the heat inside the marquee was overpowering, how they managed to look so cool I will never know.
We couldn’t miss the market naturally and spent a happy time exploring all the stalls. I treated myself to a lovely Chinese hand-painted sun brolly, which proved ideal due to the lack of cloud and shade. Garry bought a Peaky Blinders Cap. He could have gone for the full outfit, as per the series, it was all there, beautifully tailored, but he just about managed to resist the temptation.
We tried to plan our days and did sort of stick to our carefully plotted program, but it has to be said that we got side-tracked quite a bit, there was quite simply so much to see and so many different genres of music to listen to.
We particularly enjoyed the acts on The Liberty Stage;- Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq, The London Belles and The Dulcettes to name but a few.
In the main arena we enjoyed Roy G Hemmings – even Garry got up to dance !!, Si Cranstoun, a fantastic performer! The Zoots. The Glenn Miller Orchestra and all those favourites and Sunday morning we spent enjoying the sounds of the Twinwood Philharmonic Orchestra.
We visited all the museums with their re-enactors who gladly enlightened us with tales and facts about life there during the war. There was the split screen ice-cream stand in a wonderful converted VW campervan and numerous other stands and stalls offering all kinds of food and drink. We didn’t get to The Nag’s Head Pub to join in the singalongs or the Officer’s Mess Bar, so it looks like we shall just have to go back!
All-in-all we had a really enjoyable time, it was obvious many people had been coming for years and were queueing to book for the 2020 festival as soon as the arena office opened each morning and after our first Twinwood Festival experience we can understand why.
Thank you for reading our Twinwood blog for more photos Garry has put a short video on Youtube, just search for Campervanhygge.
Bye for now.
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