FESTIVAL FUN AND FROLICS
We’ve had some glorious days of sunshine recently and now the swallows are returning it can only mean one thing: Summer is now here!
One of the many things we love about this time of the year are the festivals that seem to take place every weekend. Getting together with friends, enjoying cool music and all the other fun stuff you find at festivals these days...it’s one of life’s simplest pleasures!
With that in mind we’ve come up with a list of five unique festivals we are thinking of going to this summer and that some of you might just fancy as well. Choosing what to wear can also be part of the fun, so we’ve got some suggestions for pieces from our collection that we think will work perfectly for each festival.
PORT ELIOT, JULY 26 - 29
This is number one on our list as we’ve been several times before and it’s always been very special. We had a workshop there one year, in collaboration with Anthropologie, where we taught people how to cast using cuttlefish and create their very own unique necklace. It is one of the oldest techniques of casting and still works beautifully!
The festival takes place in the magical grounds of Port Eliot, an estate that sits on the banks of the Tiddy in Cornwall. It’s ‘a festival of ideas’ and as much about the ‘arts’ as it is about music, so there are lots of talks and workshops as well as great tunes. These are some of the things we’re excited about, in no particular order:
- Canoeing on the Tiddy
- Making our own zombie movie
- The School of Magic workshop
- Baxter Dury
- Honing our drawing skills in the Botanical Illustration workshop
- Sound bathing with Jasmine Hemsley
- The Bee Trail workshop
As it’s in Cornwall, we thought that a delicate Gold Shell Pendant might be an appropriate piece to wear.
BLUE DOT, JULY 19 - 22
We’ve never been to this before but it looks seriously cool. Blue Dot takes place in the grounds of the Jodrell Bank Deep Space Observatory near Manchester. There’s loads of cool music as well as live science experiments (!) and surreal art installations. The music line up looks fab and includes:
- Little Dragon
- Future Islands
- The Chemical Brothers
- The Flaming Lips
As there’s a bit of a deep space thing going on, it would only make sense to wear one of our Zodiac pendants or rings or maybe a Starry Night Cosmic bracelet.
FESTIVAL NO. 6, SEPTEMBER 6 - 9
This is another festival we’ve never been to and it’s hot on our list, it looks amazing. Festival No. 6 happens in Portmeirion, a fantasy village in North Wales that was built to resemble a Mediterranean town. Surrounded by sea, mountains and woodland, it looks magical. This is pretty much a pure music festival, and we’re looking forward to seeing:
- Franz Ferdinand
- Everything Everything
- Django Django
- Tim Key (OK, he’s a comedian...but he’s hilarious)
- Suggs
Given it’s surrounded by lush woodland maybe an Apple Twig Ring would go down well?
STANDON CALLING, JULY 26 - 29
This one is in the grounds of a stately home in Hertfordshire, so it’s not too far away from those of you who live in London. Standon Calling looks excellent for two reasons. Number one: it’s got a great music line up. Number two: you can bring your dogs! And since Foxy is as much a part of the team at Zoraida HQ as anyone else that makes us very happy indeed. Highlights for us include:
- Paloma Faith
- Bryan Ferry
- Morcheeba
- Goldfrapp
- The Horrors
- 2manydjs
- Fleetmac Wood (no, that’s not a typo...they’re great, if you like Fleetwood Mac?)
- A dog show open to all
- A Cosmos themed fancy dress carnival!
With this theme we thought you could layer up with the new Starry Night collection to finish off your cosmic look.
RED ROOSTER, MAY 31 - JUNE 2
OK, we’re not going to lie to you. We don’t recognise any of the acts playing at the Red Rooster festival apart from Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton. And only know about him because we saw him on TV a while ago. But it looks amazing! It’s all about American roots music at this bash in Suffolk. Think: country, blues, soul, folk, and bluegrass.
Keeping with the American theme, there’s going to be lots stalls selling the type of food usually only found in the Deep South. Any festival that has a Macaroni Cheese Truck has got to be good, right?
How about our silver feather earrings that channel native american vibes for you to look the part?
Now, we said we were going to write a list of just five unique festivals we thought were worth checking out. But there’re so many going on that proved impossible, so we’ve added one more that tickles our fancy...
PETE THE MONKEY, JULY 12 -14
We had to include this as we love the name and as it’s in France. The UK’s not the only place where you can find great festivals. Why not combine a holiday across the Channel with some great music?
Pete the Monkey, which takes place between the sea and forest in Normandy, is also for a great cause that’s close to our hearts. Besides having a good time, the festival aims is to raise money and awareness for a Bolivian conservation charity. The Jacj Cuisi Wild Animal Refuge & Rehabilitation Centre does an amazing and important job of looking after Amazonian monkeys that have been rescued from animal traffickers.
Being in France, the food looks fantastic. They’ve got restaurants from Paris putting on pop up gourmet dining experiences and loads of food trucks as well. The music looks excellent too. We like the sound of:
- Analog Africa
- Francois & The Atlas Mountains
- Songhoy Blues
So for this fun animal loving festival we thought The Golden Monkeynut would be the perfect accessory to add to your look.
So, maybe see you on the dancefloor?