Folkestone Mermaid Festival 2014, Saturday parade

A few snaps from the Folkestone Mermaid parade (and a little before and after).

Folkestone Mermaid Festival 2014 (118 pics)

Cray Festival 2014

Excellent event but the long run of good weather came to an end and most of the day saw black clouds scud across the sky, bringing occasional rain and driving many people into the marquees.

Fortunately The Living Arts Show was superb.  Was great to see the various paint jobs as they progressed.

Unfortunately, because of the delays with the main catwalk show starting and the fact that you had to hold your place if you wanted to get anywhere near the stage, it did mean I missed at least two bands, who sounded really good.

Curtailed my stay somewhat earlier than I'd have liked as a huge bank of black cloud was rolling ominously towards St Mary Cray rec.



Cray Festival 2014 (277 pics)

Create Music Festival 2013, Ashford

After a pretty grim & grey start, once again the sun appeared and blue skies graced a summer event.  Had never even heard of the Create Festival before, despite this being its 18th year.  Which just shows how many excellent events can happen without you knowing anything about them.

The standard of music was superb and eclectic.  I spent the whole day scurrying between the four stages.  I tried to see every act but missed a couple.  The problem, if such it can be called, is that most of the acts playing were of a standard that you really wanted to watch the whole set, but that was impossible if you wanted to take in as much as possible.

Band of the day, for me, was the fantastic Riskee & the Ridicule.  Definitely should have been the headline act.  To be blunt, they were head and shoulders above Dodgy.  The Riskees are a lot more relevant and should have got top billing, end of.

Also superb were the frankly barking Blacken the Name.  I was literally half deaf for an hour after listening to their particularly ear splitting brand of metal.  This is the kind of performance you want to see as a snapper.  Their fans provided security with a rare bit of activity by constantly knocking down the barriers but it was all in good spirits.

I didn't see one duff band.  Pretty remarkable achievement given the size of the bill.  The dance tent really livened up as the afternoon wore on and I found myself in among a load of (mostly) young ravers at one point.  It was like going back in time 25 years ;)  Good to see the 2013 ravers still throw the same shapes as the elderly used to in the late 80s/early 90s ;) Props to that older guy in the leather jacket with his repertoire of funky moves (lol)

Other notable performances among the many were Him & Her, Dulcie May & the Mystery Cats, Parachuting Monkeys, Adam White, Adam Dowling, Van Susans, Hey Joni and Mooli.

Down sides included the ridiculously small number of toilets for the size of the crowd, many of whom were obviously drinking plenty; and the ridiculously large number of security people.  Next time the organisers should have more bogs and less muscle ;)  But these are minor criticisms (I would be devastated if there was nothing to complain about ;).  Create 2013 was an outstanding event.

Create Music Festival 2013 (313 pics)

Tentertainment 2013, Sunday

Was off in Maidstone snapping the (massive!) Race For Life earlier in the day so missed some of the acts, including Him & Her, who are excellent and who I was hoping to catch.

The quality was generally high and the weather was perfect.  We don't often manage a proper hot summer's day now but we had one on Sunday.  The crowd was a little bit less lethargic but most seemed happy to loll about in the sunshine drinking Pimm's instead of getting up and dancing ;)

Loved Van Susans (I thought the lead singer was going to flake out in the heat at one point, but he managed to stay on his feet lol).  Was also some decent music in the yurt, but several acts struggled against the noise coming from the main stage.

The extremely popular local stars, The Tuesdays, were the final act.  As with last year, tech gremlins with the sound gave them a headache or two but I don't think the crowd were too bothered.



Tentertainment 2013, Sunday (93 pics)

Tentertainment 2013, Saturday

Decent weather, though with some annoying cloud early on.  Saturday's line up was quite hit & miss.  Charlotte Rose Ellis wasn't able to perform for some reason.  Other acts that were supposed to be playing either didn't, or did so in a different order to that billed.  Coco & the Butterfields were a no show for their yurt spot but made it for their main stage performance later (I missed that, the heat had taken its toll by then).

Phase 5 were great and the only act to spark a bit of life in the generally listless crowd.  So few people got up and danced!  Dancing people who have had a bit too much to drink are the life blood of snappers (lol).

Also superb were Daniel Jeanrenaud & the Standard Lamps.  Personally, I would reserve the yurt for acoustic acts and the main stage for the foot stomping bands.  But what do I know ;)



Tentertainment 2013, Saturday (101 pics)

Love Music Hate Racism 2013, Chatham, Medway

The gusty wind, frequent grey skies and occasional rain did little to deter the revellers at Medway's 7th LMHR event.



LMHR 2013, Chatham (117 pics)

Tenterden Folk Festival 2012

Again, decent bit of luck with the weather, some sun on both days.  Didn't stop long on either the Saturday or the Sunday but the standard of entertainment seemed good.  Think I was a bit morrised out by this stage of the season, having snapped morri seemingly endlessly for five months ;)

Tenterden Folk Festival 2012 (110 pics)

Hop hoodening 2012, Canterbury

Heralding the start of autumn...not that we actually had a summer in 2012...


Hop hoodening 2012 (77 pics)

Aylesham Miners' Festival 2012

The traditional annual miners' festival.  No rain!  And even a bit of sunshine.

Aylesham Miners' Festival 2012 (74 pics)

Blessing of the Seas 2013, Margate

I'll be honest, I don't really understand what this is about.  Other than it's a Greek custom to bless the seas and a young lad goes in the water as part of the ceremony.  A gathering of local dignitaries attend, watched by a mostly local audience of spectators.  But I kind of enjoy it, which is why I go and grab a few snaps :D


Blessing of the Seas 2013 (88 pics)

Tentertainment 2012

Tentertainment 2012 (85 pics)

Maidstone Mela 2012

The sun shone and the temperature soared as the colourful Maidstone Mela celebrated its 10th anniversary with a great day of events.

Part 1 (100 pics)

 

Part 2 (113 pics)