Was it a fever dream? I was back at a mid-‘70s house party, throwing up in the living room after necking a Watney’s Red Barrel Party Four, surrounded by indifferent dancing teenage girls. It was the Bay City Rollers for God’s sake! And, mystifyingly to me, the grey-haired ladies in the crowd were lapping it up – tartan and all. Oh, come on you old grouch – it was fun! Hmm, if I never Shang-a-Lang again it’ll be too soon. Bye Bye Baby indeed.

Don’t get me wrong. Good Vibrations is a lovely little festival – one boho main street and three or four stages – with an enthusiastic horde of circa 16–22-year-olds who seemed to outnumber the oldies. These yutes had a wild old time, not least in the three thumping late-night dance tents. There were plenty of young families too, with loads of creative activities keeping the younger kids happily occupied over the weekend. 

While people come to this festival from all over, it somehow manages to retain an endearingly local feel. I felt at times – not least during Gentleman’s Dub Club’s habitually excellent set – as if I’d crashed a raucous private party. And who doesn’t enjoy doing that? Talking of the music, the line-up was varied and impressively curated for a festival of this size. Ms Dynamite, London Afrobeat Collective, Folkadelix and rave-legends Orbital were stand-outs for me. Best of all, though, was DJ Rafiki, whose eclectic set included a celebration of 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh (he lives on Ashdown Forest as you surely must know) and a fabulous violinist who played some spine-tingling Irish tunes.

The festival’s Ashdown Forest setting is beyond spectacular. With the good weather it was surely impossible not to chill out in its gorgeous embrace. Nonetheless, I decided to turbocharge my chilling by starting my Friday off with the excellent – and excellently named – Atomic Kirtan (Om Shanti), followed by an equally excellent singing workshop, and my Saturday off with some gloriously soporific Yoga Nidra. Sorry if I snored. 

There’s a satisfyingly non-commercial feel to Good Vibrations which, while not yet rare, is becoming rarer at festivals in these economically challenging times. Its lovingly cobbled-together vibe makes it easy to forget the trials and tribulations of everyday life for a couple of days and sink into a kinder, warmer world.

For me, the highlights of the festival this year were found in gentle pursuits. I enjoyed the music of course, but the memories that stay with me are the quieter ones:  wandering through the stunning woodland with a couple of friends, listening to a fascinating talk about Ashdown Forest (who knew that Forest with a capital F refers to medieval forest law and denotes an open area and not trees?), going on a guided butterfly, spider and dragonfly hunt accompanied by overheated adults and a gaggle of super-excited kids with butterfly nets (apparently – and incredibly – the Painted Lady butterfly migrates to Morocco, getting through a few generations on the way), and just generally lounging around, people watching with a cold beer in my hand. 

There were plenty of things I might have done, of course, but didn’t. For example, the spa and sauna looked inviting, but hey, it was a bit hot for that, and the yoga (and other healing and spiritual pursuits) were appealing, but not quite appealing enough given my existing chillaxing levels. Likewise, many of the talks – other than the Ashdown Forest one, that is, which I happened upon by fortuitous chance. It’s an enduring festival challenge: it’s simply impossible to do everything. 

Getting on to the nitty gritty: the food choice was fairly limited, it’s a small festival after all, but well chosen. I went for the Indian and Moroccan veggie options. There were pizzas, of course, and a variety of options for meat eaters; the three bars were busy, well stocked, and the beer was gratifyingly cold; and the camping areas were spacious enough not to be sleeping on top of your neighbour’s head. Lugging your camping stuff back up to the car park is quite a task though, it’s a steep old hill. I took a rest halfway and enjoyed the incredible view. I’m hoping to walk down it again next year…

Review written by Neil Del Strother

See Neil's official website here -  www.neildelstrother.co.uk