Spending one single day at a child-friendly festival, that was not exactly how I had pictured my summer. But hey, there's no use crying over spilled milk...
I Had To
I didn't want to go, but I knew I had to. After spending the last 8 months as a prisoner in my own house, I had to grab this chance to have a night out with my friends - even though I didn't feel like going at all.
Gitannekes Foor
Every year at the end of the summer, there's a small festival in the village where I live: GitannekesFoor. It's a kind of gipsy-/hippy-/folk festival, with loads of different styles of music. It's not really my kind of festival but quite some friends go there every year.
My best guess would be that they go there because they can bring their kids - it's a very child-friendly festival - and once it gets late they can put the kids to sleep on the campsite and get drunk.
No need to find a babysitter, while still being able to go out and party. Just perfect... for them. Not so perfect for me, because I don't like kids. Never have, never will.
Only Chance
Because I've had two slipped disk-surgeries this year, I have been homebound for 8 months now. The summer has come and gone while I wasn't allowed to sit in a car, let alone drive. Heck, most of the time, I couldn't even stand up for more than half an hour.
The festivals we normally visit all came and went without us. So did the parties.
Since this one festival was only a short bike ride away, it was my one and only chance to experience that special festival feeling this year. So, kids or no kids I simply couldn't let this one pass.
Backyard Camping
Maybe I would have stayed at home, if this couple of friends hadn't asked us if they could put their caravan in our backyard. Their dog wasn't allowed on the festival campsite and since we lived so close by...
They arrived the night before. It was quite a hassle to park both the car and the caravan in between all my raised gardening beds, but some trial and error have never done anyone harm. It took some stress and a lot of laughs, but in the end they succeeded.
Festival Day
In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast in the backyard together. It really felt like we were camping, and I think that was the tipping point.
The weather was nice, we were having a good time among friends, and that's when I decided I would go with them.
After all, if my back would start acting up, we would have either our own campervan on the festival site, or I could take the bike and be home in 5 minutes. In short, there was no excuse left for me to stay home.
It was already pretty late when we left. You know how girls are if they need to get dressed, especially when they haven't been out for months. I guess it was around dinner time that we said goodbye to our friends' dog, telling him he should guard the castle, and left for the festival.
The Festival Feeling
When we arrived at the campsite, I felt at home immediately. One of the coolest things of a gipsy-/hippie festival are the cars and camper vans you can spot on the campsite.
Loads and loads of oldtimer vans with flower power paint or interiors... I must admit I would have been perfectly happy if they would have left me wandering around the campsite all night, looking at those beautiful, colorful cars.
But since the whole idea was to finally meet up with some friends again, they almost dragged me to the entrance.
Which looked actually pretty cool.
It looked like someone had put a giant pink hat on top of a small wooden house.
I was a little impressed, lol, especially when I noticed there was a big slide from the top of the hat all the way down to the ground.
I don't have any pictures of that slide, but there were children crawling all over it anyway, so it would have never been a fun pic to look at. :0)
Fair
Once we had passed the entrance, we arrived on a big field that really looked like some old-school fair.
There was this (fairly small) big wheel, and a sort of merry-go-round in which the seats are attached to the middle with rope. When the middle part starts turning, the seats start moving sideways and it feels like your flying.
All around the field, you could find these 'Alice In Wonderland'-style signposts. How I would have loved to take one of those back home...
Altogether, it looked just beautiful.
Meet Up
We managed to run into a couple of friends, but since it was about time for bed for the kids, we didn't really have the time to connect.
By the time they had put their kids to bed and came back to the festival ground, my back started to hurt, and it was time for me to leave.
I know, it's a bit of a shame, but at least the beer was good. The bike ride back home was really funny. I was so wasted from drinking all the beer, and the small roads through the forest were so small... hahaha, I was just happy I made it home in one piece.
Take Things As They Come
The day after, I was too hung over to get out of bed. Not really a surprise after being sober for 8 months.
Was it what I would have liked it to be? No, absolutely not. Did I have fun? Yes, without a doubt.
So yet another lesson learned:
Sometimes you have to settle for what's within your limited possibilities. You need to stop wishing for things that aren't within reach, and just try to enjoy what you do have...
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