Festivals Are Back In Full Swing 2022

After the covid years, being back in the fields for a full season felt good. It was obvious that people had really missed the festivals and were beaming with joy. The summer sun was on our side too, we got lucky and didn’t get rained on very much at all. Just to settle the dust!

 

We started the season with a new kid on the block. Kite Festival. You may assume like the name suggests that it’s a kite festival, confusing yes, but it’s not.  It calls itself a festival of music and ideas and its set in the beautiful countryside of Oxfordshire that happens to have a lot of kites. The bird variety that is.. For a new comer we feel it did well and has potential to be something different. Grace Jones was headlining and as per usual she didn’t disappoint.

Next up was Glastonbury. The combination of the forced two year break and delayed 50th celebration made it extra special. Even the weather was well behaved.  A truly magical weekend.  One of the highlights was having Rajasthan Heritage Brassband flashmob our stall.

Straight after we had our local Love Supreme Festival. Conveniently only a 20 minute drive from home, we had a couple of days to restock and and shower then hit the fields again. With its jazzy groovy vibes its a much more chilled and compact festival compared to Glastonbury.   Erykah Badu were amongst the headliners.

After a five-year hiatus, the Secret Garden Party returned to its usual magical spot in Cambridgeshire. It was as raucous and silly as it used to be with a few issues that will hopefully be ironed out  for next year.  SGP is never about the line-up, its more about discovering smaller acts and walkabouts. We got sited next to Small World Stage, one of our favourites.

First weekend of August is Wilderness As sites goes its our favourite. But this years line-up was weak. And with all festivals back and running, they had barely sold half of their tickets. So from a trading point it was below average.  On the plus side there was never a queue to get down to “the valley”.

 

After a nice couple of weeks back in Brighton and one of our favourite little daytime events Brunswick Festival, we headed all the way to Lincolnshire. A new one for us this year, Lost Village Festival. Set in a beautiful woodland, it’s a dance music festival with a young crowd.  Line-up is a great mixtures to explore. Our ring-pull clothing samples we have been working on with Purple Community Fund went down a storm. We are hoping to launch these as collection next spring.

To finish the season is our usual End Of The Road Festival  Indie band heavy and family orientated its a chilled one to finish the season. Just how we like it.

Festival Season 2018

When preparing for the season ahead its always difficult to predict what the weather is going to be like. But as we are in the UK, rain and cold evenings are always on the cards. So we make summer kimonos, bra tops as well as jumpers and jackets to cover all angles. Who would have thought 2018 was going to be the hottest summer in over 40 years?

First stop this year was the local Alfresco Festival  A small intimate little number focusing on groove based dance music. And as there was no Glastonbury this year we had June off festivals (but still super busy making stock) to enjoy the sunshine in Brighton.

In July we continued with Farr Festival. A young crowd where its all about dance music. And I mean from 12 midday until the early hours. Not a single band in sight. There weren’t much dressing up going on and I think the youth had prioritised buying other things to keep the weekend interesting. So it was pretty slow. Plus the only act I wanted to see, Moodymann had cancelled. Meh! But hey, it was a scorcher of a weekend so we topped up our tans and got to know our fellow traders.

Next up was Latitude Festival. Another sweltering weekend where everyone was too hot to try anything on, or wanted to buy your display parasols. At least our usual spot in front of the main stage gave us good views and entertainment.

We hadn’t been to Bimble Bandada for a few years. Small but perfectly formed. Definitely remains as one of our favourites. Even the bad weather on the Sunday didn’t put us off! Sadly they are having a break next year. Roll on 2020!

After Bimble we had one night in our own bed then headed straight to Bestival. Thankfully they moved the festival to the mainland last year, so we didn’t have to get on a ferry to the Isle or Wright or anything. We were part of the Dressing Up Tent, a shared space with lots of other creatives. Always nice not having to set up a marquee.

We had a weekend off back in Brighton before we headed to everyones favourite; Shambala! Sharing yet again with Crystal Vintage. Unfortunately I wasn’t very well so I mainly sat around on a beanbag watching the festival go by. Could have been worse!

This year also said goodbye to Festival Number 6. As it was their last one it would have been rude not to go. Being north Wales, the September rain was unavoidable but hey, we made a bit of a Welsh road trip out of it. Such a beautiful part of the world.

Yet again we take away from another festival season, happy customer and many moments of dance and laughter. Hoping 2019 will be as warm and sunny, but please mother nature give me notice so I can make more bikini tops!

Festival Kimonos

The kimono. The perfect garment to throw over anything night or day to create a bit of va-va-voom. Well, these aren’t strictly kimonos. They are a much simpler cut that creates no waste fabric.

Here is a selection we made in preparation for the festival season. We use scarves, sarongs, saris, you name it. So all complete one of a kind as usual.

Festival Season 2017

After last years challenging one I was in two mind about doing another season.  But as they say time is a great healer and I hadn’t come up with a grand plan to change career, plus I did think “can it be any worse than last year?” Not possible.  So yes, we did pack our bags and van and made it to six(!) different festivals. How did that happen?

shaboutique Glastonbury stall green fields

Well, I’m glad I did decide to do another season as the weather was (mostly) glorious! Especially Glastonbury. It was so dry people were complaining about the dust! (always something). We also finally got offered a pitch up in the Green Fields instead of down in the main market babylon. Yay! Its like a different festival up there…

glastonbury acid smilers

Latitude, Wilderness and Shambala were sunny too, but sadly Secret Garden Party did get some rain. It was the last one ever too! It was still lovely and it did clear up.

I also went along with Red Mutha to Bestival that now have moved from Isle of Wright to the mainland. I wanted to check out the new site, but we had one dry day and it rained, and rained… Mud bath! Luckily I only had half of rail of stock to pack and de-mud the other end.

bestival denim jackets

But all in all it was an great season in every aspect. Lots of new friend and happy clients.

Summer Kimonos

I really love making these kimonos. Well, they aren’t strictly kimonos, but a floaty summer layer inspired by. They are made from saris, sarongs and any other reusable fabric that comes my way. The trimmings I do buy new from my travels, the rest is all upcycled goodness.

Its a definite winner for the festival season. Put it on over your spandex, pair it with a headdress and you are ready to go!

If you want to get your hands on any of these one of a kind pieces before they go, get in touch. These is only one of each!