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Thursday 9 July 2020

Throwing an At Home Festival

Lets face it- 2020 is not going to be the year for outdoor festivals and general mass gatherings, so why not have a festival from home? And even so, having a festival from home is a great way to ensure you've definitely got a ticket, front row seats and you don't have to rough porta loos and camping right?


I was due to go to a couple of festivals and gigs this year which have been cancelled or rescheduled and with Glastonbury being cancelled, I decided to hold my own little festival in the back garden! With Glasto set highlights from previous years being played on the BBC over the weekend, it was the perfect time to hold a festival with guaranteed good music.


I invited our guests- all four of them (which adhered to the current covid guidelines at that time) and to get into the festival of course they needed some tickets! I used Canva to create these and then ordered some festival style wrist bands from eBay.


Having been to many festivals over my time, I had plenty of paraphernalia around that we could use to decorate both ourselves and the garden, starting with my VW tent!


I am obsessed with this tent, having always wanted a VW campervan. Alas this is most likely the closest I'll ever get to owning one! Regardless I love it plus it's perfect for festival camping, being the same dimensions of a camper van and easy to spot in a sea of tents. The flower power design lends itself perfectly for a festi-feel too. If you've got room for a tent in your garden, I'd definitely recommend putting one up for this kind of party as it a) adds to the theme and b) it's extra space for people to stay if needs be or c) if you have kids coming, playing in a tent would be great fun for them!


Next to the camper van, I laid out a suitcase full of festival dress up for my guests to raid and embellish themselves with. As you can see below, my embellished captain's hat (which I have a tutorial on making here) went down rather well with one of my mates! From sequin leggings to, novelty glasses, head wear and general embellishment, there was something for everyone to adorn.





At many a festival there are signs to various stages, yoga areas etc so I thought I'd make my own signage for the garden using some cardboard and printed signs that were themed around the names of my guests. I then added some banners of the festival name around the garden- again designing all of this on Canva before gluing, sticking and tying it all together.


Adding some bunting can also add to the festival feel. I usually have an abundance of it but I couldn't locate it on this occasion so I made do with what I had and made some last minute paper ones. Bunting will always remind me of festivals when it blows in the wind and adds another decorative element. Flags would also look really good to put up if you have some to hand or have time to make any. I also had some white card and strung that up for us to write affirmations and other meaningful thoughts that come to mind when you're drunk haha.


For food we fired up the bbq and served sweet potato wedges, spicy chicken wings, hot dogs and burgers like you'd get at the food vans.


Our "Main Stage" was framed with some straw bales which I was kindly given for free by a local horse owner. I imagine these won't be as easy to source if you're not rural but again they really added to that festival feel. Also at the "Main Stage" we had Glastonbury playing on iPlayer for the entire weekend via an old tv which we covered with a bbq cover between rain showers! This area was the perfect little dance area and helped to section the garden off into "festival" areas.


As the evening drew in, we flicked a disco ball on and gave everyone glow sticks to adorn themselves with whilst we played drinking games with jelly shots and lots of laughs.


We had such a great time with our friends and I really enjoyed putting the weekend together, so much so that I'd love to do this as an annual thing! With a bit more planning, who knows what I could create for upcoming years. Flags will be a definite yes and more weird and wonderful decor. Watch this space...

*DISCLAIMER* We only stood this close together for the photo- the rest of the time we were socially distancing.
All in all I had a brilliant time hosting our at home festival and our friends loved it too.


Did you celebrate Glasthomebury or would you do an at home festival?


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