Aeon Festival is no longer a work in progress

Aeon Festival is described as a family friendly festival, and that it certainly is. I can personally agree, as I have in the past, dragged along my sixty year old mother, my auntie and my 14 year old cousin all at once. There are kids of all ages there, right down to toddlers in ear defenders. Just as important for some people though is the fact that Aeon is dog friendly too, and what a great atmosphere that creates. Not many festivals allow dogs nowadays.

For the first couple of years Aeon was held near Hay Tor on Dartmoor, it was a tiny affair with four hundred people at ten pounds each, which was great, but now I think they have found one of the most beautiful festival sites ever, and thousands of like minded folk gather there to enjoy it. Apart from the usual green fields, I think a really beautiful festival site needs a lake, big trees and good views. Shobrooke Park near Crediton has all of these things, and more. I met the land owner a couple of years ago and he said that he just wanted us to enjoy the countryside and his land, and see the birds nesting on the lake. So that's what we did. He also said that he wanted the festival to get bigger and better each year, and it has done.

This was Aeon's sixth year and it is already as good as any other festival. Held over the bank holiday weekend, Friday was totally ruined by rain, but still, during the afternoon there were bands playing on the main outdoor stage, in the pouring rain, with a few die hard fans watching from under their umbrellas. Luckily there was a marquee up and running with some awesome bands under cover, and the dance tent was in full swing too.

Aeon now boasts four main music arenas. The main stage is situated right next to the lake, outdoors, with an amphitheatre set into the grass bank. This allows great views of the bands at any time, no matter how busy it is up the front. Bands which played there included Million Way, Mad Dog Mcrea, N.U.M.B, Gobi, Phoria, Mozura, DJ Vadim, The Drop, Coda, Soul Fi, Backbeat Soundsystem, JazZstePpa, Bristol Reggae Orchestra, Audio Razor, and many, many others.

More live bands of all kinds were to be found playing in the Caberet Voltaire marquee. They included Yes Sir Boss, Tako Lako, Dizraeli and the Small Gods, The Barbosa Collective, Spin 2, Hazaar, Freshly Squeezed, Inu, Mango Factory, The Zen Hussies, Mr Puckey, Yossouf Karembe, Gringo Star, and too many more to mention them all.

Then there's the dance tent hosted by Jam The Channel, with acts such as Bok Bok, Chris James, Rockwell, Tim Sheridan, Andromeda, Ollie303, Eats Everything, Bump, Speculum, Kasra, Edgy, Pulsar, Midland, Discreet Unit, and loads of others.

The other main venue was called the Jazz Potato stage with DJs from Exeter's Beats And Bass Society, NONOM and The Magic Hatstand amoung others. The DJ's included Andy Compton, Ben Wijay, Compo, Ben & Lex, DJ Mystery, Hezit, Highest Grade, Lewah , Ja-Fu-Re, Country Gents, SharkMan and many more played there too.

Altogether over 150 acts played on the four main stages over the weekend, but there was plenty more going on else where too. The Sika Studio Soundsystem were there with their trademark purple speakers pumping out some extremely loud beats. An open air set up which felt like a good old free party in the woods.

Apart from the music there was plenty of other entertainment too, such as workshops for graffiti, circus skills or caporera, a cinema, forest school, Yoga sessions, Tai Chi and even a toddler group for the young ones. The Turbo sports day was hilarious.

At night the designated fire pits saved us from the cold. One of them was a huge metal dragon put together by Simon Nelder Welder. A truly functional work of art which we gathered around until the early hours.

I can't fault Aeon festival, maybe they could get a life guard and allow swimming, but it would probably scare off those nesting birds.

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