Coventry Godiva Festival 2007
Wed 25th Jul 07
Coventry Godiva Festival Coventry Godiva Festival 2007 Most of you have probably never heard of The Godiva Festival, to be honest as a regular festival punter who usually does a few each season (Download, Leeds, and V) I had never heard of this until a friend mentioned it.
They raved on about how great it was and how much there was to do, and that there was something for everyone, and best of all its all absolutely free. It sounded to good to be true, so armed with my wellies and waterproofs I travelled to Coventry’s memorial park in a desperate attempt to demonstrate that no festival can be that good.
Upon arrival at the site, which for someone who doesn’t live in Coventry is a little bit tricky to find, I was expecting the usual stop and search and hassle from security telling me that I cant go in through certain entrances due to “not having the correct wristband.” Thankfully this wasn’t a problem as it was a free…that’s right a free festival, its not often I get to hear the words festival and free in the same sentence. So due to it being free there were no wristbands to wear, it was a simple process of going through any entrance my heart desired...Oh it’s been a while since I’ve had that kind of freedom at a festival.
What about all the alcohol that we were carrying? Surely security would have something to say about that, I know the rules... ‘No Bottles or cans’, or ‘empty your bottles into a plastic cup’ as most festivals like you to re-mortgage your house so that you can afford the drinks from inside the arena.
As we approached security at the entrance half expecting some stupid comment about our drink-instead of an interrogation the security person smiled and said “hope you have a nice day.”
My brain was deeply confused at this point! A festival with lots of freedom and where we’re allowed to bring in as much alcohol as we could possibly carry? This felt like a weird sensation to the point of almost feeling guilty that we were at a free festival without being forced to buy the drinks on sale inside the arena. This was like being in festival heaven.
Surely something this surreal must have something to hide... They have possibly arranged it to be relaxed, friendly and free to hide the fact that it’s a crap line –up. Upon entering the venue a lady strolled upto us and gave us a free goodie bag and programme- so we opened the programme to check the line-up which must be crap to make it a free festival... Holy macaroni, the Godiva Festival organisers have really thought about the line up, headlining the main stage was none other than the Human League and Super Furry Animals. Ok so far so good, they have got big named headliners but what if you aren’t into that sort of thing? Well they had up and coming bands on the bill- The Cribs, The Noisettes and The Enemy who look set to be a huge success and if rock/pop/indie music wasn’t your thing there was also a hip-hop tent as well as a comedy tent. There was even a stage for singer/songwriters too.
The stalls and bars were priced well below usual festival prices, and they had a fun fare as well as numerous other side stalls, which you could easily spend most of the weekend browsing through.
Aside from the stages there was even an area set aside for shows which included the Cheshire Dog show, stuntmen shows, and free running, and firework displays to name just a few of the things that were going off.
There were also various acts on the Market Stage, my favourite act was Bruce Airhead, he blows a balloon up then somehow manages to climb inside it. Nothing short of incredible.
After looking at the line-up and vast number of things to do, this is where our party had its one and only argument... which acts to see and which ones to miss.
So after all these different things going on, it couldn’t possibly get any better than that, could it? Well Yes in fact it did, they even have a procession starting from the city centre and making its way into the arena on the Saturday. The procession was full of bright, vibrant, interesting, designs and costumes, which in itself was worth making its way to the festival for. I guess it goes without saying that Lady Godiva (not the real one) was at the front of the procession, but unlike the real Lady Godiva she wasn’t naked, and wasn’t on a horse. In fact she was in a Jaguar taken from the film Austin Powers...the Shaguar!
This festival really did have it all...lots of freedom, pleasant and friendly security, no limits on what you could and couldn’t take in to the arena, stalls, bars, vast range of music to cater for everyone, lots of mini shows, and a laid back atmosphere which made this festival suitable for all ages from the very very young to the very very old.
There was only two problems with this festival...one the weather, it pissed it down on Friday and Sunday, but was blistering hot on the Saturday, I know they have no way of controlling the weather but it would have been so much better if it had been nice weather. Secondly if anything, there was too much to do that it caused arguments deciding what to see.
Looking at the Godiva website, it claims to be the Midlands biggest and best free festival, I have to disagree with that claim unfortunately, I personally think this is the Worlds biggest and best free festival!
Absolutely faultless! I’ve already made arrangements to be there next year regardless of the line-up!
review by Luke Seagrave
photos by Luke Seagrave
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