review by Zoë

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Guildford Live 2001

Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th August 2001
Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey., England MAP
weekend £64, Fri £27, Sat £32, Sun £30, camping £25 (per tent)

I like this festival - its small, doesn't have many big bands and occasionally falls into the corporate trap, but overall it tries very hard to be a great festival. It has the best loos of any festival I've visited, including plenty of running water for hand washing, face cooling or drinking. It books excellent bands, even though they are passed their peak or are on their way up or are slightly different, every set I saw this year was well played with good sound quality. It has a good range of food stalls that charge reasonable prices without being forced to standard fares. It has improved since last year in many ways - the dance tent being the biggest improvement with some superb decoration and great sets - particularly Banco de Gaia.

The kids field is great, but doesn't impinge on the rest of the festival as it's well separated. There is a space for new talent on the Unsung Heroes Stage and this year there was even room for comedy with the arrival of the new Comedy Tent at the heart of the festival. There is plenty of space to chill out and relax despite the site being pretty small and the Guilfin lounge is given loads of room for those who want to listen to DJ's spin while reading some pretty interesting literature and finding out whats going on in the world. There are even healing tents on site for those people who need some help or simply want to try something new.


The festival had less markets this year which was a shame as last year they provided an intimate feel which was lacking this weekend, but then again we don't come to festivals to shop anyway. Some great new seated Café's were in evidence this year which meant more space to chat to new people (e.g. Henry's Beard). And we certainly did that - chat - we met loads of people who were relaxed enough to chat to a stranger, how good is that when you are really sat in the middle of a large urban area in the South East renowned for its unfriendly nature.


free tea anyone?
Of course the corporate stuff is annoying - the Iced Tea stall was rather large and right in the centre of the site. But then again they were giving out free iced tea and that meant we didn't have to buy a drink for our little boy all weekend - a big saving! Cigarette machines on site???? Mmmmm, don't know what to say about that one, so I'll leave it.

Overall, this small festival provided us with a big weekend - loads of laughs, dancing and high jinks - super, smashing and great.