Dress up Saturday – good effort Larmer Tree!

We begin our day with a fry up at the tent and have a bit of a slow start to the day. We do make it into the Big Top for a Bollywood Dancing workshop though. The class is brilliantly led and although we're all over the place and generally a bit crap, we're in good company!

Wandering around the Artist Quarter there's all kinds of stuff available. Taking the kids in there does induce a few heart-stopping moments as they lean on tables full of glass things while we're distracted by shiny stuff but it works out well. There's hand made jewellery, guitars, bags and bits to keep a magpie happy for days.

Another wander around the Lost Wood and we decide to try out the Woodland Crafts area. Our boy wants to make a magic wand for his Harry Potter costume he's wearing later. The instruction is really good and we're left feeling pretty confident about our nippers carefully using some pretty sharp tools to make mobiles, wands and other bits and bobs. Hanging from the trees above our work space are some beautifully carved dragonflies.

The attention to detail around the Lost Wood makes it a special and stunning place to spend time. Origami flowers are stuck into the ground and look like they belong, hand made fairies with children's wishes hang from the trees and bird shaped mirrors reflect light into dark corners.

'Folk in a Box' allows a person to squeeze into a tight space with one of the weekends performers for a one on one show – a great idea!
After a spot of lunch, we wander back to the tent to get changed into our fancy dress and then to get faces painted. This years' theme is Book Alikes (your favourite characters from books). I was stunned by the efforts of last year and this year is even better. An entire Alice tea party congregate, The Famous Five (complete with Timmy), Peter Pan and Wendy, comic book heroes, Where's Wally and many, many more. The effort that some people have gone to is great, and together it all looks pretty spectacular.

On another wander we settle in front of Wandering Ska. A ska band on the move around the festival playing loads of great ska tunes (I think the clue's in the name there), with a mobile amp and a great set of lungs. Another crowd pleaser is the guys in The Dukes Box. A tiny caravan (if you can call it that). It's been fashioned into a jukebox with a 4 piece band squeezed in. We hear them play a brilliant cover of Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing In The Name Of'. What a great idea!

Back at the main stage we get chatting to some new friends and enjoy Tunng and a beer. Their set comes to a close with the brilliant 'Bullets'. The electronic effect left running as they leave the stage.

Next up are Cornershop. I thought I would only recognise 'Brim Full of Asha' but a few of their tracks seem familiar. They don't really seem to get going but it' pleasant enough.
Babylon Circus is today's headliner. I'm not familiar with their stuff but another reggae/ ska headliner is never going to be a bad thing in my world. My schoolboy French is put to the test. We move on to try and catch a bit of The Dub Pistols but the place is rammed. Having seen them before, two of us men folk kiss our wives and kids goodnight and head to see the delights of Club Larmer.

The Uplifter is in the programme as reggae beats but when we arrive, although it's uplifting, I think we've missed him and instead find Smertin and Yoshi on the decks playing a real cross section of dancey genres. The tunes seem pretty good but it's rammed, hot and sweaty. We stay for a while and decide to get out for some fresh air.

Back outside, we find a guerrilla movement banging drums, beating bins and shaking maracas. Basically, anything that will make a noise is being used to do so! We join in with our limited percussive talents and finally hit the hay in the early hours.

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