A tale of three festivals - Part 2 - Cloud Cuckoo Land

Earlier this year I met a Marcus, who runs a small festival called Cloud Cuckoo Land. I'd heard good things about the festival from a few friends who were involved last year, and so I asked if theloveofit could come and run some games during this years festival. We got an enthusiastic response, and so plans were made to run some games akin to another big sporting event this summer.

I was lucky enough to get to go to Sunrise festival with Marcus and a few other people earlier in the year, and find out a bit more about Cloud Cuckoo Land and the ideas behind it. In summary, it's a community focused performing arts festival. But it's so much more than that. It's about people, about community building, about creativity, about trying to live differently. And all of the profits go into a trust called Koyaanisqatsi to be used to fund grass roots ecologically concious projects. There's also a long term plan too - "Somewhere over the rainbow, 'The Clouds' will become a land based project, hosting small festivals, performing arts productions, speakers and workshops, while developing a site infrastructure designed to nurture a small, permanent community of festival makers, growers, healers, eco builders and artists."

From the moment I arrived, I loved it. Set at the lovely Fernhill Farm in Somerset, the location itself fits the feel of the festival. Dominated by two large wooden barns, the site also had an array of marquees, tents, and of course a double decker speakeasy cocktail bar. People camped in the fields, stayed in the luxury on site accommodation  and used the eco loos that feed the reed bed system in the middle of the site.

Food was provided by the Fernhill Cafe and The People's Kitchen (who salvage food that was destined for landfill). There were workshops and talks from all manner of people from Mark Boyle to the Embercombe community. Entertainment ranged from storytelling in the woods to flash mob charletons. And then there was the music - oh the music! Hip hop, ska, gypsy, dub, acoustic - so much ear tingling awesomeness and crazy dancing fun. To top it off, Up-cycle and Scrapdragon were there to ensure the waste was dealt with responsibly, and allow create uses to be found for some of the things that were thrown out.

I've never been to such a small festival before (less than 1000 people), or one with such a large amount of crew and volunteers. It had a truly special feel to it, knowing that so many people had given their time and energy for free to make it happen. And the people were what made it such a great experience - there were so many interesting and amazing people there. Add in some local cider and some great music and you can't fail to have a fantastic time.

The whole festival for me lived and breathed the deconsumerism project - everything was so well thought through. It was local, eco, responsible and full of awesome people and challenging ideas. Definitely one I'll be back for next year...