I'd not really been camping before apart from once in France as a teenager - it doesn't appeal and I like my bed and bath. So we booked a podpad (a little hut) situated within the pink moon campsite.
It was a beautiful part of the park with old trees. The toilets and showers were surprisingly good so that was a relief :)
We arrived on the Thursday evening and the weather was good. We explored a bit but didn't go to the main site.
Friday morning was sunny and hot so we went to explore - I was surprised how big the whole festival site was, much bigger than I had expected. Lots of 'shops' and bars and cafes. The security was very good and the organisation in general.
In the arena area there were a variety of venues - the main stage and grassed viewing area, the Radio 6 tent stage, a comedy tent, a cabaret tent, literature tent, poetry tent etc. There was a waterfront stage where we watched dancing and various stages in the woods. It was picturesque in parts and awesome in others.
We saw a variety of performances and although planned a bit we also just meandered and watched whatever was happening. Some of the highlights were ALT-J, Bobby Womack, Chvrches, Marcus Brigstock, Robin Ince, Nina Conti, Germaine Greer etc etc
There was a wide variety of people there of all ages and everyone was considerate and well behaved. It helped that we were on a smaller part of the site but even in the big arenas it was all good.
We took food and a camping cooker thing but I'm not sure that I would bother if doing it again apart from stuff for breakfast (tinned peaches and digestive biscuits). We found a great pizza place. There was free tea and coffee at the podpad reception which was very much appreciated.
The only thing was that my phone broke, just wouldn't charge so I lost some of the photos that I took the first couple of days.
Also no wifi but that's probably good as forces you to disconnect and chill out.
It was a great experience....I'm not sure whether I would do it again but I'd definitely recommend it.
