Beardy Weirdies and Tornados!

We’ve tried a new festival experience here, the oddly named Bearded Theory in Derbyshire.

This was, in many ways, a very interesting experience! We took ther train down, while some friends carried the bulk of our kit, and (accidentally, honest) due to the discovery of Thatcher’s Cheddar Valley Cider, a potent carrot orange brew, setting up the tent was a little difficult. The weather also took a turn for the worst, and watching Hawkwind in a downpour must rate as on of my wetter festival memories. Until…

On Saturday after watching Justin Sullivan and popping back to our tent to grab a few things we heard a huge comotion, and the most insane winds. It turns out that an actual tornado had hit the site, taking the roof off the main stage, and creating a line of devastation no more than a few metres from our tent.

The show went on, and we survived, but it must have been one of the more surreal moments of my festival life.

The Beards are the fancy dress of choice, by the way. The aim was to try and break the record for the most people wearing false beards, but the tornado scuppered that aim.