On the August bank holiday I headed over to the Isle of Wight for my (whisper it)... hen do. I don't like the phrase hen do, I don't know why, perhaps it for the same reason I don't like the word fiancée - it just seems too grown up (and maybe, dare I say it, slightly chavvy). Therefore I will refer to the weekend as the Faux Fest weekend, because that's where were spending the majority of our time. The Faux Fest is a very small festival and all the acts are tribute acts. For me this is my perfect festival; there are not too many people, I can see the stage, and I know all the songs!
So early Friday morning, I packed up all my camping stuff, woke up my housemate Laura and dragged her to Waterloo to catch a train and jump on a ferry over to the Isle of Wight. Once we had stepped off the ferry and walked down the pier enjoying the fresh sea side air (how our London lungs appreciated it!) we were met by George who sped us along to Ventnor for our pre-wedding hair trials. I won't post any pictures of the hair trial up her until after the wedding, even though no one reads this blog, but I like the suspense! Needless to say all the bridesmaids looked fabulous! As we left the hairdressers, in proper I've just spend tons of time and money on my hair style, it decided to absolutely piss it down. At least one of the group was organised though, as umbrella's appeared from nowhere to allow us to pop to the pub for lunch and drinks.
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| The view from the pub showing the lovely weather. |
After a bit of food and drink we headed over to the Faux Fest to check out where we would be staying for the weekend. Being a special weekend we'd decided to book a tipi, which Laura, and Maid of Honour George stayed in with me. It was amazing. The best part was, it was already set up, all we had to do was jump in out of the rain and unpack. We had carpet, rugs, cushions and a table all included - we really were living the high life! There weren't many people camping at this festival, and only 3 tipis, and as ours was the biggest I felt doubly special. After a few drinks we braved the rain, which had now become a drizzle to check out the field and the acts. The only other festival I have been to is Glastonbury (very many times) so the fact this one was only in one field, with one stage was a novelty. You could be queuing up for the portaloos and still hear fake Stevie Wonder crooning to you as waited. The acts on the first night were good but to be honest I couldn't tell you which songs they did. We had Stevie Wonder and Barry White performed by the same guy, and then a Tribute to Bob Marley which got us all dancing.
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| We all have our expertly styled hair covered by hats or ruined by rain so I can show you this photo without ruining any hair surprises. |
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| One of the very few photos I took of the acts - my excuse was I was too busy dancing! |
The next morning we woke refreshed and ready for the big day, when others would be joining us. I have to admit we cheated a little by heading to my Mum's for a shower and breakfast, but by lunchtime we were back at the tipi to get into our fancy dress costumes. You may have gathered that I am not particularly girly and my idea of hell would be dressing up as something with the word sexy in front, you know, sexy police officers, sexy nurses, sexy pirates, nuns, fairies or anything similar. Therefore it was suggested we just had the theme of MEN. Yep as long as you were dressed as a man you could come as you liked! Notice how men never need to sex themselves up for fancy dress? Well we were definitely going away from the sexy cliché unless you've got a thing for John McCirirck of course.
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| Laura halfway through her transformation... |
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| George, sorry John, has a sandwiches whilst Laura is still painting her face. |
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| Me as Wolverine - ok maybe that's a little bit sexy. |
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| Laura finally finished her transformation into the Spirit of Jazz whilst John McCririck flashes us his best smile |
When we had finished getting changed we were joined by an Amish Surgeon, Felix the Farmer, and Chris the Builder. I was really impressed with the effort these guys put in dressing up, and I am honoured that they really embraced the theme, fully and without hesitation. They simply were the best men for the job. That evening we were treated to the musical stylings of Tina Turner and the Bootleg Beatles, George and I added more dance moves to our routine and, I hope, a good time was had by all.
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| Outside the Tipi and ready for a dance. |
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| I am Wolverine, and therefore must impress with my mutant strength! |
As the sun started to go down my camera battery sadly died but I had a great fun dancing to old songs and drinking ginger ale - men drink ale! We danced until they closed the field and then headed back to our tipi to sleep off all the alcohol. On Sunday we had a relaxing morning at the beach and then back to the festival to chill out to Beyonce (amazing voice) Madonna (spectacular backing dancer) and Michael Jackson (the noodles I had when he was on were delicious!) and one more night in the tipi before travelling back to London and reality.
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| The lads have a drink in the tipi |
I had a fantastic night on Saturday, and an even better weekend. I think the festival was well organised, friendly and laid back, and I am already putting it in my diary for next year. Until then though let me leave you with John McCricick demonstrating the correct way to enter a tipi.
