Take a walk around Larmer Tree gardens and you’ll find a true myriad of wonders to enjoy. Venture into the Lost Woods to find a puppet theatre, a hidden stage and board gaming. Take a stroll behind the main stage and you’ll find an area ripe for children beside some bird houses, where the festival’s resident peacocks and parrots live. Or simply roam the main zone to find workshops, three music and comedy tents, a multitude of craft goods to buy and some other strange treats. It all combines to make Larmer Tree one of the most eccentric, but welcoming, festivals around.
Although, save for the Comedy (more on that later), you might find yourself flipping through the timings to find little you recognise. You see, whilst Tom Jones graced the stage twice before the festivities had started, most the acts are unknown. Sure, soon-to-disband festival stalwarts Bellowhead had the audience jumping and cheering to their energetic hits, but outside this you were left to explore, to find acts of your own accord, to bump into their greatness. It’s a small festival with a focus on the little things in life, it doesn’t matter whether it’s by necessity or design, it creates an almost unparalleled atmosphere of community – something even similarly sized festivals fail to do.
Once you get passed the ticket price, up to £200 depending on how early you purchased them, there’s very little here to rip you off. Few food vendors, if any, overcharge or skimp on quality; there’s not a bad meal to be had, even with the smorgasbord of choice with Chinese food, Indians, rotisseries, fish curries and more to grace you palate. The beer tents, and there are many, are all uniform in price; £4 for a pint at a festival is not to be sniffed at. And the stands may sell luxury gear but most don’t charge luxurious prices, there are bargains to be had. Expect to spend money but because it’s all so reasonable.
Finally, the piece-de-resistance, the part that keeps me coming back again-and-again, the comedy. Over four nights some incredible comedians tore the roof off the ARC (the comedy tent): Sara Pascoe, Ed Byrne, Seann Walsh, Stephen Bailey, Mark Simmons and Russell Kane, to name a few.
Whilst their were down-points – James Acaster completely lost it due to hecklers, David Trent basically ranted over two-year-old videos and there weren’t enough seats for the audience (again!) – the quality of the rest made them unfortunate misses rather than being indicative of the whole. Seann Walsh turned a difficult audience, the same that derailed Acaster, into an unusual but sidesplittingly funny cheese-based set. Alex Edelman performed a near perfect 20-minute routine whilst Pascoe and Byrne showed why they’re at the top of their game.
This would be enough but for Larmer Tree’s 25th festival it got the inimitable Bill Bailey to take the Main Stage through a rousing musical, comedy spectacle. In retrospect Larmer Tree feels more like a comedy festival, with music to keep you entertained whilst it’s not on, but it’s so quirky, joyful and entertaining you just don’t care.
JJ Morris Blog 