WE ARE in the height of summer and the festival season with food, farming, flowers petanque, and planes.

Being Brits we know not to expect fine weather, so we put a ‘brave face on’ to embrace whatever the sky offers.

However, this summer in the Cotswolds, most festival-goers have been joyful, while farmers have been full of anxiety – there’s been lots of sunshine but not much rain. 

Nevertheless, prepared for anything, we recently packed our car for the Cornbury Music Festival in Great Tew, with 12 pre-frozen bottles of water and wellies! 

With little knowledge of ‘pop,’ I had prepared myself by listening to YouTube clips of 30 artists who would be playing. The exercise helped my uneducated ear; my playlist was pre-marked with ticks, crosses and question marks. And, as the festival unfolded with some brilliant and diverse music, I found my chair mostly in the right places at the right time.

The wellies stayed firmly in the car, the water defrosted quickly and the suntan lotion was essential! 

The farming landscape of the Great Tew Estate provided a beautiful backdrop of trees, sheltered corners and vistas of open rolling countryside. The festival atmosphere was happy and buzzing, but it was also small and intimate.

I pondered how culture changes land use. I hope the site was undamaged and that the event properly reimbursed the land owner, in a year when crops might fail.

But my overriding memory is of Imelda May on the main stage, with the sun setting on a beautiful sky behind her, telling us how she had sung in the Bataclan and on the Manchester stage, which had both suffered recent horrific terrorist attacks.

And then she inspired us with the song she had written to reflect on those horrors: ‘Choose Love, not Fear.’ You too can find it on YouTube.

So, whatever the weather, whatever the festival, pray for the farmers and choose love.

JAN MOORE
St Peters, Stratton