Ro Greene delves into the magical world of Playgroup Festival.
Festival goers, artists, traders, bar staff, stewards and even security become one tribe in the menagerie of woodland creatures – both feral and refined – at the beautiful Playgroup Festival. Dressed in waistcoats, ears, spectacles and face paint, they bound, hippedy-hop, clippy-clop, two by two and three by three down to the woods in Tunbridge Wells for three days of absolutely marvellous arty playtime.??
Playgroup Festival is now a rather mature two year old; having already moved far away from infancy, this, their second festival, is a full-on woodland extravaganza. The Playgroup organisers cut their teeth throwing colourful events in all manner of venues across Brighton and the fields, working with the likes of Secret Garden Party, mixing live music and electronic, usually fancy-dressed and festivalesque. Their fusion parties are a roaring success and widely loved. They pulsate with magic and intimacy.
Playgroup’s ethos shines, like the warmth of the afternoon sun. They make their world a stage, participation is key. They provide a venue for the huge and varied talent to be found in Brighton and beyond. The festival site itself has not been expanded since last year – but the crowd has swelled to over 2000, leaving every tent, stage, workshop nicely buzzing.
The acute proximity of all the various music portals means I'm never more than a heartbeat away from the next aural pleasure. It's Friday night and Brighton ska punk favourites Los Albertos are keeping us young with bouncing bass and bleating, off-beat horns. As the last kick hits the drum it's time for Zen Dub Squad in ‘Trust The Fox Tent'. My hand is raised as I march to the swagger of the glitch hop trio’s filthy beats.
As the music draws to a close, I am reborn, back into the mythical woodland, heading out to the campsite arena I catch an opportunistic disco boogie in the Full Circle Tent amidst chai-sipping lounge lizards and animated field mice. Feeling fully quenched I head back to my comfortingly close bed ready for the new day.
Dawn breaks and peeling back the layers of dewy polyester I become aware of the true majesty of my rural surroundings: rolling hills, towering oaks – our playground an ode to the picturesque. Pausing momentarily to recapture our breath, my pack scurry to the main arena – headed up by a wise badger and two twittering tawny owls.
The main stage revs up the sluggish crowd with an afternoon of electro swing, gypsy, ska and funk. With this comforting cacophony never far from earshot it is time for a forage. I barely have to scratch the earth to find myself locking eyes with the en-‘chanting’ ‘Goodbye Leopold’ in the Beatabet Tent. Three mythical caped women combining performance art and perfect harmony: I am transported around the globe on the wing of their prayer.
Suitably meditated and ready for Saturday night, I just about manage to tear away from High Rankin’s energy-laden live performance to make the two-minute dash to the main stage. Here I find myself salsa dancing with two drummers from the Samba Band Barulho, who had led a colourful procession around the site earlier in the day. One is disguised as a hare and the other a fox. To my left stands the lead clarinettist from The Trans Siberian Marching Band, dressed as Wonder Woman crossed with a bunny rabbit. Needless to say Playgroup festival is not about backstage passes, VIP bars or tour bus cliques.
The headliners, Quantic, are jaw-droppingly tight; playing together with such ease and fluidity you can almost believe it's pre recorded, but most certainly isn’t. The elegant Colombian singer is a true diva, and her body moves as effortlessly as her voice pricks my neck. The perfect syncopation of the samba whips our hips into a frenzy that results in the bongo player stage diving and crowd-surfing alongside a wasp. During the final number all the animals are invited on stage and jazz legends, forest creatures and gamekeepers alike move to the beat of the midnight drums.
The Sunday bumble is made blissfully easy thanks to the quality of the Bloody Marys found in the cocktail bar, the sunshine, saw-playing workshop, jelly wrestling lizard tournament and the aerobics class. Even with the early finish it is almost impossible to leave.
Dripping with imagination, eccentricity and perfectly in time: that's what happens when you give the people of Brighton creative license to really let go.
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