This is the 3rd year on the trot that DGWGO have been invited along to experience the Sights,Sounds and delights of one of Dumfries and Galloway’s best loved music events ‘Eden Festival’ . When I first visited 3 years ago , I went along by myself , and reviewed the event from the perspective of a single bloke, who loved music and beer. Last year I took my girlfriend LC and we reviewed the festival from a Couple’s point of view. This year we took along Maya aged 11 one of the younger members of Team DGWGO and her friend Francesca aged 14 , and we are doing a review of the festival from a family’s point of view.
As always with Eden festival , there is so much going on, and so many wonderful things to see and do, this kind of festival is not just about the music, in my opinion its wrong to title it as a Music festival , as there is so much more to it than that. I go to many festivals every year, and there are non like Eden , The minute you walk through the large wooden gates that lead you in from the car parks and campsites its like entering into the land of Harry Potter crossed with a Steam punk convention, a medieval carnival, Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest and the Bar in a Star Wars Movie. There are so many people dressed in wonderful outfits, so much colour, stalls selling all sorts of weird and wonderful items, delicious smells of foods from all over the world, side shows, secret pathways to follow, surprises around every corner , it really is a feast for all of the senses, and I’m 44 so it really must of something totally unexpected for the two younger members of our wee family for the day, so lets see what they and LC all had to say:-
I went to the Eden festival 2015 for the first time and I had a great experience and a lot of fun. Eve’s garden in the grounds of the Eden Festival is really pretty with all the pretty plants, hand-made bunting and the wicker lady with the flower crown on. Out of the many food stalls that were there my favourite was “Chipstix” who sold spiralled potatoes dipped in batter and you could choose from of variety of seasonings to sprinkle on once cooked; it was so delicious. I really enjoyed myself at Eden and although the music wasn’t really my kind of thing, I would still like to return next year.
Maya aged 11
I went to Eden for the first time and really enjoyed my day. The music was not entirely to my taste but I enjoyed it none the less. There was lots to see and do including doing some masonry carvings and even having a go at metal work and wood work. Having worked up an appetite from exploring the grounds I was spoiled for choice on where to eat; from Mexican enchiladas to Asian noodles not to mention traditional fish and chips washed down with some home-made lemonade. I loved seeing so many people dressed up and having fun, a definite good day out.
Francesca aged 14
This was my second trip to Eden and enjoyed my day as much as I did last year. What struck me in particular was the Garden of Eden and how pretty everything in it looked from the Wicker Eden statue in the centre of the garden to the rustic wooden flower boxes housing pretty colourful plants. The atmosphere was completely relaxed and at no point was I concerned about my daughter and her friend’s safety with the revelers. I thought the hand crafted signs throughout the festival grounds added that bit extra and made it feel so unique; you could see a lot of hard work and preparation had gone into this for many months in the run up to Eden opening her gates. The music throughout the day was overall good and I did enjoy seeing the locals playing at it especially Dumfries Community Choir. One of the highlights for me had to be the “Chipstix” food stand where a simple potato becomes both a feast for the eyes and tummy and makes taste buds explode!! I had a super time people watching and there was always something or someone that made you smile with their fancy dress ensembles. A super day out!!
Lara aged 21……+ a few
So from what the 3 girls have said it looks like Eden has been a success as a family day out, I have to say as well, access and parking were brilliant this year , the site staff are all so friendly and very helpful to, plus there were plenty of loos with very little queuing, and they had quite a good cleanliness level for a 4 day festival. One problem with Eden though is the midges (later in the evening), but a bit of repellant soon solves that problem, and we only really noticed thick clouds of them at the drive in cinema and the new woodland area. If you want a very family friendly event, with lots to keep the young ones and not so young ones entertained, then Eden festival is a great event to visit. This year they had received funding to invest in family friendly entertainment and things to keep the kids happy, and you can see that they are really putting thought and effort into this, and wanting to please the family festival goers as well as the hardcore revelers.
We Loved Eden and will all definitely be going back , roll on 2016 , we cannot wait to see what awaits us in the Garden of Eden . RB and Team.
