Thursday 28 April 2016

Festival Fancy Dress with Tickled Pink and Hogsozzle 2016

Festivals are the best excuse I've found as a grown-up to dress up and this year, I'm going full throttle :) Our first camping festival of the year is 30 days away and this year I am working with the guys at Hogsozzle to share posts and inspiration around their festival fancy dress theme! I've been collecting inspiration around the remit of 'Childhood Dreams' over the last few weeks. I'm thinking unicorns, wings, mermaid sparkle and rainbows...I'm going to share some of my most coveted wishlist items here...links below the images where purchasable!




Sequin Leggings / Sequin Playsuit - Rosa Bloom
Feathered Cape / Embroidered Jacket- FeathersAndThreadUK on Etsy



Red Indian Make-Up - Original Source (DIY)
Unicorn Make-Up - Tumblr
Beaded Headband - Asian Wedding Ideas
Butterfly Wings - CostureroReal on Etsy



Unicorn Onesie - Tickled Pink
Flower Wings - Inspiration from here
Happy Camper Tank - Teesandtankyou on Etsy
Rainbow Maxi Skirt - Free People




Moon Phase Leggings - WhiskeyDogWares on Etsy
Starry Boots - Modcloth
Galaxy Print Shorts- Coquetry Clothing on Etsy
Body Harness - Iron Oxide on Etsy

I've just shared a sneaky look at my first-night fancy dress for Hogsozzle over on my instagram - keep an eye out as I add to my costume with some fun DIY's over the next few weeks. I'm working with Tickled Pink Fancy Dress and the Hogsozzle organisers to bring you loads more fancy dress inspiration in the run up to the festival season. Share your ideas on social media with the hashtag #festivalfancydress! I can't wait to get on the road with The Turner Brothers and start the rum-soaked, sunshiny, field-living dress-up fun. 

Katy

Tuesday 19 April 2016

The Curious Yellow Weekender - Video & Line Up 2016!

The Curious Yellow Weekender is Friday 1st - Sunday 3rd July, 2016. You can read my full write-up and see photos of last years brilliant event here. This year, it's going to be even better, because along with Sweetcornbread, who I went with last year, Black Cat Magic and another local favourite that I can't wait to see perform live, Brocker - check them out on their Facebook page hereThe Turner Brothers are joining the line-up too! I'm so excited to see the boys perform this festival - it's one of my most anticipated gigs of the summer.



The organisers just released a little promotional video and they quoted me at the beginning!



Here is the full video, which gave me the biggest yearning for summer I've ever had...

 
The Curious Yellow 2015 "Caught On Camera" from Daniel James on Vimeo.

This year, I'm hoping to take my little boy for his first festival experience. Last year the kids had free run of the secret garden location, they played in a freshwater spring, got muddy in a shallow, swampy river and danced along with the grown-ups until bedtime. I'd love to share something like this with my video-game orientated eight year old - any advice on taking kids to festivals would be gratefully received!

I've got some great stuff planned this summer for my little blog, festivals both with the band and independently and I've joined forces with some great event organisers and festival based businesses which I can't wait to start sharing with you too - I'm determined to make 2016 the best summer ever :) If you want more information about The Curious Yellow - head to their website, where you can buy tickets and check out the full line-up.

I'd love to hear about other events like this, or team up with business and suppliers in the festival and music event industry. You can email me here.


Sunday 10 April 2016

MuzikMeet at Haresfoot Brewery with Sweetcornbread

Thursday night, a local brewery hosted a music night with one of my favourite local bands and some other fantastic artists at their premises just outside Berkhamstead.

Sweetcornbread usually pull a bit of a crowd, and this gig wasn't an exception - there were quite a few friendly faces in the audience who often come out to support the band. I love the atmosphere of their gigs!

On top of that, it was a great venue. We made all the usual jokes about the band not being able to organise a piss-up in a brewery (and I was convinced it was going to be freezing) but the building had surprising good acoustics, there were plenty of heaters and the staff were extremely friendly and obviously had a passion for their business.

There was a well stocked bar with around ten locally brewed beers available straight from the keg and prices were reasonable. I'm not a big beer drinker, so I mostly stuck to Prosecco but the boys were loving trying out the different beers - I think it was generally decided that Sundial was the most popular but  I'd strongly suggest you pop down to one of the brewery's many events and give a bunch of them a try to find your own favourite.  There's a list of their commercially produced beers here if you fancy finding out more.



It was dark when we arrived, but the brewery is situated right on the canal - ideal for a stop off between the beautiful pubs along this stretch of the Grand Union. Follow their twitter to find out when they are open for tasting events.

I was a bit sad that we arrive slightly too late to see the first act, Harry Phillips, but we caught Hope and her beautiful voice just before Sweetcornbread took to the stage.


Don't they look fab in front of the brewing equipment? I love the fact that they look like giant drums - such a good background for the band. They are even set up on a raised concrete platform, making it ideal for showcasing local artists. I really couldn't believe how much of an excellent venue the brewery made - especially as from the outside it's a pretty generic looking low blue industrial unit.

Their set rocked - as usual. I especially liked Come Back Kid which I can't find a sample of online yet, but I'll hook this post up when I do! For now, give their session with BBC Introducing a listen here.

Then the bell for last orders came, we finished our beers, got some for the road in a giant take-home 4 pint flagon and went home to begin brewing our hangovers.

I'll be keeping an eye out for their next music event in association with Muzik Meet, as well as all the other great stuff they have lined up for summer. You can check out their list of upcoming events here.

Katy x

Friday 1 April 2016

Hogsozzle 2015 - Looking Forward To 2016!

Last year I posted a write-up on my little blog here of the festivals I got to tag along to with The Turner Brothers. You can see all of those posts from 2015 by clicking here.

So, it's the start of Spring and I'm basically chomping at the bit to cast aside the jogging bottoms that I've worn pretty much every single day of winter and get back to rolling around a muddy field with my favourite band.

Last year the first festival we went to was Hogsozzle - and it's the first up this summer too! I didn't write about our experience last year for some reason, I have a feeling there's a draft post knocking about on my computer that never saw the light of day. This year I'm going to be documenting my weekends in much the same way, I'm hoping to discover and work with a bunch of new bands too - if I can get the courage up to actually hand out my business cards.



As I write this, the counter on the Hogsozzle website says it's 63 days, 8 hours and 2 minutes until the start of the weekend. I thought about putting a fancy countdown clock here, by the way, to indicate the actual countdown to the event, but I chickened out. Just FYI.

We arrived on the Saturday after some of the group had already been camping for a day. They had pitched a sweet spot directly under a floodlight at the entrance to the main camping area. The festival is set in three adjacent fields, one of the things making it a great festival site is the huge purpose built wooden bar overlooking the action - I really wish I'd taken a photo of it to share here, I will make sure I do this year. There were a number of other structures dotted around the site too - a wooden platform in the woods later became an impromptu venue for a dawn magic show - another real highlight of the weekend for me.


The Turner Brothers were playing at sunset on the Saturday night almost as soon as we arrived and unloaded, so I sneaked my way into the VIP area and set about introducing myself to all the extra band members that had started arriving, as well as bands that were on before and after. I wish I could remember who it was exactly that I chatted to, there was a well dressed band with Northern accents and some guys with clown costumes but their names escape me, maybe I'll get to see them again this year...


Here is one of my favourite photos of the summer...



Yes, I did wear a white fur coat to a muddy-field based event. That was probably a mistake in retrospect although it just about survived. The fancy dress theme last year was Out Of The Toybox and Into The Wild. I didn't have a huge amount of time to come up with a costume - I only found out that I had a ticket the day that we set off. I made do with a burgundy velvet playsuit (which I haven't managed to find another opportunity to wear yet - that's definitely coming out again this year) and a leopard print bra. This year, however, things are going to be different.

The fancy dress theme is Childhood Dreams and I'm pretty certain I know what I am going to go for. I've roped in a bunch of the girls that are coming along for the weekend to dress up as well - I haven't managed to convince any of the band yet but I'm working on it - and I'm going to document the process of choosing, creating and testing our fancy dress outfits here on my little blog. I'm hoping to show some DIY's that could be relevant for any number of festivals over the summer - I'm especially interested in making a feather headdress, a fancy flower crown and some fabulous, light-up wings :)

The Turner Brothers absolutely rocked their performance, in fact, hearing Sun Goes Down just as the sun set over the fields and the festival-goers was one of my highlights of the summer. You can see a video of their 2014 performance on the Hogsozzle pages here 




The whole group had a fantastic time over the weekend, from the great music, hot and intense dance tent, yummy hog roast, crazy paint fight and amazing people and atmosphere. I'm so excited for those 63 days to pass and get us all back to Sozzling the weekend away! Here are a few blurry shots of the night time shenanigans...


Some of The Turner Brothers with a person dressed as a giant inflatable penis. Out Of The Toybox and Into The Wild for sure ;-)



Follow my blog with your RSS reader, over the next few months I'll be posting the usual social media and online tips as well as starting to build up to the festival season with a series of DIY and inspirations posts as we create costumes for Hogsozzle's Childhood Dreams theme. I'll also be sharing more information about where you can see The Turner Brothers this summer, which festivals I'll be going to, as well as highlights from last year.

Katy x


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