Beltane Horse Drawn Festival - May 2009
This year the beltane Horse Drawn gathering moved to a new site near shepton mallet. It was a bit further for us to travel than the old site but it's always worth it for this gathering. Friends of ours had met up with us at home and we travelled down together which was nice. As usual it was a suggested donation on the gate. The event had started on the Thursday with bands on every night until Sunday. The suggested donation on the Thursday was £5 for the weekend which is pretty damn fair I think. We arrived on the Saturday and paid a couple of quid each. We had missed some of the really good bands like Tarantism but there was still good music to come. I love this gathering as it really does feel free in the sense that there is no one telling anyone else what to do. No security, no police, no VIPs, the people govern themselves and guess what no one gets hurt and riots don't break out! Oh yeh and you can have fires and no one gets burnt and you can take dogs and no one gets attacked! It's a good model for a small festival and exactly how it should be. There are no portaloos here just some makeshift compost loos, there are no commercial food outlets just a small cafe and there is no entertainment through the daytime. As the event attracts those used to living at least part time on the road all that doesn't matter. Most bring vans and trucks with cookers and food and their own entertainment. I can't remember who the bands were that we saw but I remember the tent was packed as people danced the night away. This is a great gathering for meeting up with friends old and new and having a few days of how we could live all the time if only we were allowed.
Below are a selection of photographs from the gathering.
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