Bearded Theory - it’s much more than music!

WHEN Bearded Theory contacted Tamworth Informed about their festival taking place just down the road at Catton Hall, we were excited; when they invited us along, we were over the moon!

Covering the build up to the event, the excitement grew; it was clear from the start that 26 – 29 May was going to be an amazing bank holiday weekend!

To get the most from the weekend we wanted to send along someone who loved music, so we contacted local barmaid, Nikki Hands-Jones to see what they had to offer.

As a long standing and well-known barmaid at Tamworth’s very own Rock’it rock bar, we could think of no one better to represent us at Bearded Theory and she was thrilled to be asked.

Armed with her press pass, off she went for what turned out to be an incredible few days.

This is what Nikki had to say about the weekend:

Hearing about the festival, I was over the moon to be asked along by Tamworth Informed; the band line up was amazing, with lots of groups that I regularly listened to both at work and home. I was really excited to see the headlining bands, The Levellers on Friday night, PIL on Saturday night, and Squeeze on Sunday. I thought that festivals were all about the music and seeing the bands, but I couldn’t have been more wrong…

When I arrived on Friday morning I was greeted by a big smile and a hello from the car park attendants who guided me to where I needed to be; every member of staff from the car parks, to the food stalls, and even the gate staff were friendly and helpful. The campsite itself was well set out and very well lit. Everywhere was clean and there were beautiful giant crochet flowers that were ‘planted’ in the main arena.

I had been told in advance that it was a family friendly festival and that couldn’t be more true, after spending the Friday backstage with the other photographers, I was lucky enough to be joined by my husband and children aged 14, 11 and 10 to enjoy the atmosphere and sunshine. When they arrived on sat morning they were greeted with smiles and friendly banter.

As we walked through the campsites, the sound of families waking and sorting out their day was accompanied by the sounds of people playing didgeridoos and children laughing and people juggling. Bubbles floated through the air and everyone who walked passed us greeted us with a smile and a ‘morning’.

We set up in an area the side of the main stage and sat in the sunshine, the children played with others of a similar age and they learned some tricks with diablos and poi, we were able to relax and unwind.

The choice of food was fantastic and included BBQ, fish and chips, risotto and with everything from home cooked traditional British favourites to vegetarian curry stalls that smelled delicious, finding food for the family was easy.

There were stalls set up with activities to do, including felting, wicker making and copper working, there were stalls that offered massage and healing and a small fun-fair to enjoy, not to mention the shopping stalls that were there to look round; prices were very reasonable and the people again were very friendly.

There was a large dance tent, a teenage area with activities that included rapping, graffiti art and dance musical; children’s village with loads of things to do and even a school with Ofsted registered teachers for parents to make use of on the Friday. I was surprised at how much there was to do for the children.

The bands were fantastic and lived up to my expectations, the staff were friendly and helpful, the atmosphere was brilliant, even the toilets were clean, there were showers and plenty of water facilities. I would be hard pushed to find anything negative to say about the whole experience.

There was, as always for Bearded Theory, a false beard competition on the Sunday and contestants made beards out of all sorts of things including lego; one person even dressed up as the Mona Lisa.

Cotton Hall is a beautiful setting and the grounds are lovely, I would recommend it to everyone with kids of all ages, even if the music is not to your taste you would be hard pushed to have a bad time there. It was nice to spend time with my family without technology and to sit playing a board game with them in the sunshine whilst live music played in the background; enjoying feeling connected to nature and having time to clear your mind of the daily grind, sat in a field with many thousands of strangers that feel like friends.

A massive thank-you to Michael the PR manager for all that you did to help us to have a weekend that we will never forget and can’t wait to repeat next year.

So there you have it; Bearded Theory is over for another year. If you were there, let us know what you thought. If you didn’t go, I am sure that after Nikki’s amazing review, you will be counting down to Bearded Theory 2017!