Green Man: If the Shire did Festivals
Sarah Hudis | 20th July 2015
Nestled in Wales’ majestic Brecon Beacons, at the foot of Crug Hywel - or the Table Mountain - from the 20th to the 23rd of August, Green Man festival will open its gates. If you’re lucky enough to have bagged tickets to this sell-out event, you’re in for one of the most unique, chilled out festival experiences of your life.
Although it is most renowned for being a haven of all things folk and indie, the festival is host to a whole range of musicians and DJs from around the world, from big names like Jamie xx (as of the distinctively dreamy sounding indie-pop group The xx), to Wales’ own greats: the rock band Super Furry Animals, Radio 1 DJ Huw Stevens and Welsh language singer Meic Stevens. Festival favourites such as Dizraeli and The Small Gods bring their own brand of hip hop, Public Service Broadcasting cut and paste audio and visual samples of old public service broadcasts (hence the name) into their otherwise instrumental sets, and Sweet Baboo, again hailing from Wales, plays psychedelic folk-pop. You can expect to spend your days listening to a whole load of comedians, authors and thinkers, perusing vintage clothes stalls, and lounging on the grass (weather permitting) drinking plenty of local real ale.
Once the sun goes down the atmosphere around the main stage is pretty magical - either join the dancers at the front or make yourself comfortable on the slopes of the surrounding amphitheatre. Later still you can head over to Chai Wallah’s, a travelling music venue, for chai, cocktails, shisha, and reggae. Once it all quietens down in the main tents, head off exploring – there are tiny, bizarre stages tucked away in all the corners of the festival ground, including, last year, a giant pair of dentures playing disco music and a wheelie bin blasting drum and bass into the early hours. All this is presided over by the Green Man himself - a towering, intricate creation formed of wood and leaves who watches over the festival-goers until he is ceremonially set alight on the last night, accompanied by a firework display. It’s worth heading over early to get good spot! Green Man isn’t a huge, fast-paced festival (there almost certainly won’t be any bottles of urine thrown at the stages), rather a relaxing weekend of good music, good food and good vibes.
Photo Credit: Facebook
Photo Credit: Facebook