Secret ethical goings-on

Wow, I’m exhausted! Just got back from this year’s Secret Garden Party. My first ever music festival (shameful, I know), the Secret Garden Party was Nu‘s kinda gig – hippy chic.

It seemed that the festival was divided in two (by a rather stunning lake housing a floating pagoda stage with nude swimmers packing the waters) – the drum n bass, hardcore dance arena, and my fave, the hippy, chai-drinking, funky music area. I must have had at least ten cups of organic and fairtrade tea in my weekend of hippy heaven. It’s not often that you get to wear flowers in your hair, fairy wings on your back and as much sparkly makeup that you can fit on your face, with no excuse needed. In fact, I spent most of the weekend perfecting my hula hooping skills.

What I loved most, was the focus on ethical produce. There was lots of organic and fairtrade food available. The Keen-wah store selling salads and burgers made out of the best grain ever, quinoa, was mouth-watering. And the Chai Wallahs tent sold a beautiful range of loose teas. They also had many tents dedicated to customizing clothes and vintage fashions – perfect.

Oh yes, and the music! What is great about the Secret Garden Party is the intimacy. The stages are small and there’s so much going on. Soko, who played the Great Stage, even got her fans sitting on the stage with her. One of my favourite gigs though was with a band called Golden Silvers – a throw-back to the 1980s with synthesizers galore. Check out their single True Romance, it’s a hit waiting to happen…

All in all, a decent festival. I’m not convinced about the camping but well worth a visit just for the food!

Lauren 🙂

Tags: eco, environment, ethical fashion, fairtrade, food, organic, vintage