We may have mentioned once or twice that we are very excited to be heading down to Vantastival this weekend. But those who haven’t been down to Bellurgan Park in Co.Louth before may be wondering just what exactly all the fuss is about.
Of course there’s the fact that this year we’ll be hosting our very own unplugged stage at the Vantastibar (info here) to look forward to. But there is far more to Vantastival than that. It is the first festival of the summer. It is small enough and young enough not to have become totally commercial and be ruined by too many people.
But there’s something else, a certain atmosphere that can be found at Vantastival and nowhere else. It’s hard to describe what exactly is the cause of the feeling, but it may just have something to do with:
5. The Community spirit
It should be something so uncommon as to be surprising, but for some reason the people at Vantastival are just friendlier that normal.
Perhaps the feeling comes from the top. The festival takes place in the grounds of the Tipping family home, who’s owners very generously open up their estate to thousands of visitors each year, purely because it seemed like a fun thing to do. The whole thing is run by a collective of family, friends and a heap of volunteers, all committed to ensuring that the party is as much fun as it possibly can be.
Festival veterans may notice that unlike many other places, there isn’t an abundance of security guards everywhere. Bar the necessary safety precautions, the Vantastival crew trust their patrons to take care of themselves, and every years that’s exactly what happens.
This includes a commitment to green camping. Don’t be surprised to see people picking up litter after them, recycling their rubbish, and genuinely living up to the festival’s leave no trace policy. It’s a little thing, but it makes a big difference.
4. Open Mic
How many of your reading this can say, “I played at a festival this summer?”
Not only has Vantastival got a killer lineup of acts, they also throw open their stages to all comers for a couple of lengthy open mic session throughout the Saturday and Sunday. The Musicmaker stage will be hosting open sessions from 12.00 to 13.30 and from 15.50 on Saturday, and from 12.50 to 14.00 and 17.00 to 19.30 on Sunday.
And when we say Open Mic we don’t mean some guy with a croaky voice and an out of tune acoustic guitar murdering Wonderwall. Previous years have seen a wealth of varied talent take to the stages to wow a healthy afternoon crowd gathered around the picturesque Musicmaker grotto. Expect to see a few acts take to the mic that will be charging people for the pleasure of seeing them live by this time next year.
3. The Stages
When you arrive at Vantastival for the first time and finally catch a band, chances are you will be at either the Vanhalla or Grotto stages. Across the spectrum of Irish festivals, these two stages stand unique.
Set into the side of a small hill, the natural mini amphitheatre of the Grotto (referred to as the Musicmaker on your timetable folks) is wonderfully intimate while the glorious Vanhalla stage feels like two different stages by day and night. It’s resembles a hollowed out Viking longship. At night, the trees above the stage have additional lighting and it feels like the tree line is wrapping itself around the bands and audience in this hugely atmospheric arena.
2. Bring your Kids
At a festival this intimate you’re all bound to end up as one big happy family by the end of the weekend regardless of the policies on demographics, but the Vantastival crew like to get the ball rolling in advance by making this an all-inclusive event.
Music and field-dwelling fans of every age are welcome to the scenic surroundings, not to mention our hairy four-legged friends, making the festival a playground for revellers of all ages. Whether it’s toddlers bumping into things or merry music fans trying not to bump into toddlers, families and surrogate weekend families co-exist in music-soaked bliss.
There’ll be a Kid’s Camp beside the family camping area with all sorts of activities for the snappers, while the older kids can avail of the dance workshops. Sure it’s like a training ground for future party heads. Make no mistake, we can guarantee grown-up jealousy directed towards the denizens of the bouncy castle.
1. The Vans
It’s in the name after all, and if you name it, they will come. Campervan enthusiasts that is. Every year a whole host of classic VW campers emerge from hibernation to descent on Bellurgan Park, all bright colours and peace symbol decals. Even if you are tent camping or even just dropping down for the day, the collection of classic vans is a must see. It is the perfect addition to the completely unique atmosphere that can be found at Vantastival and nowhere else.
In fact we love those old vans so much that this year we just had to get in on the action ourselves. We got in touch with the lovely people over at RetroCampers.ie and rented out one of these dreams on wheels for the weekend – we even got to pick the colour (we went for GoldenPlec orange of course). We ended up picking Ollie (there is a whole family of VW vans here) and the whole thing is decked out just perfect – a proper vintage VW with all the original trimmings.
If you see us down there over the weekend feel free to drop by and say hello!
Contributing writers: Bernerd O’Rourke, Justin McDaid and Frank Hughes.