This one’s huge, a festival that – over the years – has attracted the likes of Paul McCartney, Neil Young, The Police, The Rolling Stones and Foo Fighters. What we’re talking about is the Isle of Wight Festival. Set for June 21 – 24, the players of the 2012 iteration of the English music conclave are equally lustrous: Pearl Jam, Labrinth, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
You get the drift.
There are three ways to cross the water to the Isle of Wight: Wightlink from Portsmouth Harbour, Red Funnel from Southampton, and Hovertravel Southsea.
Once there, don’t plan on camping out at IOW – not unless you’ve already purchased camping tickets. They’re sold out. Non-camping tickets were still available as this story got ready to post.
Some rock festivals discourage kids, but not this one. Head to the Kids Zone. This year singer and storyteller Keith Donnelly will be performing with storyteller and actress Ursula Holden-Gill on the Rainbow Stage. Together, they’re extraordinary.
The Kids Zone also offers up a slew of arts and crafts. To keep the creativity rolling, stop in the Dressing-Up Tent. That’s where kids can costume themselves to match just about any character their creative minds can conjure.
IOW is also an eco-friendly affair. Nowhere is this more apparent than at The Hive. It’s located in the Arboretum, an oasis of tranquility where you can picnic in a wildflower meadow, listen to unplugged acoustics and just generally relax in concert with similarly attuned festivalgoers.
If you’re impression of music festivals is still stuck somewhere in Woodstock, wake up. IOW is one of the planet’s premier examples of what a gathering like this should be.
(Image: David Jones)
