Green Man Festival 2019

Few days ago husband, toddler and I went to spend 4 days in the beautiful Breacon Beacon in the beautiful Wales to The Green Man Festival. Little fun fact about me: The Green Man Festival was my first ever festival!!! I went to day festival in the past ( like Fielday festival in London etc.) but never I went to a festival were you camp out for few nights. My husband had lots of experience in the festival area. He went to Glastonbury few times along with few others. But we choose that festival because it is very family orientated and highly recommended for family like us, the location and also the amazing music choice from Stereolab, fourthet, but also for all the talks, book club, food, kids activities, yoga, workshops etc.

I have to admit that being a sufferer from anxiety my first impression, when we arrived, was a bit overwhelming! We arrived a bit later than we planned (we left home later than we planned and we get lost too) and the festival was very busy with people arriving from the 4 corners of the country. The large amount of people queuing at the box office felt a bit too much for me.  We finally got our wrist band and then I felt all kind of emotions and not necessary the good ones and my first though was to leave and come back to my quiet home, but my husband knowing that I do struggle at time with my anxiety and panic attack reassured me that all would be ok. So off we went to find a spot for our tent. This took us about one hour to walk & find somewhere big enough for our fairly large tent . After we found our perfect spot we settle in very quickly, and even so I was still feeling very overwhelm by it all, we decided to have a wonder around, well mostly to find food as by then it was about 8 pm. Food will get me anywhere haha! 
The next day was really our first proper day but unfortunately the weather was absolutely dreadful. It rained literally all day non stop. It was a bit of the day were my anxiety was at the worst and the weather had something to do with it but I tried to take that rainy day at some how part of the fun or festival experience I guess and it turned out to be fine, we joked about it and everybody else was in good spirit despite we were all drench to the bone. On this very rainy day we mainly spent it at the 'Little Folk' area which was absolutely amazing for all kids from newborn to early teens. So many activities to do such as musics, games, learn new skills, story reading, craft tent etc. it was so pack of amazing things to do that we barely scratch the surface. My toddler absolutely loved it. Then the rest of the day we wondered around, listened few of the bands, we did a bit of shopping and you know try to make the best of a very wet day. 

The second day was, in my opinion, one of the best day. The sun was back in its all glory, the thick mud and puddles everywhere slowly start to dry off and you could easily feel in the air that everybody was prepared to have an excellent fun pack day. And a fun pack day it was indeed! Fill with music (hello Fourthet and stereo lab), excellent food, beers, art display discovery, picnic time and many other things. They were so much to do that it was actually difficult to choose but I did enjoy seeing again Kiki's Delivery Service from the Ghimbli Studio at the Cinedrome, but also I went to listen a fossil talk, enjoy an other talk about bees and many great other things. A day I'll will always remember!

The third day, which was sunny too . It was actually very similar than the previous day. Also pack with fun activities for my toddler at the Little Folk area, but we also went for fake fossil digging that my daughter absolutely loved, we ate more glorious food, more drinks and listened more musics. It was just perfect.
We left the morning after. I have to say it was a bit sad to leave as not only we had such a great time but I felt that all the people at the festival were so friendly, respectful and just a cool bunch of people to be around with. At any point I felt or find people annoying in fact it was rather the opposite.  So many people enjoyed interacting with my toddler by making her laugh or play with her ...it was GREAT!
My first ever festival at the Green Man was very positive, apart few overwhelmed anxiety episodes and one panic attack, I feel very confident coming back in a year or two. I felt this festival will be enjoy by everybody, for all the type of musics ( from folky, dance, rock, techno to indie …) but also the hundred of activities available from yoga, workshops, talks, craft, cinema etc. You can't be bored there I can ensure you , also lets not mention the beautiful area surrounded by the gorgeous Breacon Beacons mountains, the festival is stunning in every ways !! 
Now please find below a more detail or review/ tips of each aspect of my experience, from the loos, shower, food tent etc. 

Camping: If you never been to a festival, be ready to spend a large amount of time looking for a perfect free spot ( unless you are a very early bird) and be prepared to have very close tent neighbours so forget quietness or privacy for that matter. But its part of the fun and in all honestly it was not as bad at all, my many tent neighbours were friendly & respectable people so it all went well. 

Loo: Yes a subject that I definitely want to talk about. For some people using portaloo is not a problem but for me, after few shock experiences from the past (imagine a loo where there is just a hole and you see and smell everything...yuk!!!), I was not looking forward at all to use portaloo but they turned out absolutely fine with proper sitting toilet, antibacterial gel, proper flush and toilet paper were always available (although I did brought my own biodegradable toilet wet wipes). Thanks to all army of people in the non-spot light cleaning all the toilets (and emptying them with a special truck) 3  to 4 times a day. 

Shower: Lucky enough showers were available for free (as I heard in some other festivals shower can be charged), but be prepared for one thing: A cold shower. in all honestly this did not bother me at all but I know for some other people this can be a turn off. Having said that I do think having only cold shower available is not a bad thing after all in a festival like the Green Man because people are very quick to wash, for obvious reason, and you do not wait very long for your turn. If hot water were available, I can ensure you that some less considerate people would take the absolutely piss and spend a 30 minutes shower, which is not eco-friendly and also not very kind to those that have to wait a very long time for their turn. At the most I waited for my morning shower was: 15 minutes at the busiest of time. 

Food: The food was just amazing, yet prepared to spend a lot of money on a dish but overall a large selection from all the world cuisines (Thai, French, Japanese, Spanish, Mexican, British,  etc.) and many offers vegan and vegetarian alternative too. From all the food we ate none were bad in fact on our last day we had a traditional American burger with French fries and it was probably one of the best burger I ever had  (I mean At £9 the burger excluding chips it better be) , my second favourite meal was a pad Thai made to order which was absolutely delicious too but also very pricey at about £10 for a portion that is enough but not huge. We also had a large amount of fries, tacos, mac&cheese (yum!!!) and my favourite dessert, that we tried, was some churros with Belgian milk chocolate dip. Honestly it was so good that I dreamt about it the next day. 

  

Money: Have a lot of cash on you, prepare to spend a lot of money (unless you are planning to eat can foods or pack food from home). Husbs and I did brought some food form home (mostly cans and noodle packs) but we also enjoy a lot of food and drinks. ATM are available but expect a charge at around £2.90. Most places accept card payment but I heard, on few occasions, that sometime WiFi signal can be loss for few hours / minutes so always better to have enough cash on you for all eventuality and also some places have a minimum spend from £5 to £10, if you want to pay by card, which sometimes can be annoying .

Shopping: I was actually surprise to see many shops (pop up tents) most of them were folky / hippyish kind of shops, but apart from those type of shops (which were still fun to look at) also a book store was available (in the cutest caravan and tent ever), a hat shop, a poster shop, with amazing prints and badges ( I did get some amazing prints!!!) , but also an artist making all sort of cute things out of wood (like mini mushrooms, wooden spoons, wooden ornaments etc.) and yes!! I did get a tiny little sparkly wooden mushroom which will have this place, somewhere in my house, during Christmas time.  Also a toy shop was available, few vintage stores and other utility shops if you need something like a: tooth brush, a new tent, an air bed, paracetemol, cigarettes, wet wipes etc. Basically anything you needed from emergency or just for fun / souvenirs were available. I found prices to be reasonable.

Mobil charging station: Surprisingly a eco-friendly (they use solar panels system) charger point was available in the cutest caravan ever. I was very pleased to find this option on my first day. I had originally ordered a mini solar panel charger but it was not delivered on the day it was suppose to. I only had with me a small charger  that can only give me 60% of extra battery (for one boost). So my charging situation was a bit limited. The Mobil charger station charged £3.50 + £10 for a full charger pack if required. Turned out I did not charge my Mobil at all and I quiet enjoy not having my Mobil with me at all time. It was nice to be out of the social media scene for few days. Instead I took shots with my camera. But if you want your phone to be charged, let be assure that you can at a cost.

The organisation: Even so the organisations probably would never see my post but I like to mention the professionalism of all the busy bees working in the background, at any point I found the festival being dirty or messy, everything was always clean, also felt very safe and just very well organised. And this is a very good reason this festival felt like one of the best for family. So I salute the hundred of workers and benevolent people that made my first festival experience a really good one and your hard work was not left unnoticed.

  Have you ever been to The Green Man Festival? Tell me all about it by commenting below.