From acrobatic yoga to extreme water sliding, Camp Wildfire certainly isn’t your average festival.
Think the scouts meets Hogwarts meets Glastonbury, with adventurous activities, team houses and musical highlights with a dash of glitter.
But for if you’re an adventurous spirit with a good attitude then this is definitely an event to get on the calendar for next year.
It was my third year at the weekend festival and it proved to be better than ever, with more quirky activities added to the line-up and some sunny weather lifting spirits.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get to the site on the Friday night but I managed to get there at midday on the Saturday and instantly got stuck in.
After picking my house – I was Hawks this year – and setting up my tent in the main field, I ambled through the sun-kissed woodland to do a spot of natural headpiece making.
Sat with a group of other revellers, I went about fashioning a headdress out of supple twigs, plastic flowers and bits of fur.
I was delighted when I bumped into my friend Mary Lou there and we sat chatting as we tied, glued and twisted away. That’s the thing with Camp Wildfire, you’re bound to bump into someone you know, or at least someone with similar interests!
After making a crown of twigs I ventured into the main camp to see what else was on offer.
This year there were 64 different activities on offer – pretty crazy! – and festival-goes could pre-book on to these beforehand.
Some of the more unusual offerings included axe skills, giant catapult building, nipple tassel making and silent disco yoga. There was even a class in how to make instruments out of vegetables and I saw one girl wandering around with panpipes fashioned out of carrots.
In previous years I’d done butchery, bee keeping and extreme water sliding so this time around I opted for something a little different.
After making my natural headpiece, I decided to tackle the climbing wall. There were two professional instructors there to deck me out in kit and show me the ropes.
My heart was pounding as I navigated the vertical face but I eventually reached the top and honked the horn to signal success.
Looking at my watch, I realised it was time for my afternoon activity – a spot of acrobatic yoga!
The 90-minute session took place in a grassy area, with some mature trees yawning overhead to provide some shade.
It made for a really fun class as we paired up with strangers and attempted to balance and strike some pretty tricky poses.
We all varied when it came to ability but it didn’t matter and no one was there to judge.
At 6pm everyone at the festival got together to pose for a group photograph. Continuing on the wacky theme, a man emerged out of the undergrowth dressed as a gorilla and playing a saxophone.
In the early evening a group of us got together to enjoy a picnic by our tents. We also got dressed up ready for the evening.
After a day full of activity, there’s always live music and dancing at Camp Wildfire.
The site, located in the heart of the countryside, looks absolutely magical at night, with purple and green lights illuminating the sculptural foliage.
It feels a bit like you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole as you wander through a maze of trees, encountering kooky characters as you go!
The evening turned into a surreal haze and I woke the next morning with twigs still in my hair and glitter adorning my face. It was definitely strong coffee o’clock!
On the Sunday, the scheduled activities continued and we took some of our clothes to the screen-printing stand. I got my house emblem – the hawk – printed on my hoodie and it looked pretty great!
With the prospect of being back in the office the next day we decided to head back to London in the early afternoon.
The Camp Wildfire site is just a 40-minute train ride from the Big Smoke.
It was sad leaving the place, especially as our friends were staying on to the Monday, but it had been another ace year.
Camp Wildfire really does make for a magical weekend.
Every year I leave feeling on a high, already looking forward to the next one in store.
Camp Wildfire is now taking bookings for next year, for more information visit www.campwildfire.co.uk
