As we drove through the winding roads and rolling hills of Devon, we were met by a beautiful house surrounded by impressive statues, tall trees and thick woodland. The Somersault festival site was the most beautiful I have ever seen: tucked away in the woods, with stone bridges arching over flowing streams – even the high running bridge behind the main stage acted as an impressive feature.

Photo: Ben Eagle 

Our first stop at the festival was to explore the sprawling site. Walking through the Wild Wellbeing area we were amazed at the number of treatments available on site from the more familiar massage right through to the lesser known ‘gong baths’. There were also yoga classes running throughout the day for people of all abilities. The area had an incredibly relaxed atmosphere and sat just over the stream where people could always be found cooling down, freshening up or taking a dip.

The Secret Emporium was host to a huge variety of independent traders at the festival selling home crafted and eco-friendly clothes, jewellery and accessories. From a glance around the site  Tell Tails were by far the most popular stall, with nearly every child (and a huge number of ‘grown ups’) sporting their very own animal tail. 

Photo: Ben Eagle 

Mid site-walk the promised storms began, leading us to duck into the nearest tent. Luckily for us Shlomo had just taken to the stage – an absolutely phenomenal beat boxer. While the rain may have played a part in the size of the crowd, Shlomo put on an impressive display that left everyone on their feet shouting for more long after the rain had stopped. The set started with an entirely acoustic intro and moved into a series of tracks constructed by layering up loops from the bass to the vocals. The track with audience participation of screaming and whooping was a definite highlight alongside the garage revival hits. A great discovery.

Another highlight of the weekend were the hugely uplifting main stage acts on the Saturday and Sunday afternoons: Amadou and Mariam and Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars. While both offered completely different music styles the outcome was the same; everyone on their feet in great spirits, dancing, clapping and singing along. Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars were an incredible act with a hugely inspiring story: the group met in a refugee camp and got together to play music to entertain their fellow refugees and raise spirits in the camps. It’s not hard to see why their music was felt to be so uplifting – we recommend you listen to it here. 

Having heard a lot of great music we decided to opt for a change of scenery! While the Variety Tent was sadly sold out at our chosen time, it did mean we found ourselves back in the Cabaret Tent for Gospeloke: gospel choir meets karaoke. Having been drawn to the tent by the beautiful voices of the Singology Gospel Choir we weren’t sure what standards the karaoke might bring but impressively nearly all of the acts were incredible!

Photo: Langley

One of my favourite features of the weekend was the late night Forest Party taking place in the woods after the headline acts had finished. Decorated with sky scraping tulips and a huge glitterball suspended from the top of a tall tall tree the DJs ensured classic disco hits were pumped out through the night to keep the party moving. Both headline acts Jack Johnson and Ben Howard put on incredible performances. Jack Johnson played a huge amount of his back catalogue while Ben treated us to a sneak peak of his upcoming album. Both headliners were perfectly in keeping with the hugely relaxed feel of the festival and seemed to draw in an incredibly friendly and warm crowd.

Photo Jack Johnson: Aronklein

Sadly we had not been our most organised in the run up to the trip and had failed to book ourselves on to any of the available excursions which included surfing, mountain biking, canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing and power kiting to name a few. Even our attempts to get up for an early morning yoga session were put off due to a late night dancing at the Forest Party. That said Somersault was without doubt the best addition to the summer festival line-up I could possibly have hoped for. Next year my return will most definitely include a daily surf school, long table feast, and maybe even a karaoke attempt or two.

Photo: Ben Eagle

Whether you are looking for something a little different, an escape to the countryside, a family friendly weekend away, a relaxing break, great entertainment or a party with friends – Somersault Festival will be the one for you.

Article: Claire Game