What do you get when you take a dairy farm, a bunch of performance artists and several thousand hipsters at a dress up party?
The wonderful thing that is Secret Garden Festival. I was blown away by how gorgeous the property and site was, it was delight to explore little fairy lit pathways through the rain forest, silk draped grottoes and craft corners.
I was also incredibly impressed by how art focused the festival is – the focus is away from boozing and bands, and more on musicality and experience. Activities and performances of all kinds abound; installations, comedy, puppetry and story telling across several areas. There were even two lovely super cozy stages with audience seating and their own themed bars to add to the vibe.
I had a chance to stroll around taking it all in and performing in several locations; speculum puppetry amongst the trees in the rain forest, a koala strip tease between hay bales and late night snakey burlesque lit by tea lights in jars.
But my overall highlight was the chance to collaborate with experimental electronic jazz explosion band the Sticks, who improvised a live score for my show!
It was a wonderful weekend, hope to see you there next year!