Note: Photo’s were from my iPhone so not the best quality…

My ears are still ringing and my feet and legs ache, but I have a huge grin on my face as I recollect the fun that I had yesterday.

Again, in my quest to get more juice out of life I said “Yes” when offered the chance to go to the Rewind Festival, a mini-Glastonbury music festival celebrating some of the classic bands from the ’80’s.  Normally I would have thought “great” and done nothing about it, but as I am trying to have more adventures, I decided to just do it.  And it was wonderful.

This was my first music festival.  I’ve been to see live acts before, but never at a festival.  And I would thoroughly recommend it.

The event takes place at Temple Island Meadow’s – Henley on Thames (Map Link) which is a beautiful stretch of the river with wonderful views.  It’s easy to walk from the railway station at Henley and also to drive to.  It’s possible to camp over as the Festival takes place over the weekend.

We arrived at just after 12, when the gates opened, but had to queue with our tickets to get our wristbands.  The fun started there as many of the fellow festival goers were dressed in 80’s gear, as well as others in legwarmers, dayglo colours, and even a man in a great Wonder Woman outfit.  As we neared the entrance we saw the dreaded signs saying no food or drink to be taken in to the site – even water.  Now this is something I really despise, so luckily I had brought along some packs of chilled wine, that can easily be kept in pockets without showing.  Another quick tip – Tesco’s in Henley sell them at Festival time!!

When we finally made it into the site, the first act was already on.  Toyah was belting out “I Wanna Be Free” and then did a great cover of The Cult’s “She Sell’s Sanctuary”.

We headed to the stage and managed to get in the first 3 rows.  Brilliant position.  And then the music continued through the afternoon and into the night.  Many people had brought blankets and chairs to sit on, but I wanted the full music experience and so stayed up front.  The tactic here was to be in a group of more than one, so that if toilet breaks or food or drink was needed, someone could stay and keep the premiere position.

I never thought I’d see all of the following in one night.  As a kid, back in the 80’s I loved these bands and hoped to see some of them at some time, but a whole night of this lineup was well worth it.

• Toyah
• The Real Thing
• Dr & The Medics
• Kid Creole
• China Crisis
• Billy Ocean
• Bananarama
• Heaven 17
• Belinda Carlisle
• Rick Astley
• Kim Wilde

All of the crowd near me were having a great, and well natured time.  There was a lot of singing along to the classics.  The memories I will keep with me include Dr & The Medics admitting that they only had one hit, but would have fun anyway, Kid Creole looking fantastic in his Zoot Suit “I still wear the pants high!”, Heaven 17 getting the 10,000 strong crowd singing along with “Temptation” and Kim Wilde’s final set with “Kid’s in America”.

Walking back after the event, along a dark Thames Path, ears ringing and feet hurting, I thought that it’s amazing the fun one can have when you just say “Yes” to what life offers, a bit more often.

Next year I’ll be back and I’ll be staying for the whole weekend!