Karohemd's World

Strawberry Fair is an annual (except for last year) free festival on Midsummer Common in Cambridge. Last year, the police objected to the event because policing it had been difficult (disorderly conduct, drugs etc.) and the council didn't grant the license. This year, the setup was changed, Midsummer Common was fenced in and the number of entry points severely restricted so you couldn't simply walk onto the Common. Spot checks were made at the entrances for drugs and excessive alcohol (restricted to four cans). I wasn't stopped on the way in, possibly because it was still early and I didn't look like I would cause troubles with my two fancy cameras strapped to myself.

This year I was early enough to catch the parade coming in which had a steel/drumming band, stiltwalkers and other costumed participants.

The main difference to the setup of the fair was the lack of a big main music stage on the east end and other stages (like the Reggae Tent) were missing as well. I found the music generally lacking in quality or maybe I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Instead, there was a large cordoned off area called the "Village Green" in the centre with organised events like The Knights of Honour reenactment group's fighting displays.
The Cambridge Community Circus was present as well and made for some of the best photos I managed to get (see below).
As the stalls went it was either food (more expensive again, 6.50 for a portion of curry goat and rice with more bone than meat) or rather commercial ones selling clothing, accessories and tat. Most of the little stalls/traders were missing.
The weather was good, there was always a nice breeze so even when it was quite hot (hottest around 5pm!) it was bearable.

Overall, it was a good day out (I had to leave around 6 because my back was complaining too much) but it felt a bit subdued compared to previous years. The official numbers said there were a lot fewer arrests (13 compared to 73 in '09) but I think I saw just as many drunken yobs as in previous years.

Here's the Cambridge News article on the Fair. I randomly walk through the frame in the first video at 1:28 (but sadly with the head cut off). BBC Cambs' selection of my photos is here.

was good. The weather held until I left 9:30ish because my feet were telling me they wanted to be put up and wouldn't support me much longer. I made it there just after 12 and met up with a number of friends. I picked up my press pass and stuck it to my hat. ;o) I moved between the stages all day. Except for Special Preserve (great blues) and The Neutrinos (both in the acoustic tent, the latter will get a separate post), music was nothing special this year and except for that world music group and again The Neutrinos not particularly interesting to photograph, either. Shame, really.
I also had my usual food selection (falafel for lunch, curry goat for dinner and a crepe for afters) but didn't buy anything else. So, here's them photos:

It was a bit of a dull day weather wise but there was still plenty of diffuse light so perfect for photography. More on the flickr set and more forthcoming (especially of F&F) but I need to do the Texas Chainsaw Orchestra first.

was fantastic if a bit warm in places.
Got there around 12 walked from Victoria Ave to the cityside entrance, bought a programme and got a text from faerierhona that she was here and having lunch. I just wanted to call her back to see where she was and walked right into her as I went around the corner of the stall.
Shortly after, puddingcat, a BRIGHT PINK nurse_liz and professoryaffle turned up. Then puddingcat and faerierhona dealed BPAL which looked incredibly dodgy indeed. ;o)
After food was found, cabd, elliphant, bloomeenee and others had turned up, too. We chatted a bit and then I went to find raggedy_man and nekofairy666, stopping to listen to a cool Rock'n'Roll/Soul band.
Found them and wandered back to find the Northern Babes gone so we had a look at the Film tent (which was boiling and didn't have a belak_krin inside). I then headed to the East Stage while raggedy_man went to see puddingcat to give her some books. Completely contrary to the Strawberry Fair law was that I never saw the Northern Babes again to say good-bye. *grump*
The band at the East Stage was very strange with various people doing very different things so I chatted to toripink a bit and then wandered on.
My next stop was the Green Stage where a reggae-ish band from Devon played cool stuff involving horns. Got some great shots of them.
The Theatrikals stage had a Classic/Cheese/Funk Rock band on with a singer channeling Robert Plant and they were really rather good.
Randomly saw raggedy_man, nekofairy666 and robinbloke again and shortly after the_mendicant with sons. We wandered around a bit and then parted ways again, I ended up at the Theatrikals stage again where a superb band called Points of Origin played all kinds of classic soul and similar songs in a sort of funky ska style. Very very cool.

After they had finished, I bought some falafel and then a crepe with strawberries and found a shady spot by the Future stage to relax a bit.
I wandered around some more and then headed to the East Stage where Rome Burns had just started their set. It was short but very sweet indeed, especially compared to the quality of some of the other bands there. Halfway through their set, the battery on the D70 ran out and I had to switch to the Fuji as I had forgotten to pack a spare. Sooo stoooopid!!! At least I got two vids out of it, which might even be reasonably good, at least for YouTube.

After RB had finished, found a shady spot with raggedy_man, robinbloke, razornet, vyvyan, owdbetts and deborah_c to relax a bit, chat and listen to crap music. Thankfully, the next band were a lot better so we listened some more.

Various people had to leave at this point, so I casually wandered back, was interviewed about the fair by a reporter for Radio 209, had curried goat, stopped occasionally to listen to some more music but nothing struck my fancy much so I walked back in the fading sunshine. As I had just missed a bus, I walked all the way home, which wasn't too bad.
I had a long shower because I was feeling really sweaty and spent the rest of the evening watching Seven Ages of Rock, making a photo preview while chatting to jupiter_jones and later suzerain.

  
 

( Bigger and more )
A few more in the flickr set and still more to come.

Managed to get up at a reasonable time, get ready and drop off my party contributions at professoryaffle's. nannyo had already left so I took the bus in, and after having been at the fair for about five minutes, I ran into nannyo. We walked around a bit, looked at carniverous plants, picked up a program and then acquired a minspi. More phonecalls were made and the next additions to our group were nurse_liz and puddingcat. Next on the list were raggedy_man and dr_wez and then faerierhona, the_mendicant and robinbloke. We walked around the fair for a bit, some bought food, some bought tat, it was all very pleasant.

The weather was perfect, sunny but not too hot with a lovely breeze. My hat was a godsend as it protected my head, face and neck from the sun. Strangely, I must have lost some of my resistance, as I have some slight sunburn on one arm, usually I just tan. Then again, today was the first really sunny day I've been out in for a longer time.

After puddingcat and nannyo left, I spend some time alternating between the East Stage and the Bigwam Stage (too bad they are so far apart) and caught some really good music at the Bigwam, especially a punk band called Symbo and a more generic rock band called Respond with a mad showoff guitarist.

Randomly ran into the guys from Rome Burns and had a nice little chat with faerierhona.

Around 6, I was quite knackered from all the walking around so I called it a day and too the bus back to professoryaffle's where I met loads of new people *waves* and had some fantastic food. I had heard about professoryaffle's cooking before so I wasn't really surprised. The home-made sausages  and the (rum/lime/mint drink) were particularly good.
The party was nice, mellow and very friendly and although only knowing a handful of people there, I immediately got on well with everyone.

There will be three sets of photo previews tomorrow: One unlocked generic Strawberry Fair, one locked and one filtered post for the party.

Tomorrow's diet will consist of not a lot of calories, I think. *burp*