Jelly Festival
The festival that’s breaking the mould…
From his salad and smoothie hut, looking out over the expanse of green land that he was lucky enough to call his home, serving refreshments to the teems of visitors that flocked to his abode in South Creake to take a wander round the lovingly cultivated Maze, Ben Gardner had a vision - a wibbly-wobbly vision that would this year take the form of the Jelly Festival.
What started off with the aforementioned maze being cultivated by Ben’s father (and allegedly some meddlesome gnomes) and then opened to the public, grew to encompass live music; in its first year, ‘Mazestock’ as it was duly named, saw an influx of 600 revellers, giving Ben the encouragement to take it further. Mazestock continued for 3 years, and after a break, returns as the bigger, better, bouncier Jelly Festival.
Ben explains that the reason for the name was that he wanted it to be “appealing to kids and adults alike”, which from the day’s events that are planned, will be easily achieved. The music line up is hugely eclectic with a mix of London-based and local bands. Heading the bill is a top secret special guest DJ – but let’s just say he’s a high-calibre artist who’s played the dance stage at Glastonbury and has done a minimix for Annie Mac’s mash-up programme. Also on the bill are Nouvelle Croix, a gypsy-jazz band, who will be taking to the stage at sunset, Cass Lowe, whose live looping and guitar-tapping have seen him support Newton Faulkner, plus many more.
Aside from the music, entertainment will come in the form of sumo suit wrestling, a giant bouncy castle, 40ft inflatable slide, balloon modellers and face painting – this lot’s supposed to be for the kids, but bet your bottom dollar that it’ll be the bigger kids hogging the bouncy castle.
Supporting local businesses, to keep your bellies full and thirst quenched, there’ll be stalls for Woodforde’s ale, Win Hill cider and the quintessential summer favourite, Pimms, plus a Hog Roast, BBQ from renowned butcher, Arthur Howell and for your sweet tooth, cakes by Kate.
There’s one essential ingredient of the day that can’t go without mention is the jelly! There’ll be a jelly stall where free jelly will be handed out by some gorgeous girls, but any contributions made will be donated to the Spinal Injuries Association.
For this year, Ben wants to “create a vibe that’s acceptable for the masses, without selling out”, he says; “the aim is just to have a really nice, chilled out day”. For the future, he has grander plans and will put part of the proceeds back into next year’s festival, with ideas of using some of the farm’s space for camping, with a larger list of bands.
The festival is being held on the 2nd of August from 12noon to 11pm at Compton Hall, South Creake, nr Fakenham. Tickets are £10 in advance and £15 on the door, or half price for children, and are available from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk and from Soundclash Records on St Benedict St, Norwich. For more details, go to www.myspace.com/jellyfest, or call 01328 823224.
