Everything wasn't perfect

This weekend we visited the Kneedeep festival in Cornwall.

It's a weekend of indie bands, beer and food and interesting because it's non-profit, run by volunteers and not perfect.

We kind of expect everything today to be right. Deliveries on time, Food at the correct temperature, TV on demand, that sort of thing.

So when something isn't perfect then we get irrationally mad. 

But kneedeep showed that not only can people manage when things are a bit haphazard but also that we haven't lost the ability to improvise and adapt.

It rained several times during the weekend but it didn't stop people sitting and enjoying the music, they just put on waterproof, ripped holes in bin bags and put up umbrellas.

The music started at 2pm and there wasn't a whole lot else going on otherwise. Some of the guys got a ball and organised an impromptu game of football. Jumpers for goalposts that sort of thing.

Jumpers for goalposts

There were some great bands there. There were some not so great bands there. Some of them gave the performance of their lives, some didn't. They were all cheered though. The good feeling sat around the camp like a benevolent budda, emanating happy.

One of the great bands at Kneedeep

The lack of plastic, perfectly produced signage was evident and the festival was all the better for it. People were left to organise themselves and they managed perfectly well without a health and safety consultant to guide them. There wasn't an 'official guide' but attendees still found the beer tent and no-one told us to have a good time, but we managed it just as well.

The weekend gave me lots to think about but overall the abiding memory is of a bunch of people in a field determined to enjoy themselves.