The Festival Season Rolls On!

We have now experienced V Festival, and what a weekend it was! After managing to secure such fantastic positions at the previous, much smaller festivals, we were pretty certain that there was  no chance of us getting up close when competing with a whopping 90,000 people! Equipped with our wellies and flowers in our hair - what else could you need? - we made our way to Weston Park.  We arrived in plenty of time, giving us the opportunity to check out the site for accessibility. We decided not to camp this year, but after seeing the facilities, we are seriously considering it for next time! I've never been camping at all yet - the whole 'Glamping' thing sounds rather appealing actually - but I guess all I'd really need is a relatively big tent and an electrical hook-up for my overnight machines and charging my power-chair.  We retrieved our wristbands for the accessible viewing platform just in case it was, for once, in a good position, yet, once again, you'd need binoculars to see anything. We slowly made our way around the arena, checking out where everything was and as we approached the main stage, we realised that there was actually a space on the front barrier! My chair immediately went on to turbo-charge, and sped across the field - it's amazing what you can do when a front row spot is at stake!

We made it!

 

It's quite ironic really because, despite not actually needing to lean on the barrier for support, nothing can beat that feeling when my tiny fingers wrap half way around it, and nobody can move me away!

 

 

 

This festival was quite different from the others as there was more than one stage, and so people were generally wandering about, popping in to see an act, and then moving on again. This was our original plan, you know, just to meander around the stalls etc. but after miraculously claiming such a great spot, there was no way that we were going to risk losing it! Driving at speed across a bumpy field really is necessary at these events if you want a bit of atmosphere as well as a good view, but it's not something that I want to be doing every 30 minutes or so. It can be pretty painful on my neck and so my sister Candice has become expert at holding my head in place as we race along, but hey, nothing worth having come easy, does it? As I say, each of the earlier acts would play for about 20-30 minutes, and then a large number of people would leave to go and see another artist somewhere else. This meant that every time someone finished, we could move in towards the centre just a tiny bit. It didn't seem much at the time, but looking back, we did move a fair way closer! The crowds did start to build as we got to the third or fourth act and, as you would expect, the security team began to feel rather anxious for my safety. I don't blame them one bit, and in actual fact, I'd be worried if they showed no concern at all, but we did manage to convince them that, truthfully with the front barrier beside me I was in no danger of being pushed over. My chair also provides great solid protection if the crowds were to push forward, and my mum, sister, and my PA, Sally, stand behind and to the side just incase - quite frankly to protect others from hurting themselves on my metalwork more than anything else!

  

Day 1!

 

Day 2!

 

 

 

Having a prime spot though often comes at a price, and this time it was the inability to move away for anything, whether it be to fetch food, drink, or even to avail yourself of the facilities (although from what I've heard, that might have been for the best....)! After nearly 12 hours of standing - well, sitting for me - on a field in the centre of England, you're bound to get quite chilly, and as I've said before, this causes quite an issue for me. Driving is hard enough with a cold hand, but having to try and dodge all of the rubbish that's left behind after a festival is a nightmare! Two people have to walk in front of me kicking away all the empties, to clear a pathway, but on the bright side, they say this is a great way of getting the blood circulating again in their legs after their long stint standing. When you do finally reach the car at around midnight, you still spend at least another hour or two queuing for the exit - camping on site was sounding better and better by the minute!

The traffic wasn't too bad on the first night as most people were staying over, and so there was still time to head to McDonald's Drive Thru to collect our compulsory midnight feast. It has now become a tradition that we have a well-deserved McDonald's after every concert, as we've usually had hardly anything to eat all day! When we arrive at home it can be anything up to two 2 hours before I'm actually in bed, by the time I've sorted everything out and then hooked up to my machines. As well as my ventilator, I have a SATs monitor that attaches to my toe and measures my oxygen levels and heart rate overnight, and it alarms if they rise above or fall below a certain number.  I've been using all my machines for about 10 years now, and so they really don't bother me, in fact, I kind of miss them if they're not there!



 My machines

 

We woke up early again the next morning and left the house at around the same time, praying that we'd be as lucky with the traffic as we were the previous day. Thankfully we were, and made it in even better time as we knew exactly where we were going, unlike before - in our defence, it doesn't help that one of the important signs directing us to the venue had fallen down! All of the staff on the gates and in the car parks etc. were great and let us park in the same spot, making it really easy for us to head right on in. After such terrific luck with our position on Saturday, there was absolutely no way that we'd match it a second time. We didn't dare to even hope... Whilst wobbling over the grass past all the delicious food stands, we once again spotted that there was space on the barrier just one or two people across from where we were before, and once again, my chair grew it's wings, and it flew! I can't really put into words that feeling of having achieved what we so desperately wanted to achieve, but I suppose it's just a mixture of relief, satisfaction, and a huge amount of joy. All the acts over both days were amazing, but also quite different to what I've seen before. Each and every one of them had so much talent, and the whole event showed me just how much I want to be involved with the music industry in some form or another in the future.

Front row, bottom left!

To any wheelchair users looking to get a front row spot at a concert/festival, I would say that there are four main things that you need: preparation, commitment, determination, and resilience.

Before I go, I would just like to say a HUGE congratulations to my sister, Candice, who yesterday received her GCSE results, and has achieved an astonishing ten A*s and one A!!! She certainly deserved it, and we are all extremely proud.

My gorgeous sister ready for her prom!

Write soon,

Tilly,xox