{"id":13596,"date":"2021-07-23T00:00:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T23:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/?p=13596"},"modified":"2021-07-23T16:24:33","modified_gmt":"2021-07-23T15:24:33","slug":"fantasy-forest-festival-rise-of-the-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/2021\/07\/fantasy-forest-festival-rise-of-the-phoenix\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Forest Festival – Rise Of The Phoenix"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Driving through the cotswolds you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking you have fallen into some chocolate box faery realm, but that\u2019s just on a normal day. Last weekend the fae folk flocked, swarmed and pirouetted amidst the beautiful grounds of Studley Castle nestled in the cotswolds hills near the Medieval market town of Winchcombe. Steeped in history this beautiful estate even has Tudor Queen Catherine Parr buried in its grounds. This provided the stunning backdrop to the wonderful creatures of the Fantasy Forest Festival.<\/p>\n

Only in it\u2019s second year (first one being 2019) you wouldn\u2019t know it from the slick organisation and sheer size of the fest. With three stages, battle arena, chapel talks, medieval village, wondering performers as well as a variety of activities for the children \u2013 it was truly a festival for all. We even decided this would be the perfect event for my son\u2019s (aged 3) first festival experience! But you don\u2019t need to have children to attend \u2013 it\u2019s a place for children of all ages from 3 to 300 (well I\u2019m not sure how old some of the fairies and witches were \ud83d\ude09).<\/p>\n

\"\"This year dubbed \u201cyear of the phoenix\u201d risen from the ashes of last year\u2019s covid cancellation \u2013 saw a beautiful phoenix wicker man set alight on ceremony as the sun went down. However, this imagery was more fitting that expected with the scorching temperatures soaring past 30 degrees! But us delicate fae folk were saved from the sun\u2019s harsh rays with the \u201cforest\u201d of the festival title wrapping its shady arms around our countenance. The abundance of shade, much of which was still in full view of the entertainments, was definitely a highlight of this summer festival \u2013 and one which many open-air fests seem to lack.<\/p>\n

What I loved was the vibe of the place. The stunning surrounds set off the friendly inclusive atmosphere beautifully. And you found anything from Daleks, to Orks, to Goths, to Mermaids, Fairies, Pirates, Knights and any manner of wonderful magical concoctions.<\/p>\n

Band spanned genres with the like of goth festival favourites Inkubus Sukkubus, Pirate tunes in the form of The Boarding Crew, the marvellous musical m\u00e9lange that is Captain of the Lost Waves, Perkelt with their pagan speed folk and much more! What was nice was that sone of the bands rotated and played different stages at different times and days. When you\u2019re marching to the beat of the drum of a three-year-old, being able to be flexible and free flowing is essential \u2013 and this meant we could still catch some of the performances.<\/p>\n

\"\"While we were still technically in lockdown with restrictions only actually lifting on the Monday. The only hints that this was not \u201cthe new normal\u201d was social distancing recommendations, seated performances (no dancing!) and staff mask wearing, as well as masks worn indoors for the talks from the likes of Anne Sudworth. But being able to hear one of my favourite artists talk about her work in the stunning surrounds of the 15th century chapel made it worth the mask + heat combo.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we only made it for the day on Saturday, but camping is available as well as cottages in the castle estate. But I know for sure this is going to be a fixture on our calendar. And perhaps next year extending the family outing with a grandmother on board, who can then tuck the children up in bed after a fun filled day so we can then party into the evening with a flagon (or two!) of mead.<\/p>\n

Website: fantasyforest.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Words by – Lady Amaranth
\nwww.ladyamaranth.com<\/a>
\nwww.facebook.com\/lady.amaranth<\/a>
\nwww.fashionsalternative.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Driving through the cotswolds you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking you have fallen into some chocolate box faery realm, but that\u2019s just on a normal day. Last weekend the fae folk flocked, swarmed and pirouetted amidst the beautiful grounds of Studley Castle nestled in the cotswolds hills near the Medieval market town of Winchcombe. Steeped in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[506],"tags":[484],"class_list":["post-13596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-event","tag-lady-amaranth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13596"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13612,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13596\/revisions\/13612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alchemyengland.com\/site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}