The Secret Garden Party is a festival unlike most of the others. Sure, it’s a music festival, with this year’s line-up including the currently hotter than hot Bastille, Django Django, 2many DJs, Faithless, and Regina Spektor headlining on Sunday, but it’s so much more. Every year Gardeners are given a theme, this year’s (for ’13) was Superstition, and are welcomed into what feels like a giant play area for adults in the customised site in Cambridgeshire for 4 days of Music, Dancing, Art classes, Science Lessons, Theatre, Food, and Sunshine. 

Even festival essentials fit in with the ethos - food joints are delicious, as well as quirky & fun (one lunch was interrupted by a choreographed number from the waitresses  & chefs), and the friendly staff at the bars around the site gave speedy service and excellent cocktail recommendations with a big smile. They know you didn't come to a festival to queue! The Secret Garden party is far from the madding corporate crowd and so much the better for it.

And if you wanted to get even more up close and personal with the festival, you had the pick of the bunch: Mud wrestling in the Collo-silly-um (clothing optional!), sipping bubbly in a hot tub by the new swimming lake, Musical flash mobs, diving competitions, Nude knitting at the Village Hall, Dance-offs, Gin & Swing... the list is endless. 

Friday night saw Django Django play their first set as headliner at a major festival; they didn’t look out of place. Their set oozed confidence performing tracks from their self-titled album, culminating in a rousing rendition of ‘Silver Rays’. 

Saturday kicked off with Hokey Cokey at the Village Green before breakfast. Where a monk with a Microphone led an enthusiastic rendition to limber us up for the day. After fuelling up at Strumpets with Crumpets, we headed to the Where the Wild Things Are to catch More like Trees. The acoustic Trio (with an actual Double Bass and Cajon) have a chilled hippy vibe, with their lead vocalist Josh Whitehouse’s relaxed patter getting  the audience up & dancing. This was the perfect preparation for Willy Mason’s set on the Great Stage, with his festival folk drifting out across the grounds in the glorious sunshine. 

As per SGP tradition, the central lake plays host to a beautifully sculpted floating stage, accessible only by boat, which is sacrificially burnt as part of the Big Burn on Saturday night. This year’s was a Pirate Ship, being attacked by a Giant Octopus (but of course). It’s a stunning setting to dance on, and once you’ve worked up a sweat, it’s perfect for diving straight into the lake itself for a cooling swim. The ship transformed on Saturday night into an equally beautiful sight for the Big Burn, its ribcage silhouetted against a ball of flames, and surrounded by a spectacular display of pyrotechnics set to music. 

The Garden’s fireworks would always be a hard act to follow, but Faithless failed to impress, and we headed to the Dance-Off stage, which had earlier played host to a proposal, and a spectacular face-off between a mob of brides, and Correspondents front man Mr Bruce. Only at somewhere like SGP can you dance the night away to quite literally all the classics, whilst watching unsuspecting dance heroes face off in a disco-boxing ring. After warming up for a night of dance, the Black Cat Café was the hot location to be, playing host to a secret 2-hour DJ set from Jarvis Cocker and 2 many DJs, fresh from their stint on the Great Stage. The tent was crammed, with a small crowd gathered outside the door, and the group were clearly having a great time, with Jarvis adding distorted vocals into the heady mix.

The perfect wind up for Saturday night was the late night Correspondents set at the Temple of Boom. The marquee was full, not least because of the rain pouring down outside, and the energy inside was incredible. The crowd going wild in the muddy sludge for the duo’s frontman & MC Mr Bruce who was on true animated form, leaping around the stage to DJ Chuck’s Jungle/Electro Swing beats like a possessed harlequin, spitting out lyrics without breaking for breath. 

After Saturday’s downpour, Sunday returned to baking sunshine and a morning dance on the lakeside Pagoda. Over on the Great Stage, Jamie N Commons’ powerful soulful voice and stunning acappella spirituals summoned the gathering hordes ready for the traditional ‘Virgins vs Veterans’ Paint Fight. This explosion of colour provided one of the highlights of the festival, as old and new friends turned on each other in a rainbow cloud of dust followed by DJ set, with the entire field of messy happy people jumping around to House of Pain.

Where the Wild Things Are proved the front-running stage with its strong late afternoon and evening line-up, pitting the very contrasting sounds of Dan Croll’s tight vocal blend and clean image, against Wolf Alice’s ear-invading (pop)rock. It was somewhat of a let-down to find that for the second time that weekend that Disclosure’s venue was too rammed for the majority of those wanting to watch, and closing part of The Drop on Sunday afternoon due to structural issues did nothing to help this. For an act so popular, it would perhaps have been wiser to have put them on a bigger stage, such as the Temple of Boom. 

And finally, the moment everyone, and certainly I, had been waiting for: Regina Spektor on the Great Stage. It was clear from the outset that she is so comfortable and acclimatised to being on the stage, appearing with a radiant smile to match her summer lemon yellow dress. Her performance made the vast stage feel like an intimate venue, commanding the attention of the crowd and drawing everyone in, even when a ‘bug with a deathwish’ and technical glitch interrupted her flow. Her voice did get slightly lost in the mix of her newest song, due to heavier orchestration, but the balance with the rest of her sparser numbers – cello, percussion and keys - was perfect. Most popular with the audience were her tracks ‘Sampson’ – provoking tears from many, and ‘Us’. It was only a shame she didn’t play for longer. You could have heard a pin drop.

Other acts we saw & loved: Where the Wild Things Are regular Beans On Toast with his jovial banter stylings, Keston Cobblers Club, whose cheery indie folk always bring a smile to your face (and who compered the SGP Flashmob Orchestra), Sam Smith with his beautiful voice. Snarky Puppy seemed to win a whole new fan base at the Crossroads stage, The Other Tribe who deliver 100% every time, Gorgeous George who were, well, gorgeous, & the Reggae legend that is David Rodigan.  

So, surrounding ourselves with beautiful people covered in face paint, and fancy dress, and glitter in abundance, we threw ourselves into the mixing pot and welcomed  the festival's 'Party. Participate. Pounce. Parade'  ethos with open arms. We can now officially call ourselves Gardeners, and we will be back.

Article, Photos, Instagram: Elizabeth Rogers, Amanda, Linda