Standon Calling 2009

Mummy: ‘which festival would you like to go back to next year Lil?’
Lillie: ‘THIS ONE!’

Think festival and you’ll probably think of tens of thousands of people crammed in to a field, a mile away from the stages. Not ideal for kids…not ideal for most adults either come to think of it.

Started as a private party for friends, Standon Calling is different - think Bestival in your back garden. We pulled in to the car park, a moment’s walk from the main site, in awe. “There’s no-one here” gasped Daddy, the unfortunate member of the TTR team charged with humping festival gear from car to campsite. Standon Calling has kept its exclusive feel by offering just 3000 tickets - substantially less than your average small scale gig. And its this intimacy which makes it such a great place to be.

Aside from some fantastic music from Friendly Fires (Mummy: ‘I’m a little bit in love with the singer,’ Daddy: ‘Well I’m a little bit in love with the guitarist’), Josh Weller (Lillie: ‘I want them to do more songs!’), Paloma Faith (Lillie: ’she’s pretty, I want to go closer’) and Chrome Hoof (Mummy: ‘I feel slightly scared, I don’t want to turn my back on them) the real charm of Standon is the atmosphere. Everyone, literally every single one of the 3000 folk here, is happy. Not just ‘we’re having a lovely time’ happy but ‘we want to come up and talk to you and cuddle your kids’ happy.

From random conversations with Hawkwind’s guitar technician to a Liverpudlian lady giving the kids bananas, a girl who Ted might consider his new girlfriend if she wasn’t about 16 years older than him and a man who tried to calm him down by offering him spare buttons when he awoke at gone midnight to find he’d missed Lemmy (this may not have been the reason for the tears but he’s not got enough words to explain as yet so I’m guessing).

Down to the nuts and bolts - there’s tons of camping space in the family area, usable, unstenchy compost loos, excellent if limited food (lovely cake and cookies) and, believe it or not, an outdoor heated swimming pool. Additional entertainment comes from the crowd who, as well as merrily playing with the kids, really get in to the fancy dress theme, resulting in constant shouts of ‘LOOK Mummy!’

If you’re after organised activities, big name bands and facilities galore Standon probably isn’t for you. But if you just want total relaxation and to feel like you’re part of the happiest party in Herts there’s no better festival going. The Toddler Review will be back next year…

www.standon-calling.com