ENDORSE IT IN DORSET: Probably the best festival in Dorset

The back stage bar was strangely to front of the stage, so bands could sit upstairs and watch thier mates on stage

Well, well, well, what have we here? ENDORSE-IT-IN DORSET aint as good as the old skool pre Criminal Justice Act Days, but it certainly has the nearest thing to the vibe from those days we have encountered for a good ten years. Like a Travellers festival without, erm.. Travellers! Having said that there were quite a few cans of special brew and loads of characters that looked as if they might turn into crusties with the addition of some mud. All in all a wicked little do with a bit of the 'edge' that is sadly missing from most events these days.

Cardiff's very own Splott Brothers entertain the kids with thier own brand of comedy magic

The site was nicely laid out, 4 stages, dance tent, kids area, market and plenty of food and beer available. The camping area was a bit tight and some areas looked as if you would need a sledgehammer to get the tent pegs in, but I cant grumble cos we found a cracking spot with clean toilets and water near by and, most importantly, a really friendly bunch of like minded groovers with kids camped right next to us.

Cutting and sticking making noisy things in the cutting and sticking tent

Yip, a big shout to the Portland/Weymouth crew for welcoming us into your gang and for having a Jasmine for Tara to play with.

Nah, it can't really be them on stage... can it?

Over the last few years’ festivals have tended to have good line ups but little atmosphere (like the Larmer Tree just down the road) or have lots of atmosphere but a less than brilliant line up. This little beauty had it all, atmosphere and a wicked line up. A cool idea was to be selling a compilation CD with lots of the lesser-known bands on to give you a taste of what was to come. Unfortunately I did not give it a listen till I got home, had I heard it in advance there would definitely have been a few more bands I would have made an effort to see (Tip for Tony Viagra… make it available on line in advance next time geezer!).

The whole thing was run by Iguana favourites Pronghorn, who demonstrate their talents go way beyond being the UK’s number one cow-punk outfit. The best festival we have been to this century and a definite for next years summer planning.

More on the line up to follow……….