CAMP GOOD LIFE RETURNS WITH MUSIC, FOOD AND FIRE! #News
Victoria Hayes
29th March 2022
This September, at the end of a long-awaited festival season, comes an event that sits apart from all that it follows. Camp Good Life is a small, expertly crafted and curated festival on a breathtaking historic site with a line-up assembled by people responsible for releasing some of the most cherished and ground-breaking music of the past thirty or so years. Camp Good Life runs from 16-18 September 2022 at the Hawarden Estate in Flintshire, North Wales, just a few miles from Chester and only a short hop further to Liverpool and Manchester.
Today, Camp Good Life announces the first spread of chefs who will take to the festival’s giant open firepit to prepare and cook beautiful dishes to be shared by the audience. Camp Good Life (and its predecessor The Good Life Experience) was the first festival to challenge chefs to cook only over campfires.
Among the hosts of intimate, communal Campfire Cooking Sessions will be chef, author of several books (another due in May) and long-time cookery teacher at the River Cottage, Gill Meller; Leith’s-trained chef, recipe writer and food stylist, Olia Hercules; environmentalist and Group Chef Director at THE PIG Hotels, James Golding; double Food Book of the Year author, Mark Diacono, whose The New Kitchen Garden also won Garden Book of the Year; award-winning chef, restaurant owner, activist and author Tom Hunt; recipe writer, cookbook author and Great British Bake Off semi-finalist, Flora Shedden; serial Yotam Ottolenghi collaborator and co-writer of Ottolenghi Flavour, Ixta Belfrage; champion and driver of British Caribbean culinary culture, Marie Mitchell; and co-founder of Bristol’s Bib-Gourmand-holding Root restaurant, Rob Howell.
Hawarden Castle’s Walled Garden will host exceptional feasts, too, and every festival ticket includes a voucher for a free meal every day, an unprecedented festival bonus that Camp Good Life is exceptionally proud to instigate.
This year, Camp Good Life joins with Caught by the River and Heavenly Recordings to present a line-up of quality and eclecticism that is unrivalled for a festival of its size. Among the artists confirmed today are one of the country’s most consistently brilliant songwriters, former Pale Fountains and Shack frontman, Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band; multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Laura Groves, now signed to Bella Union; a very rare live solo performance by Ivor Novello award winning songwriter Simon Aldred, aka Cherry Ghost; multitalented H. Hawkline (who, we have on good authority, will be releasing new music around this time) and whose many collaborations – with the likes of Cate Le Bon, Sweet Baboo, Tim Presley and Aldous Harding – have led to some of the most absorbing music of recent times.
Writers and authors include Saint Etienne’s pop connoisseur Bob Stanley discussing the birth of modern pop music; Ali Millar on The Last Days, her gripping memoir about escaping a religious movement; consistently sparkling writer Jude Rogers on the beautiful hold music has on our lives; and music press mainstay and The New Cue editor, Ted Kessler, on the last days of the music press.
Welsh culture and history are at the heart of the festival; celebrating the publication of new book Welsh (Plural), Welsh writers Darren Chetty, Cerys Hafana, Grug Muse and Andy Welch will take us beyond the clichés that so often shape thinking about Wales and Welshness; triple harpist, pianist and composer from Mid Wales, the completely sensational Cerys Hafana will evoke the sounds of the Welsh language and weather in two separate shows; marking the publication of his essential new book, Brittle With Relics, long-time Caught by the River contributor Richard King will discuss the roots of modern Wales; on Saturday lunchtime, North Wales’s finest brass band ensemble, Band Pres Llarreggub will combine flavours of New Orleans marching bands with Bronx-inspired Hip Hop and Welsh language pop music.
Camp Good Life Director, Tara Gladstone, said, “We’re relaunching with our best line up yet – by miles – and a renewed vision, to be small but absolutely brilliant. No stone will be left unturned to make this the finest small festival anywhere; incredible music, ideas and food, loads of fire, free meals, the best loos and showers anywhere, a mind boggling and ancient site, fantastic gardens and just the right amount of surprises…”
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For three days in September, Camp Good Life materialises on the historic Gladstone estate at Hawarden and the festival audience is invited to settle in and call the place home. While the festival itself is small – with capacity capped at the first 1000 people to buy tickets – the site rolls across several hundred acres, meaning that there are always corners to be discovered, secret gardens ideal for lounging with groups of friends and several glasses of something good, and more elbow room than you’ll ever have experienced at a festival.
The Hawarden Estate was home to four-time Liberal Prime Minster, W.E Gladstone for forty years in the 19th century. It contains two castles: the 14th-century stronghold overlooking rolling parkland with a history stretching back to the Iron Age and the Grade I-listed 18th century building with remodelled Gothic exterior and Georgian interiors, including Gladstone’s study, the ‘Temple of Peace’. The festival finds its way into both, as well as the Walled Garden, Victorian Teahouse, 1920s cricket pavilion, boathouse and lake, the wildflower meadows and ancient woods.
Camp Good Life encourages everyone to do as much or as little as they please; head down the front for bands, dip into books and talks, learn skills and crafts, or scoff your way around the site, enjoying food that will not be bettered by any festival, or just laze around on the beautiful site.
There is a long list of features that mark out Camp Good Life. For a start, dogs are not just tolerated, they are encouraged. We all know that they are the best of us, especially after the past two years, so dogs are welcomed all over Camp Good Life and will have their own moments in the (hoped-for) sun, including the dog show and parade, as well as the country’s finest dog diving tournament.
Another confident claim is that Camp Good Life is equipped with the MOST MAGNIFICENT TOILETS AND SHOWERS IN THE HISTORY OF FESTIVALS; proper loos and plenty of them. If the thought of festival toilets makes you haver over buying a ticket, clear your mind of these doubts and concentrate on the great cultural offerings all over the festival. These khazis are exemplary, put-your-mind-at-rest, beauties and we are happy to accept all challenges from home and abroad.
Camping is an appealing prospect, whether you are a hardy canvas veteran or not that keen a camper. There is so much room that you will always find a comfortable spot with special views. And for those who don’t fancy pitching their own tent, beautifully furnished bell tents and luxury versions in the Victorian walled garden are on offer.
Wherever you are, you are never far from everywhere, meaning that if you want to take in a talk on eels, immerse yourself in the history of Wales, jump in the lake for a swim, relax by the lake and then leg it to the Caught by the River tent to see Michael Head, it’s all easily accomplished and you won’t miss the artists you want to catch, at close range in a remarkable setting.
Camp Good Life in a nutshell:
- Music curated by Caught by the River and Heavenly Recordings, with acts performing throughout the day and long into the evening.
- Speakers’ tent, featuring a line-up of writers, experts and assorted thinkers, curated by Caught by the River
- Celebrated Campfire Cooking Sessions hosted by top class chefs.
- Craft tent, featuring makers ranging from print and pottery to clothing and blacksmithing.
- Bar-side marquee featuring DJs in the evening.
- Talks in the tiny Victorian Tea House.
- Paddle boarding and wild swimming – not to mention dog diving – on the lake.
- Intimate Feasts and Food Masterclasses, hosted by some of the best cooks and chefs around.
- Always something for children and adults to see, hear, enjoy and explore.
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Full line-up, weekend, day and family tickets and all vital information at thegoodlifesociety.co.uk
Dates: 16-18 September 2022. Address: Hawarden Estate, Flintshire, Wales, CH5 3FB.