One of the things I love about going to festivals is the fancy dress. There’s something so liberating about putting on a costume and becoming someone/something else for a while. I have had some fantastic interactions with other people whose costumes matched or related to mine. The joy that that spreads is very infectious.
Some festivals in particular excel at creating an immersive theme, so here’s my shortlist for 2019.
Shindig – Get Fruity
Shindig is one of the first festivals of the season and takes place in a beautiful location in Somerset. Voted best boutique festival by The Guardian last year, this is definitely a festival to keep an eye on. This year’s ‘Get Fruity’ theme saw some great costumes paraded. My personal favourites were the lady riding a banana and the plethora of pineapple helmets. I saw a lot of fantastic homemade costumes, from crates of fruit for hats to balloons worn as bunches of grapes. There was even a swarm of wasps, which was a fun ‘out of the box’ approach to the theme.
Shambala – Extinction Carnival
Well known for their eco-friendly attitude to putting on events, Shambala’s theme this year invites participants to celebrate those species now extinct, or on the edge of it. The quality of peoples’ costumes always blows me away at Shambala, they have a strong reputation for attracting people who love to go all out with their fancy dress…I can’t wait to see what people will come up with for this fabulous theme.
Nozstock – The Wizard of Noz
Now in it’s 21st year, this festival in Herefordshire is small but perfectly formed. With a broad range of music styles and a great attention to detail on the decor front, this a fantastic festival for those who love things a little freaky and wild. This years’ theme is a big nod towards the iconic film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and I’m sure will see some pretty outlandish costumes – expect flying monkeys and evil witches galore, if past years are anything to go by!
El Dorado – Jungle Boogie
Another festival in Herefordshire, this one nestled in the grounds of Eastnor Castle Deer Park, El Dorado actually have 2 dress up themes this year. Opting for ‘Gold’ as their theme for Saturday, which is nice and broad, with scope to take it as subtle or all encompassing as you wish. Their Sunday theme is ‘Jungle Boogie’ which is a fun nod to The Jungle Book and I’m sure will see costumes inspired by Jungle music fashion too.
Competition – Would you like to win a pair of rainbow heart hair grips? I have three pairs up for grabs! Simply leave a comment on this blog with the most fantastical fancy dress theme you can think of and I’ll pick my favourites on the 15th July. Only one entry per person, so choose carefully!
The Fancy Dress Festival (known locally as Kakamotobi ) is a masquerade festival held on Christmas to the first day of January every year by the people of Winneba in the Central region of Ghana .