My second Port Eliot Literary Festival and I’m totally smitten. It’s my idea of the absolute perfect festival. Beautifully art directed, wonderfully curated, intelligent and thought provoking all supplemented with the most delicious food (provided by The River Cottage and Chris Sherville’s Seafood Cafe.) I came away inspired, informed and eager to read more, do more and learn. Port Eliot is an enlightened festival and I could write about it for days. There was so much to do, see and listen to. Here instead are my edited highlights…
- Murray Lachlan Young. How we laughed, cried and sang. Hilarious. Possibly the funniest poet in the world.
- Eating seafood in the walled garden. Many times…
- The Hermes Gold horse balloons. How I love a good balloon (They wouldn’t give me one as I’m not a child…arguable)
- Jarvis Cocker’s Dj set. Awesome. Anyone that ends a set with Black Betty is instantly promoted to demigod status
- Speaking of demigods GRAYSON PERRY. So loved listening to him. What an incredibly intelligent articulate man…
- …And then there’s Alan Measles, Grayson’s teddy bear who drove to the festival in a shrine on a motorbike. No joke
- The one minute disco. Genius van that pulled up every hour by the river for exactly that. A burst of one minute disco
- Wild swimming in the St Germans estuary with the Outdoor Swimming Society. So invigorating we did it both days.
- “Flights of Fancy” Stuffed birds as interior decoration in the English country house. A brilliant talk with brilliant slides by Tim Knox (Director of Sir John Soane’s museum)
- Toy Story 3. The subliminal star. Referenced many times by the intelligencia
My only low-lights, the things I missed. But like anything worthwhile you are always left wanting more…
The Hat Competition with master milliner Stephen Jones
Grayson Perry’s talk. Witty, intelligent and pretty damn funny.
The KLF’s Bill Drummond making his own bed. Intriguing. How I loved the KLF
Loved the Hermes scarf tying Horsebox. A vibrant splash of luxury goods and the best gold horse balloons
Learning how to tie a headscarf in the Hermes horsebox. I have a new appreciation for the art of headscarfage and can see an expensive habit cropping up.
The boys from the One Minute Disco roll up.
Swimming with the wild Outdoor Swimming Society…’Water needs no roof’.
Rosette making. Honestly. This is a workshop everyone should do, we all deserve a rosette
Flower arranging competition. An arrangement of weeds in a wellington boot. Genius
An arrangment of flowers in a thimble…for a Mouse’s tea party
Delicious oysters
Went for a walk around the grounds. What a striking view of the viaduct.
