Innocent Unplugged Festival

This weekend, I found myself walking through a beautiful bluebell wood in Kent to the secret location of the first Innocent Unplugged festival!

The idea behind Innocent Unplugged is that everyone attending would spend a weekend 'off the grid,' away from our phones and our need for constant connection to the rest of the world. This (slightly scary) concept was aimed at forcing all attendees to live in the moment and purely enjoy what was in front of them.

Our weekend started with a twisty car journey around the Kent countryside, trying to find the secret location before pitching our tents in a field. Then, we followed a path laced with fairy lights through the woods before emerging into a beautiful garden where there were a number of tents set up.

We explored, following little paths through the bushes, coming across intriguing signs along the way...

...before discovering the stage where all the different bands would be playing that weekend.

https://open.spotify.com/user/lhinx/playlist/1l1GpCyptPihyhLSGQgNc5 << Link to some of the music at the festival!

There was also a yurt where speakers gave inspiring talks, (such as the Esc the City who talked about their journey to founding their company) people took part in laughing yoga (a truly weird thing to watch) and the Gentleman Rhymer stormed the stage.

In the evening, we could gather around a campfire and listen to (utterly hilarious) storytellers, who animatedly spun tales to the waiting crowd.

One thing I really liked about the Unplugged festival was that all the power for the festival came from the site. There were solar panels dotted around the fields; bikes, a giant hamster wheel and a see-saw hooked up to generators, through which people peddled, ran and saw-ed their way to electricity!

I was lucky enough to win tickets to Innocent Unplugged through Stylist Magazine and so on the Sunday of the festival, we were treated to some rather lovely experiences.

First up was a trip to the woodland spa, where we relaxed in toasty hot tubs while being served glasses of Prosecco. It was bliss floating in the water while the sounds of the forest (and, okay, of the festival too) washed over us.

Next, a woodland banquet. We turned up in a tent to find long tables set out with beautiful vases of flowers distributed at intervals along them. We perched ourselves on a hay bale as the food was laid before us. The idea of a banquet was unique and, frankly, brilliant- it gave us time to unwind, eat good food and meet new people!

Three hours later, the night had drawn in and it was time for us to leave. The music at Innocent Unplugged had been a fantastic mix (with a surprising number of trumpets flying around), the atmosphere wonderfully relaxed and the festival not too busy (there were only a thousand people there over the two days, although it felt like even less!), which had all lead to a truly great festival experience. I really hope they do another again soon!