Twinwood 2018 (‘av a banana)
“I’m pulling out of Twinwood”… you would not believe the amount of times I said that in the run up to my first Twinwood Festival. To a one-woman-band the thought of making enough stock for the country's biggest festival was incredibly daunting! Luckily I have an amazingly supportive, deft fingered, calm boyfriend who not only eased my panic but also made lots of flowers for me. So August came, and after months of very long days, we packed 3 cars and off we went.
I also have to tell you about Jen, one of my bestest friends in the whole world. She’d offered to come and help for the weekend many months before the event. She’s amazing – kind, funny, calming, reassuring, practical, a doer, naturally charming and charismatic, bold, and very good with people. So in short, the three of us made the perfect team.
Thursday was setting up day, ready to open at midday on Friday. I was quite nervous I have to say, not knowing what to expect from my first event exclusively selling my accessories range with no hair styling involved but my own.
Shopping and entertaintment is open on the Friday to those visitors camping for the whole weekend, so we knew it was a warm up for Saturday. And a good chance to catch up with some of the other traders and friends, with a little shopping of course! It was going to be a chilly weekend, so there was no way we’d be cooking at our campsite. We headed to the Chinese takeaway and huddled in the drafty tent, eating and drinking wine, and had an early night ready for Saturday; the main shopping day.
Thank goodness I’d packed my Miss Candyfloss Jumpsuit! It was SO cold! After months of a wonderfully, rare, hot UK summer, the weather decided to do a flip and be autumnal. How RUDE! I think a lot of the stalls did a good trade in suit, knitwear and coats this year (I bought 2, any excuse...). Paired with my jumpsuit was a lily hair flower and matching corsage.
Saturday was a blast. We were so busy we didn’t get lunch until almost 5pm and stayed open for shoppers nearly 2 hours after closing time. It was wonderful to see lots of friends and regular customers, along with some new ones, and meet some gorgeous Instagrammers in person who I follow and admire.
Saturday night is the main going-out night at Twinwood, whether to see bands, go to a dance, see some cabaret acts or to go to the Cockney Sing-a-Long in the Colonial Club with Tom Carradine. We couldn’t resist the latter as we were informed what fun it was. And it certainly was. I seemed to turn into Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins (what with him being a true Cockney and all…) and had such a good night. I didn’t even notice my ‘cockney’ dancing resulted in rebreaking my little toe I’d broken two weeks earlier! Oops. We spent the evening with Sam aka Death By Deco and her husband, along with Mr Twinwood 2017 himself, his fiancée and his good friend, plus lots of other fabulous people. The catchprase “’av a banana” amused me greatly and became the in theme of the Festival!! “’Av a banana”… ”I don’t want a banana!”. So funny, but I guess you had to be there!
Sunday came with a terrible weather forecast that resulted in heavy rain from 10am till 5pm. This certainly put a dampener on trade for everyone, which was such a shame but couldn’t be helped. However, Sunday was dubbed Turban Day, with the amount of turbans people bought to help protect their hair. And look fabulous of course!
Another highlight of the day was finally getting to meet the guys from House of Drewvid. We’d been chatting via social media for months, and I regularly use their Marcel setting spray, so it was fantastic to see them in person. I don’t think they were expecting me to be so short!
We were exhausted on Sunday, so relaxed in the tent rather than going out. I so wish we had though, Still Moving DJs were on and they’re always fantastic. However I knew I’d be dippng into my energy overdraft too much, so I was a good girl and went to sleep. Plus my going-out partner in crime Jen had decided she couldn’t take camping and the cold anymore and had booked herself into a local hotel. Can’t say I blame her!
Monday dawned clearer and slightly less chilly than the day before, which meant I was able to wear my new 40s linen dress from Pin Curls Vintage Services.
The day flew by quickly, with several people shouting ‘av a banana as they came in or walked past! I had treasured customers who had come by every day to see what new pretties Hair Wear by Pin Up Curl and Corsages by Pin Up Curl had to offer, which was so lovely. I may need to start a support group – Pin Up Curl Not So Anonymous!
I was bowled over by how good Twinwood had been, and after all the worry, stress and panic I’ve booked again for 2019, and my deam team of Steve and Jen will once again be with me. I’m honestly so happy I didn’t pull out. I learnt lots, danced lots, talked lots, hugged lots and smiled even more. We’ll be back opposite the Woodland Booths again, right next to Black Sheep Antiques. A special mention has to go out to Marie of Black Sheep, who helped me get into Twinwood as a trader in the first place!
Bring on 2019, I’m already excited!
