Burning of the Clocks Parade

One of many festivals held in Brighton, the Burning of the Clocks event took place on the 21st December, a tradition which began in 1994.  On this, the shortest day, the people of Brighton and Hove construct lanterns from paper and willow and gather together as a parade takes place through the city streets, before marking the end of the year with a lantern bonfire on the beach.

With over 2,000 parade performers taking part in the family event, elaborate costumes with clock face detailing are worn to represent the passing of time and the Winter Solstice.  Along with the lantern bonfire, each year a large sculpture is created to reflect a given theme, which is set alight as part of the show of fire, with the event culminating in a stunning firework display and live music providing for a lively atmosphere to these festivities.

This year however, the fire show and firework display had to be cancelled due to the high winds and the safety problems these posed, but thousands still braved the extreme conditions to witness and participate in the lantern parade, which began in the New Road area and ended in Madeira Drive, with this year’s theme focus being The Deep.

This unique event is organised by Same Sky, which is a community art charity based locally in Brighton, and brings together the culturally diverse communities of Brighton and Hove for this vibrant and dynamic celebration.

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If you are planning your motorhome holiday for 2014 why not take a look at some of the top festivals being held in the UK during 2014. From culture to sport and music there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Scotland’s Momentous Year

In 2014 Scotland has many special events including a referendum on independence. For visitors the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow are a major draw between 23 July and 4th August. Even if you don’t have a ticket there will be a tremendous atmosphere in the city itself. The Queen’s Baton Relay will be travelling around Scotland in the 40 days leading up to the Commonwealth Games and is also fun to watch.

Scotland’s other major events include the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn when Robert the Bruce defeated the English. This celebration from 24 -30 June is well worth the journey. Edinburgh International Festival is held each August in the city and is full of cultural activities. The famous Fringe Festival and Literary festival are held at the same time and are really popular. For golfing enthusiasts the Ryder Cup is being held at Gleneagles in September 2014.

Food, Music, and Remembrance

There are lots of other festivals in the UK during 2014. In September the Abergavenny Food Festival is one of the best in the UK and perfect for tasting regional specialties. For literary fans the Hay Literature Festival is renowned and has a wide ranging programme of events in May. The centenary of Dylan Thomas is being commemorated in Swansea with a number of events. Music has both classical and popular festivities during 2014. There is Glastonbury Festival in June which is renowned, and also the famous Proms in London during the summer. 2014 is also a very special year when the centenary of World War One is commemorated in many ways. Throughout the UK there will be exhibits and other events which can be seen via the Imperial War Museum website.
Wherever you travel in the UK during 2014 there are many events and festivals to plan into your motorhome holiday.

Lincoln Cathedral overlooking Castle Square

Commencing on the 5^th December, the 31^st Lincoln Christmas Market took place in the centre of Lincoln, with the cathedral and castle providing a stunning backdrop to this event.  The start of the eagerly awaited Christmas spectacular experienced a slight delay, the result of the strong winds which hit the area as the stallholders and organisers prepared to open the 4 day annual Christmas Market.

With the original Christmas market consisting of just 11 stalls, this famous festive attraction now offers nearly 300 and welcomes over 250,000 visitors, to enjoy its traditional, contemporary and cultural delights.  One of the largest Christmas Markets in Europe, visitors to Lincoln soaked up the atmosphere whilst buying those special and unique gifts for loved ones, sure to make their day this Christmas.  With an array of local arts and crafts, including John Bangay’s stall who sells souvenirs and prints of Lincoln, and is one of the original 11 line-up from when the market began, to delicious treats such as traditional sweets and cheeses, pastries and liqueurs, the market had something for everyone.  With live entertainment taking place across the 4 days, as well as fun rides, Christmas crafts and stalls for the children, the Market, as always, made for a real family treat.

With Lincoln proving such a picturesque city, there is also plenty to explore in this historic location, details of which can be found in our City Spotlight blog coming soon.

Next year’s event dates are yet to be released but the market is usually held three weeks before Christmas.

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Chichester Cathedral

Set in West Sussex on the River Lavant, Chichester is an historic city, which due to its location offers visitors an opportunity to explore the city, the coast as well as the countryside, ensuring something for everyone.  Chichester’s wealth of attractions include museums, galleries and stately homes to visit, in addition to its beautiful cathedral and harbour.  A cultural city, Chichester also welcomes many visitors to its annual festivals including the Festival of Chichester, a four week celebration of the music and the arts, as well as Goodwood’s famous Festival of Speed and Glorious Goodwood.

Chichester
Historic Chichester, or Noviomagus Reginorum as it was called, was a key settlement in Roman times, its location was also a site that the Roman’s built upon to include a Roman Palace (Fishbourne) as well as a large amphitheatre, with development of the settlement to accommodate both the army and civilian population.  With the city walls built to secure Chichester, it was also a strategic military site.  Similar in design to a number of roman settlements, it also allowed access to London.

With the Anglo-Saxon’s arrival came further development, it is believed the origins of the name Chichester comes from Cissa, the son of the first King of the South Saxons.  In later years Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, would again build upon the settlement to ensure it remained a military stronghold capable of withstanding invasion.

In 1066, the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Mongomerie, instructed that Chichester Castle be built, the timber construction was used in later years as both a prison and court.  Today in the Priory Park area of Chichester, the raised castle mound on which the castle was situated can still be seen.

Work began on the building of Chichester Cathedral in 1076, following the creation of the See of Chichester, the Bishop seat had previously been at Selsey Abbey. Whilst the Cathedral was completed in 1108, it was devastated by fire in 1187 and subsequently rebuilt. In later years the central tower and spire would all be added, and eventually a separate bell tower due to subsidence issues on the site.  Today, the cathedral is a magnificent building, featuring both Gothic and Norman styling and home to a wealth of treasures, including rare carvings and roman mosaics.

Popular Culture
Chichester is a cultural and historic city, and as such has been a focus in popular culture.

Films & TV
Rosemary and Thyme – starred Pam Ferris and Felicity Kendal as detectives focussed with solving murder mysteries.  Chichester Cathedral featured in the ITV series, as well as other scenes being filmed in the city.

Books
Peter Lovesey, the award winning author, lives locally in the Chichester area, and as such has featured Chichester and nearby Selsey in novels such as The Headhunters and The Circle.  Lovesey is also known for his Peter Diamond Mystery series of crime novels, as well as the Sergeant Cribb Investigations series.

Andrew Hixson has also chosen Chichester as a focus in his A Handful of Secrets series, a collection of mystery thrillers.

Social Media
Chichester has its own official tourism website, Visit Chichester as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts.

Famous Faces

Timothy Peake – 7 April 1972, was born in Chichester and is the first British civilian to become an astronaut after graduating from the European Space Agency.

Harvey Lonsdale Elmes – born in Chichester in 1813 was a renowned architect whose work included the design of the magnificent St George’s Hall in Liverpool, which today consists of both concert halls as well as law courts.

Major-General John Frederick Charles Fuller – born in Chichester on 1 September 1878, Major General Fuller was not only credited as a military strategist, and in time a military historian, but he invented what was known as artificial moonlight, created through the use of searchlights in World War 1, enabling greater bombing activity at night.

Landmarks
The Chichester Cross
Situated in the centre of Chichester, the Chichester Cross was originally the location of the market square, and the point at which the four main streets which run through the city met.  This highly decorative stone structure which features several arch shaped entrances and 4 clocks, is believed to have been built during the mid to late 1400’s under the instruction of the Bishop of Chichester.

Goodwood House and Estate

Goodwood House and Estate
Goodwood House itself is the home of the Duke of Richmond, and open to the public providing a chance to explore this stunning regency stately home and its magnificent art collections.  The Goodwood House and Estate are home to the superb Glorious Goodwood horse racing event, as well as motorsport’s Festival of Speed, and Goodwood Revival, events which all attract thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Fishbourne Roman Palace and Gardens
Given its significant Roman history, the Roman Palace transforms you back in time with the museum and discovery centre enabling you to learn more about Roman Chichester.  Located within the Palace are the fantastic displays of intricate roman mosaics, and visitors can also explore the Palace’s formal gardens.

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The month of August has been packed full of all kinds of enjoyable and interesting festivals, for the older festival goer, the younger generation and families looking for a weekend of fun. Here at Azure we’ve picked seven of our favourite festivals, giving you the lowdown on what each festival was about.

Wickham Festival (1^st – 4^th)

Set in Hampshire, the festival had all the elements you’d expect from a traditional folk festival such as live music, around 15 food stalls and various craft workshops for all the family. Children were catered for with lots of different activities to engage in such as Morris Dancing, a puppet show, story-telling and were even able to watch different kid’s films in the early evening to calm them all down. Many folk bands were at the festival, including The Waterboys that headlined on the second day, a real treat for lovers of folk music, plus the current Radio 2 Folk Duo of the year; Brendan Powers and Tim Edey. The festival never became over-crowed, meaning it was ideal for young families and the atmosphere was still there for all to experience. The camping field was clean and tidy, all porta-loos were kept in good condition, and the staff were polite and friendly. At £80 for an advanced ticket (including camping), we found the Wickham Festival to be great value for money – a great weekend of folk fun and activities for the whole family.

Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (2^nd – 24^th)

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was set against the magnificent backdrop of the breath-taking Edinburgh Castle. For those unfamiliar with military tattoos, they traditionally have military bands performing marches and music. However, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo took the event to a new level, featuring performers (mostly military) from all over the world entertaining in a spectacular fashion. The program changes annually and this year featured performers from New Zealand, Mongolia, Mexico, South Korea, Malta, Oman and the traditional Scottish brass bands, bagpipes and drums. There were highland dancers, a spectacular performance of skilled motorcycle drills by youngsters and the amazing scene of a 9000-strong audience holding hands and singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’. The event finished with the lone piper (the highest-ranking pipe major in the British Army) high upon the Edinburgh Castle, which was incredibly moving. The night finished with a jaw-dropping fireworks display. An outstanding evening, the tattoo was an excellent night out for all the family.

Ayr Flower Show (2^nd – 4^th)

Held at the well-known Rozelle Estate in Ayr, the Ayr Flower Show was an outstanding show that exhibited top quality vegetables and flowers from around the world. The show was the place to be if you’re fanatical about flowers as there was a large selection of experts on everything green-fingered. Visitors were treated to cookery demonstrations, floral art demonstrations, jazz bands, fiddle orchestras, ceilidh bands, children’s entertainment and even a gardener’s question panel. Refreshments were readily available, and the atmosphere was fantastic as gardeners of all ages were encouraged to learn new things – a great day out for all the family.

Ultimate Street Car (2^nd – 4^th)

Held at Santa Pod Raceway, Northamptonshire, Ultimate Street Car or USC, dubbed itself as ‘the fastest, hottest, largest and loudest modified car festival in Europe’. They weren’t wrong. This year’s festival proved to be to be the UK’s most extreme car show with music, club camping, traders, stunts, drifts and much more. Three days full to the brim of cars and car mad people, with visitors being entertained from the early morning until night and some right through to the next morning! Festival goers were encouraged to bring their modified cars and awards were given out, such as ‘Best Wheels’ and ‘Best Interior’. A brilliant festival for any car enthusiast that enjoys everything car related and cars that have been modified.

Boardmasters (7^th – 11^th)

Boardmasters is a unique festival, combining the surf and music culture of Newquay to celebrate music, surfing, skating and much more. There were three days of live music set in the cliffs above the stunning Watergate Bay scenery and world class surfers down at Fistral Beach, anyone that attended really was spoilt for choice. The music varied throughout the weekend with The Vaccines kicking things off on the Friday, Basement Jaxx performing on the Saturday and Ben Howard closing the weekend off on the Sunday. As well as live musical performances, a dance group called The Other Tribe performed an extremely popular and energetic performance which really drew the crowds in on the opening day. Combining sport and music culture from the coast really gave Boardmasters some memorable charm and an unforgettable festival for all those that attended. Overall a brilliant festival that had a calm atmosphere and was all about relaxing by the sea and enjoying yourself.

The 35^th Bristol International Balloon Festival (8^th – 11^th)

The yearly meeting included balloonists from all over the world for what was the largest balloon event in Europe. It is believed that over half a million people attended the four day festival in Bristol and this year visitors were encouraged to set up camps and stay overnight at the venue. With such a wide variety of hot air balloons the festival was a fantastic spectacle for the whole family, something you won’t see every day that’s for sure!

Strawberry Fields Festival (9^th – 12^th)

Held at Cattow Farm in Heather, Leicestershire, the festival is got its name from being situated at a place renowned locally for its strawberry picking. The festival had a fancy dress theme on the Saturday which was ‘The Call of the Country’ so there was plenty of people dressed in tweed, dressed as hens and also lords and ladies. Music was the main experience at the festival with a massive line-up that featured The View, The Enemy and Jaguar Skills. Crowds were delighted with the performances given and were also treated to a clothes fair, a funfair, live graffiti demonstrations, a poetry brothel and even a ‘Healing Zone’. Glamping was also on offer, making the festival extremely popular with people wanting that comfortable festival weekend. The Strawberry Fields Festival proved to be popular with groups of friends and families alike.

One Love Festival (16^th – 18^th)

If you like reggae, dub-step and jungle music, this was the festival for you. One Love is the UK’s biggest reggae and dub festival and offered a lively, friendly atmosphere for people that love that Caribbean rhythm. The field the festival was held on was only a 20 minute train ride from central London giving it great accessibility. The field itself was kept clean and tidy at all times and offered activities for everyone – even children. Visitors got to jam to various live performances by different artists, with plenty of food and drink stalls available too. A superbly organised and enjoyable festival.

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Caerphilly cheese

Held every year in the historic town since 1997, the festival is situated on the Owain Glyndwr Playing Fields, just a twenty minute drive from the Welsh capital, Cardiff.
This year’s festival starts on Friday 26th of July and continues over the weekend, ending on Sunday 28th. On the first day, many festival goers, both adults and children, will be competing in the annual Great Cheese Race! The race itself is staged around the grounds of Britain’s second largest castle, the magnificent Caerphilly castle, built in the 13th century. Every year there is a theme with participants having to wear fancy dress. This year’s theme is the Olympics, with prizes going to the best dressed and not to forget, the winner of the race itself! Sadly it is now too late to apply to take part in the race, but we’re sure that watching this fun filled event will be just as enjoyable.Aside from the Great Cheese Race, a packed entertainment programme will ensure visitors have lots of fun over the three days.

Festival goers can expect the following;
• Funfair & traditional funfair
• Firework display (Friday 26th – around 10pm)
• Re-enactment displays
• Musical entertainment
• Educational activities
• Food hall
• Craft stalls
• Activity marquee
• Tommy Cooper tent

Caerphilly Castle viewed from David Williams Park

There is so much to do at the festival, but if you just want to relax with your friends and family there are designated picnic areas on the site, allowing you to take in all the atmosphere the charming town has to offer. This year around 80,000 people are expected to experience the Big Cheese Festival, we highly recommend that you visit, it’s definitely one of Azure’s favourite summer festivals. Remember, it starts on Friday 26th July and ends on Sunday 28th, all ages are welcome and it’s free!

http://your.caerphilly.gov.uk/bigcheese/home-page

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1. The most important thing to remember for your own health is some sun cream, hat and sunglasses. No-one wants to spend the festival days burning and trying to cover up when the sun is blaring (We’ve heard the sun sometimes makes an appearance if the rain holds off, let’s hope!).

2. Layers! Everyone likes to get out the shorts at festivals, it’s a must! But at night it can get quite chilly. Thin leggings or tracksuit bottoms are a good idea, cosy and warm and easy to carry around.

3. Wet wipes and hand sanitizer. Festivals may not be the most cleanest or hygienic of places, so these will help you stay reasonably clean for a few days without using a shower or water.

4. Water or energy drinks in a reusable bottle, jumping around in the sun can be very thirsty work and if you’re not near somewhere to buy a drink this could be tricky. There’s always a place to fill up your bottle, so reuse and save money for your alcohol consumption!

5. A camera and phone that you don’t mind loosing or getting damaged. At festivals, taking pictures of the celebrities and you and your friends is a good way to keep the memory, but losing your £900 Canon Legria, wide angle, high definition camcorder with 10x optical zoom on the other hand, would not be a good memory, so leave your prize possessions at home.

6. Picnic blankets or camping chairs that can be folded away is also a good idea, when you’ve been walking around all day watching people perform on stage you might need a sit down at your tent or if you’re lucky, your caravan.

7. Suitable but fashionable and bold wellies and a thin rain coat, although you want to look good at these festivals wellies are one of the most essential things to pack, especially for the last few days when grass turns into a mud pit and I think we all know that rain isn’t shy at these gatherings, so a small rain coat that can be stuffed into a side bag is all you need!

8. Dry shampoo will be your miracle for the next few days, going out without this would be a mistake. We all know that after a few days no-one will look or smell good, but dry shampoo will help tame your grease ball for a while longer.

9. Be organised and bring cash and change instead of your card! The cash machine might be awhile away and it saves time try to find one and wasting time queuing for what could be hours.

10. At night when you’re trying to get back to where you’re staying it may be dark (unless you’ve stayed to party until the early morning!) therefore a torch with extra batteries is definitely needed.

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