Festivals Features Festinho 2009 Review
Festinho 2009 Review
A beautiful end of summer fling in the grounds of Kentwell Hall. Lounging in enchanting surroundings drinking freshly made Caipirinha’s whilst listening to a range of perfectly chilled tunes to pumping beats. Created by a collection of some of the most caring people gathered together to support the ABC Trust.
We hadn’t heard of Festinho before and thanks to friends of ours we were introduced to this delightful little festival in time to get a couple of tickets, pack our tent back in to the car and head up to Kentwell Hall in Long Melford.
Festinho started off as a birthday celebration for a group of friends and like minded people but has since grown in to what can only be described as a ‘mini chill’. This was empahsised by Pete Lawrence (founder of the Big Chill) himself dj’ing and scheduling some of the bands. This festival is totally unique in that it exists not just as a music festival but as a charity fundraising event. A friend of the ABC Trust offered to host a live music stage in the grounds of their home and Festinho was born. Festinho has the vibe of an intimate musical garden party, but that is dedicated to raising money for the impoverished children of Brazil. So as you sip yet another Caipirinha or laze in a hammock you can assuage your guilt by thinking of the good that your ticket has done. Tickets cost £45 and just £50 can help to pay for health care visits for 25 children in Brazil.
The ABC Trust has a stall at the event where you can learn more about the charity and get involved, or purchase handmade jewellery or even a hammock to support their cause. Don’t get me wrong this festival doesn’t force the charity down your throat. First and foremost this is a music festival but the people who have pulled Festinho together have done so with such love and hard work that we are glad to support them and the work they do. Most of the staff working at the festival are volunteers supplied by Vinspired, they actively encourage young people to get involved with community projects to help them develop the necessary life skills that can do us all some good. Vinspired is a perfect match for Festinho in that they believe in having fun whilst doing good. The bigVbus at the festival is open to the public and gives you a taste of what its like to do a favour for someone. The volunteers at the festival get the chance to work in all areas not just with stewarding or litter collection, and vice versa even the management get involved with making sure the loo’s have enough toilet roll or that the wasp surrounded bins are regularly emptied.
Festinho has a charm that is created by the people working there, and the people that attend. This creates such a welcoming atmosphere and makes it a perfect place for a family trip. Whether you fancy the end of summer camping or a day visit it is one of the most family friendly festivals that we have been to. 
Angel Gardens are a bunch of community artists who are working for The Holdahand Project which travels many different UK festivals. The provide art workshops, chillout zones, and plenty of activities for the kids amongst us. Watching them launch Sky Lanterns that had been decorated by the children at the festival was magical and amusing at the same time and the face painting they created were stunning. If you wanted a quiet place to chill and a cuppa tea Caractacus Pots Tea shop was a great place to rest a while.
The music line up is not the main draw of this festival, the fact that it is a smaller festival attracts most of its attendees. Most of the bands are lesser known but there were a few gems such as Echaskech and Lucky Elephant, the fact that you discover new sounds at Festinho adds to the charm. You could spot many of the performers wandering round themselves taking in the festival and enjoying the end of festival season fun. Carnival Collective were a huge crowd pleaser and their joy at performing at Festinho was evident in their performace, Echaskech gave us a much needed kick up the bum and got us moving after a very relaxing day in the sun treating us to some of their new tracks from their new album ‘shatterproof’ as well as some of their first albums tracks. Lucky Elephant back again at Festinho with their new album to promote was a highlight of the summer for me, even though there were only a handful of people in the audience as many were still arriving they surpassed all my expectations of their live performance and I was truly mesmorised. Other highlights were The Egg, and the ever magical Penguin Café Orchestra.
This festival is a small and boutique little event with all of the best bits of some of the larger festivals that we never get to see pulled in to one unique little gathering. With a Ginger Bread House hidden in the woods for the late night revellers, Pedal Power bikes and dresses along the pathway through the woods, a Cottage Cinema showing a variety of films, fire displays of hula hoops and fire poi, stiltwalkers, sky lanterns and a communual bon fire every night.
Festinho also happens to be one of the best camping festivals this year, with loads of space due to the limited number of camping tickets and a total capacity of 2500. Raised BBQ’s were allowed but if you couldn’t be bothered to start your own there was good variety of food stalls on offer from BBQ, Crepes, to Lucy’s Toasties. A huge hit at the festival were the Abelha cocktails, Caipirinha. Abelha is a 100% organic cachaca (a brazilian rum) freshly mixed at the Beach Bar these were seen all around the festival along with , Xingu and Palma Louca Beer, as well as Suffolks own Aspalls cider.
The facilities at this festival are some of the cleanest toilets I have ever seen at a festival – well done Festinho! There were also numerous showers, plenty of space in the campsite which was well sheltered, and truly welcoming friendly staff, and a good recycling method.
Festinho is full of friendly people, before I’d even emptied the car someone had offered to help me carry things to the campsite, everyone there is in full support of the festival and the ABC charity, creating an open and welcoming atmosphere.