events

The great outdoors provides a wonderful setting for everything from whimsy to radical and as this article proves is often the perfect antidote to the stifling pervasiveness of city living. That’s why so many people rush to the countryside to express themselves!

Taylor’s is a good example of a fast-growing breed of boutique festivals that are popping up all over Britain, with numbers doubling in the past year to more than 18,000.

The phenomenon has its roots in America, says Paul McCrudden, whose San Francisco-based company, Eventbrite, allows users to post details of their upcoming events and manage the flow of budding participants for everything from knitting festivals to toe-wrestling.

It’s active here in the UK too, where food-themed festivals alone have risen 600% in the past four years, he says. “It’s bringing the niche and the underground mainstream,” McCrudden says. “Anyone can create one and anyone can attend.”

That’s how Shonette Bason saw it too. Fed up with what she calls “moaning lemon suckers”, Bason decided to create her own festival based on the science of happiness. The idea was to bring as many positive people together as possible, even though Bason, a self-styled happiness guru, was aware that her chirpy disposition meant “I just irritate people all the time!” To her surprise, though, about 1,000 like-minded souls flocked to a warehouse in Old Trafford in Manchester last summer. And they were happy enough to pay £30 a pop to hear Bason’s motivational tips on ditching the grimace and staying tip-top.