Red Rooster Festival

Red Rooster was my first music festival experience, and one that’ll stay with me forever. The legendary C. W Stoneking closing the event with his jungle blues was the perfect finish to a weekend that was just bursting with Americana, showcasing the best of Britain but also featuring several acts who’d travelled from much further. Americana leaves room for real variety, meaning there was an eclectic mix of sounds at the festival; blues, bluegrass, country, soul.
We arrived on the Thursday evening and pitched our tent. At this point Suffolk’s Euston Estate was at it’s quietest, so we were able to find just the spot for us. We went for out of the way and just under a tree. — Home for the next few days! And what a lovely location. The festival was just in it’s second year when I visited and still feels very much small and homegrown. The festival’s family friendly and there were lots of dogs and young children. As a result, it felt very, very safe.
Due to its size, there were also several little quirks to be discovered on site: hammocks, a poker zone, camp fires… It made for quite the wander, and certainly gave the festival a unique feel. These sort of things encouraged a ramble and mixing with other campers, and, consequently, we had many a friendly chat with other campers by the fire.
The low points were few and far between, but worth mentioning. The on-​site loo situation could have been better. There really needed to be more facilities for the number of people there. — That’s all I’ll say. The street food vendors were awesome, although some had sold out as early as the end of the first night. By the last night, choices were limited. It was expensive, as expected, but the quality was high.
All in all, I’m a big fan of Red Rooster and look forward to seeing how the festival will grow in years to come. It was most definitely worth our journey from Stirling to Suffolk!