After one long lap around the Sun, since our last soul cleanse, we were in serious need of some Noisily magic to rejuvenate our spirits. Itching to retreat from the city and towards the balancing energy of the midlands for a weekend of revitalisation, realignment and raving, we headed to the ancient site of Barkestone Woods ready to bask in Mother Nature, witness the lush greenery become enchanted once again and immerse ourselves in the mystical atmosphere, array of arts, creativity, music, food and healing that make this our favourite festival.
Where else in the world can you say you’ve been chilling in a sauna and a spaceship within the same hour? Our weekend consisted of stumbling through the trees like little creatures of the forest, exploring the endless pockets of joy that Noisily provides.
From the juiciest of wobs at the Parliament of Funk (hosted by fellow Londoners Jive Talk), DJ Marky’s DnB madness at the Treehouse, to the mind-bending Psytrance at Liquid, Noisily really went in on selecting the creme de la creme of underground electronic music for this year’s show and designing dancefloors that take you to another dimension.
Everywhere you look, there’s something visually pleasing to feast your eyes on, from a hypnotising LED light projection rippling through the vast leafy roof that protects Noisily’s little world to twinkling firefly-reminiscent fairy lights powered by trees that keep you entertained on the trail to your next destination.
Come with us as we take you on a journey, through our lens of what a *real* festival is all about …
Thursday the Khapha Bus pulled up to start the party, where we had ourselves a hard-earned boogie after a long day lugging overpacked bags up muddy slopes, before venturing to what what we now refer to as ‘The Dangerous Corner’, a bundle of shops tucked in Mind, Body and Soul filled with bright, funky festi fits – namely The Disco Spirit & Get Crooked – that suck us in every time. After promising ourselves we wouldn’t buy the first thing we saw, we all left five minutes later looking considerably more colourful (so much for self control), shoutout to Kirsten the designer behind the handmade garms and her mum who crochets them!
As we wound down with a campfire zoot, our hearts yearned for our return to the blissful Hello Sunshine saunas. This space is a perfect haven to restore and reset between partying: two spacious saunas, including a yurt equipped with wooden interiors, an actual log burner and twinkly lights, alongside plunge pools, a campfire with beanbags, cosy changing area and most importantly, tea and cacao on tap – this lot know how to accommodate a wind down you didn’t know you needed at a festival.
For anyone who hasn’t had the chance to go, the £30 weekend pass is well worth it for future ref.
Feeling so satisfied after the first night, we almost forgot that the festivities had barely begun, Friday saw Noisily really come alive …
First stop – pacing it to the Enchanted Forest where Natural Symphony brought the sounds of plants to life with synced-up multicolour mushrooms and a fibreoptic LED tree, mesmerising us every time.
We set out exploring the 5 stages and trying to find our bearings (stay tuned for Sunday when we’re still getting confused at every turn). Noisily creates a genuine experience of being lost in the woods – in the best way -never 100% sure what’s around the next corner be it a hypnotising lazer light show, canvas art creations gradually coming together over the weekend or a performance area packed with everything from cabaret to comedy.
Noisily never fails on stage production, and this edition took it to a whole new level. The pure craftsmanship of the visuals and architecture, paired with the constant flow of quality music (genuinely didn’t catch a bad set all weekend), perfect capacity and use of the pre-carved-out woodland areas gave each alcove its own, unique atmosphere that, with an eight-speaker set up surrounding the stages, immersed you entirely.
Everyone knows we love to get our groove on, so we firmly established the Parliament of Funk as our weekend stomping ground, set to the sounds of Jive Talk & Friends, including Undrground Ldn, Marcelina Wick and Wax Material. The space is adorned with more disco balls than we’ve ever seen in one place simultaneously, and what we dubbed ‘The Disco Chair’ (picture a big shiny, satin sofa slash climbing frame slash mirror maze – ygm?).
Tucked in a deep dark corner of the woods, the Treehouse was home to drum and bass heads and junglists alike, where artists including Samurai Breaks, DJ Flight and Enei & MC Jakes warmed us up for the night ahead and kept the energy high for any ravers in search of a shake awake.
The Noisily stage is a techno spectacular – a huge wooden structure that towers over the crowd, engulfing them in intricate laser displays and is prone to popping a confetti canon. The lineup for this year included the likes of Bart Skils, Ida Engberg and Berlin’s Pan-Pot.
The Nook stage is exactly as it sounds, an intimate nook in the trees topped off with dangling balls of light bouncing from red, to blue, to purple and so on, situated between the Enchanted Forest and Parliament – a new one for the list of sentences we never thought we’d say… Here you can find deep, tribal sounds that set the soul’s vibrations in motion.
Mayhem aside, there’s a delightful variety of opportunities for calm amongst the perfect storm that the larger stages conjure… One of the most crucial pillars of the Noisily framework is the Mind, Body and Soul area. Separated slightly from the chaos, this space is dedicated to channelling wellness and spirituality through these three entities, with yoga practices, panel talks and welfare workshops, (including a Cunt hut with the lovely Vanessa where we crawled through a giant pink pussy to talk all things women).
The Mind tent also showed the Euros final on the big screen which, despite the result, was still a vibe – let us tell you, it was a lot more enjoyable facing an England loss among a crowd of friendly hippies than a gang of geared-up geezers down the pub.
By Saturday night, everyone was sleepy (y’know that mid-fezzi lull?) but still ready to rage cause we didn’t plan on missing a second of Noisily, we made our way to Parliament of Funk (shocker) to catch B.Love, who delivered a satisfyingly bouncy yet mellow set that couldn’t have read the atmosphere better. We also returned for more Natural Symphony, who held a secret DJ set in the enchanted forest turning biorhythms of the plants and trees surrounding us into a danceable set. Despite being absolutely knackered, B.Love’s vinyl collection dragged us back and the tunes were so banging they revived us, meaning we somehow made it ’til the end of the night.
We can’t forget the most honourable of mentions for all the top-notch food and drink vendors we had the pleasure to indulge in over the weekend. Notable scran includes Naania’s naan stuffed with roasted veg, mango chutney and the crispiest onion bhaji you’ll ever find in your life, and The Blue Moon Cafe’s spicy chai, creamy coconut curry and carrot cake topped with delicate blue petals (NOT together) enjoyed by Noisily’s sacred fire.
We also sank a decent amount of Frozen Margs – can’t go wrong here, really.
We began Sunday morning with a deep tissue massage (thanks to Tanya), working out the knots from the countless shapes we’d been cutting for the past few days and nights. Paired with the saunas and our lovely bell tent – (shout out to Ed With The Beds from Woodville for dealing with our fiasco and complying with Izzy and her stick of power) – this festival can feel almost like a spa trip… albeit a very mucky one.
Raring and ready to soak up the last few hours before returning to reality (and constantly proclaiming that we wish we could live like this 24/7-365), we made sure to cover every single base, patch and crevice of the Noisily terrain before the music cut off at midnight. As the stages went silent, we made our way to the saunas where the party was just beginning, sweating it out in the saunas and spending a meditative evening by the bustling campfire with live music courtesy of a drummer/singer, the sun began to rise over the horizon and we welcomed the day with a tea feeling fulfilled af knowing we’d made the most of Noisily until next time.
It goes without saying that we’ll be returning to this special place for as long as they’ll have us (forever pls) – a festival where all the nicest people you’ve ever met come together and restore your faith in humanity.
Thank you Noisily for yet again leaving us with absolutely nothing negative to say – we have so much respect for the passion and dedication that goes into every detail and we can’t wait for more! Early Bird tickets for next year can be bought here and if, like us, you’re a spiritual, nature-loving hippie who loves a good sesh, we highly suggest you snag one.