Many festivals, concerts or events try to get “it” right and few manage it. “It” is a difficult thing to gauge and “it” can be very elusive to find. “It” is an indescribable contentedness that accumulates from imagination, creativity, and delightfulness. “It” is what Lost Village gave to its villagers and what I found during my weekend.
Every festival and every person is different therefore what stimulates and intrigues some may dissolve and put off others. It is not one single thing that makes a festival memorable but a combination of well planned creative thoughts and acts that all come together and merge into “it”. Lost Village did and made “it”!
Lost Village is a mystical, intimate, secret and mysterious experience!
Lost Village boasts a capacity of 5000 people. I say boast because for me and hopefully many others this is a big factor. The small number of people in attendance means this village tucked away within some mystical woods remains intimate, secret and mysterious. It stays personal and friendly. It is charming and honest. It is also amazingly practical, the limited number of “villagers” means that there is no frenzied bustling about and no huge, suffocating crowds. There are only four stages which all flaunt top DJ’s, therefore, spread the crowds evenly around. The crowds at each stage are big enough to create an atmosphere but small enough to wriggle in and out of without fuss. Even moving between campsites and stages is easy, free-flowing and stress-free. Many festivals start small and expand and in my opinion lose their soul, we hope Lost Village remains lost to the masses.
A fantastic line up is a top starting point for a festival and Lost Village certainly had that.
In fact, it could be argued that their line-up was too good. There were too many must-see artists that it became impossible. There were 5-6 acts a day, I could have seen and with everything else going on this was unachievable. Lost Village delivered the likes of Joy Orbison, Eats Everything, Heidi, Mano Le Tough, Artwork, Ben Pearce, Ben Klock, Ben UFO and many more – I managed to see none of these. That shows the depth in quality of the musicians they selected to visit the village. Luckily I did manage to see Floating Points, Maribou State, Henrik Schwarz, Midland, Tom Trago and others – who all smashed it.
The location is perhaps the unique selling point of this festival. Not many others can invite you into such a secluded and otherworldly atmosphere. By day, you stroll around the mesmerizing landscape and lose yourself within the woods and by night, you do the same, only beneath the stars and with hundreds of lights everywhere. The location is truly refreshing and enchanting it makes such a wonderful change from a field and a tent. To be two-stepping the night away amongst ghostly trees and dense woodland is something words can’t describe.
The food symbolizes the whole persona of Lost Village. It was unusual and unique but damn tasty. Each food provider delivered something different and classier than your typical festival food. Everything was a little bit boutique but reasonably priced. The choice varied from pulled pork burgers cooked in iron stove ovens to pad thai’s. Perhaps everything was epitomized by the bacon bap van named “Le Swine”. The sold a bacon bap, bacon and duck egg bap and a special “Le Swine” bap. Yet, they were made with care, quality and affection. The bap was made from a milk and onion bread which was sweet and creamy and the bacon was topped with a homemade mushroom ketchup. I realize this might sound pretentious but it was these little details that made all the food in the village above standard and it was this little bit of extra thought and care which summed up the entire festival. It had a little bit extra. Took a little bit more time and thought. But resulted in satisfaction all round.
It is perhaps the little things that the organizers of Lost Village throw in that makes it special.
It is the small and perhaps unnoticed things that add up to increase your wonder. Your wristband is labeled “Villager” not simply “camping” or “weekend pass”. You feel special! You feel wanted! The decoration and set design is fantastic. The stages are pieces of art and are another welcome relief from the norm. They even have actors performing live theater around the grounds, you can see characters interacting and playing out some larger play that you can choose to be involved in. All these little things amongst many others add up to make your weekend just a little bit more special.
Overall Lost Village was a huge success. Obviously, festivals can be ruined by other things such as the weather or poor company (luckily we had the sun and great company) but they can also be made by effort and creative thought. It was the character of Lost Village that captured me and will be dragging me back next year. It was the ability of this tiny village to satisfy all your senses. From the fantastic line up to the taste bud tingling food to the luscious green scenery to the relaxed and carefree atmosphere. No one sense went uncaressed.
Whatever “it” was that Lost Village had I hope they bring it again next year to share with us all! Do you want to know more about the festival? Follow them on Facebook or check their official website.
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