I don't like checking the Two Wolves emails at the moment. We are regularly receiving ones that give me a heavy heart. Ones that say, 'Thank you for trading with us in 2018. We invite you to trade with us again this year. It's going to be bigger and better with all these great things going on'.
Just to rub it in even more, we've been getting weekly emails from Retro Festival, my very favourite festival out of all the ones we've done. For a change it wasn't a VDub event, but instead celebrated different vehicles, outfits and music from as far back as the 1920s. There were Cadillacs and Hot Rods and huge American RVs on show, along side Lambrettas and classic British motorcycles. People dressed in War time uniforms, 60's style drainpipe trousers and caps and so many beautiful 50's style swing dresses. I already had two with me but couldn't resist buying another from our friends at the Rockabilly Retro stall. Oh, and the music ...well it was amazing. This was where we were introduced to The Black Sheiks (modern songs done in a 20's style). And then there was the fabulous floor filler Si Cranstoun with his dance hall swing. As I watched all those couples bounce and swirl on the dance floor, I felt determined that I wanted to learn this dance and be on there too swirling around in my swing dress and petticoat.
Of course, the thing that made Retro festival so great was the sunshine. It meant that show cars stayed shiny, beautiful dresses kept pretty, tattoos were on full show and the celebratory fly-over was a great success. We put our crafty bowl of water out at the front of the stall to tempt any overheating doggies to stop for a drink. which would mean that the owners may be more inclined to come in and browse if something had caught their eye. For a stall that was certainly more hippie than pin-up and polkadots, we didn't do too bad.
Of course the weather can have a massive impact on a festival. We were certainly blessed last season with a summer similar to my childhood with days and days of hot summer sun. Funnily enough, this can make a dent on trade too. When it is too hot people tend to head towards the beer tent, chill out and watch the bands. And who can blame them? It makes for a more relaxing weekend than trawling around humid shops with squabbling kids and a heavily panting dog.
But we also had the odd weekend where the weather did the complete opposite on us. We had gale force winds and heavy rains which, funnily enough also sends the punters straight to the beer and music tent. The first time this happened was at Dubtoberfest, held on Cheltenham Racecourse. We'd done it the previous year and it had been one of our most productive events. Last year there were more traders, or there had been to start off with, as by Saturday night half of them seemed to disappear. There had been word of stormy weather and high winds coming in overnight. We were pitched opposite our friends from Bristol, Steve and Sara aka Unclepunksters who sell records and music memorabillia. We all had a discussion and decided that, as we had come this far we were going to try and stick it out. Further across the field I could see more and more stalls packing away. But Keith reassured me that our gazebos were pretty sturdy and the winds were not going to last too long. The next morning we woke up and sure enough, everywhere and everyone was getting a good battering. The stalls that were left up were just hanging on to see if the weather would drop. Even the big entertainment marquee had to be checked and repaired before security would let anyone in. By mid morning Unclepunksters made the sensible decision to pack down and go home, which left us, the sticker guy directly behind us, the surf board ladies who were trading out of a very buckled tent, Mick The Shop and the catering vans. Now, unlike many festivals where things wrap up on the Sunday afternoon, Dubtoberfest goes on later having tribute acts playing till 10pm at night. Hence our decision to hang on. And Keith had been correct in staying as by lunch time the weather had dropped. the sun came out and as we were one of the few stalls left we had some really lovely customers that afternoon. One couple in particular spent almost £200 which made it all worthwhile.
The second time we had to do battle with the elements was August Bank Holiday. It was Cornwall Jamboree and many of our friends were there too, Unclepunksters, Driftwood Steve, Wendy at Campervan Goodies. But as it turned out, they all seemed to have an advantage over us. The weekend started out ok. The previous year had been our best festival but last year there were more traders again which dilutes things, plus we were further away from the entertainment. Again the dreadful weather came in over the Saturday night and Keith was confident that our quality gazebos would stand up and tell Mother Nature where to shove her windy-ass vibes. Unfortunately for us though, the wind and rain was blowing from the back of the field towards the main arena. We were facing towards the back so it was blowing directly into our stall, constantly sending things flying until we gave up and zipped up and put a note saying 'we are open, enter round side'. All our friends, however, had been lucky enough to be facing in the opposite direction, towards the entertainment with their backs to the storm and had still managed to do a respectable amount of trade. We came away disheartened but undamaged, again our gazebos had stood up to the elements and protected our stock.
Our final festival of the past two years has been in mid October, a great party with a Halloween theme 'Night of The Livin' Dubs'. In 2017 it was a fantastic end to the season. Everyone dressed up and had a great time. But the best thing was, it had been an unusually warm summery weekend for mid October. So as you can imagine we were looking forward to it, me especially when Keith told me that my favourite rockabilly dress stall was there again too.
However, 2018 was a different story. Livin' Dubs is held just outside of Doncaster, so not too far from us. Keith took Hetty, our little dog and went over to start setting up on the Thursday. As I had our shop by then I decided to wait till the Saturday morning and join Keith, leaving Mum in charge of the shop that day. Even from the time Keith had been there, the wind had been causing problems. He had been setting up in fits and starts, wondering if it was the right thing to do and could we get away with it again a third time. I was looking forward to catching up with my friends one last time before the end of the season. I even put on one of my dresses especially as even though it was very blustery, it was still quite warm. You can imagine my disappointment when I arrived to find that my friends at Rockabilly Retro had packed up and gone earlier as their tent had been damaged overnight. However, Wendy with her Campervan Goodies was still there and pitched right next to us. Which was a good job because of what happened shortly after.
Hetty was so excited to see me and tried following me back and forward to the car while I was unloading my stuff. Keith made us a mug of tea and a cooked breakfast. Trade was very slow and regular gusts of wind would catch me off guard and blow my dress up Marilyn Monroe style. Good job I was wearing black woolly tights. Keith disappeared, as he often does (ahem) and I settled on the camping chair with Hetty on my knee playing spot the customer. Suddenly the wind got up again. I heard it bang the panels of the gazebos. Then with the next gust the whole structure lifted up behind me and banged down again. I was still startled from that happening when the next gust lifted the structure right up in the air and flipped it upside down in front of me. I sat there gobsmacked, Hetty panicked and got herself in a bit of a state. The first person to get to me was Wendy; seeing what had happened she bolted straight out of her tent, followed by Keith who had thankfully just been in there talking to her. Wendy's first question being 'How can I help?' I stood looking at the carnage thinking OMG...OMG....OMG ... where do I start? Then I saw Hetty looking confused and panicky and decided that the best thing Wendy could do was take Hetty back to her own stall and keep her safely out of the way. Thankfully it wasn't wet, else all the stock would have been ruined. The other Godsend was that, where the gazebos had landed was actually in front of the gateway between the main arena and the campsite. We were so lucky that it didn't land on anyone. Also, an amazing group of guys came to our rescue and helped to pick the gazebos and heavier stuff up. All we could do was put everything back in the van, devastated that our festival season had ended that way. We had now learned the hard way that those traders who pack up and leave before the wild weather starts are the sensible ones. We had been lucky at the minimal stock damage but the gazebos themselves were torn and buckled. Keith managed to take them apart and create one slightly wonky, emergency gazebo out of the two of them, ready for a market stall the following week.
Next time I see our trade invite to Retro Festival pop up on our emails, I will just have to tell myself that we are just on hold this year. Next year will be different. The Wolves will have their own huff and puff back again. In the meantime, we are going to a festival called Camp Quirky in a couple of weeks time, not as traders but as punters. So we can join in on as much of the entertainment as we like. They sent a sneak peak of the workshops that will be held throughout the weekend and guess what, there's one on swing dance! Now I've just got to decide which dress I'm going to wear.