Greenbelt

Greenbelt 2010

A feeling of calmness seemed to envelop Greenbelt this year. All festivalmakers and festivalgoers I talked with seemed to notice it. Curious and rather wonderful, especially considering the awful weather last week. By the time the festival started the rain had largely eased off (though we had a difficult night on Thursday as it pounded hard on our tent).

My biggest surprise this year came on the Monday as I was walking past a crowd at the grandstand. An elderly man came up to me and asked, "Are you David Bennett's son?" He'd known our family when we lived in Chorleywood but can't have seen me in thirty years so I was a little taken aback. Apparently he saw Dad's image in me. It was wonderful to talk awhile, especially since Dad never attended Greenbelt himself - the closest he got was driving me and four other teenagers the first year I went, in 1988.