I went to the Big Chill Festival with my gf and some mates this weekend. It was a totally amazing place, full of all sorts of wonderous things...Bill Bailey, the Mighty Boosh, Leonard Cohen etc etc were all there. We had the worst time getting there, with my failing my driving test a few days before, and the ticket company not sending us our tickets until literally an hour before we left the house to get there, in an email. My gf stupidly bought the tickets off a girl on gumtree and had to change the names on them, which went totally wrong.
Anyway after a grueling journey there, we got our stuff unpacked, helped the mates get set up then me and Maria (best friend) went to get a refill for our water bottles...we just happened to turn a corner at the bottom of the campsite and a land rover careered off-course down a grassy slope, right next to the tents, and crashed into the campsite, rolling over tents and crushing them before stopping on someone who was inside their tent sleeping...it was bizarre and horrible...apparently the land rover crushed two people in their tents, rolling completely over them, and then stopped on the third. People started screaming then a guy jumped out of the passenger side and ripped open the tent that they'd crushed, and people were shouting "oh my god" over and over...loads of people rushed to the jeep to push it back up the slippery hill but it was no use...last we heard there were three people critically injured from that, but I wouldn't be surprised if they died...me and maria made sure the emergency services were on their way but that was literally all we could do. I can't stop thinking about this, the weird way the jeep just lost control and veered into people...we thought it was some sick practical joke for like two seconds, because it just didn't look like it could be happening...and the crunching noises from what I hope was the tent poles being crushed...sticks in my mind. I nearly broke out in tears after, it was so horrific and all I could think about was those poor innocent people
For such a humanitarian festival with a huge focus on the environment and people in general it was so surreal to see such a ridiculous breach of health and safety - there was no way there should have been huge land rovers belting up and down the campsite right next to the tents as it was raining.
Aside from that, the actual festival was the best I'd ever been to. The toilets were more than good, they were almost always clean and the food selection, entertainment and people were generally really great. We had a mad time out of our heads, playing on the grass like idiots and generally just kicking back and enjoying each other's company...
But that land rover thing has made me wake up at night a few times...still feel the distress from it all.
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