Eden Festival

Green hills and forestry plucked from a postcard of rural Dumfriesshire? Plenty. Sunshine on tap? Bucketloads. Good times to be had? There’s the entrance.

Hippie-esque and heavily chilled out, on arrival, a quick boombox check at the campsite was cancelled in favour of pitching up sharpish and heading directly to the Devorgilla stage to watch whatever meaty (or vegan) beats were on show, followed by a quick trip to wherever the sounds took us.
It’s that kinda festival – make plans, but follow them vaguely and remember to meander at will, which thankfully led us to Dub Mafia plus the fantastic Afro-Beat sound of Nuybian Twist.
A heavyweight contingent of bands from Scotland’s Yellow Movement collective had also descended, particularly on the Saturday, including Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5 playing a sneaky set on the Melodrome Theatre stage. Band of the weekend? Very probably. But given the stiff competition from the likes of the legendary Grandmaster Flash, jazz-ska ensemble Cat Empire, folk-Punk from Glasgow’s own Trongate Rum Riots, it’s not every day you walk away with a children’s song in your head about how to cross the road.
Eden: it’s eccentric, it’s colourful, it’s delicious and it could well be one of Scotland’s best kept secrets.