Don’t Tell Me I Can’t… …go to festivals in my 50s
Rae Fogden discovered festival season isn’t just for the young
With my feet in wellington boots, glitter lining my cheeks like war paint and a plastic cup of gin in my hand, as the band plays on the stage, I grin. There really is no better way to spend a weekend. If you think I sound like any other teenager enjoying myself at a music festival, well, you’re half right. You see, while I am dancing to some of my favourite bands, at 54, I’m putting young revellers to shame.
I never went to festivals when I was younger – they were so expensive and they weren’t very popular then, either – but I loved music. When I met Chris, aged 19, we went to as many gigs as we could together.
We got married in 1985 and our son Tom was born in July 1994, followed by Ellie three years later. Busy juggling the children and my career, my passion for live music had to take a back seat. But we made sure the children grew up listening to all the music Chris and I loved, from Joy Division to Take That.
When they reached their late teens, the pleas to let them go to music festivals such as Glastonbury and British Summer Time began.
Tom went to Glastonbury, and I can unashamedly admit I felt jealous that I wasn’t there enjoying the experience with him.
Then, in July 2014, Ellie invited me to the British Summer Time day festival in Hyde Park, London. It was just the two of us and I was anxious as the day approached, worrying I’d be the oldest there. I thought everyone would judge me. My anxieties soon faded when Mcbusted played – the atmosphere was incredible and I quickly realised the festival was heaving with people of all ages.
I didn’t want that to be my last festival experience. So, when Glastonbury 2017 tickets went on sale, I decided I had to go – and that Chris had to as well.
I’d heard rumours about the notoriously tricky ticket process but finally, after hours of sitting at my computer constantly refreshing the website, I got some. Tom, then 22, managed to get tickets as well and when I told him his mum and dad were going too, he couldn’t believe it.
The four-day event was to be my first overnight festival, so I was a little nervous. Some of our friends didn’t help. ‘You’ll hate it, it’ll be full of young people and smelly toilets,’ one said.
‘But why should age stop me from enjoying myself?’ I retorted.
Still, I was determined that if I was going to go, I was going to do it properly, with the correct camping equipment and attire. My old, muddy trainers and raincoat wouldn’t do, I needed new Wellington boots, a rain mac, a tent and Ellie made me promise to wear glitter body paint.
In June 2017, Chris and I drove to the festival and pitched our tent in a field. Over the course of the weekend, we saw Ed Sheeran and Chase & Status perform, survived a mosh pit and met people of all ages. We even bumped into Tom and his friends, who insisted that Chris and I get involved with their drinking games.
Not every experience was quite as fun. If I never see a portable toilet again I’ll be happy! But one advantage Chris and I had over our younger festival friends was that we could hack an early morning. We’d get up before sunrise to avoid the queues, returning to our tent before anyone else was even showing signs of emerging from their slumber.
All too soon the weekend was over, but Chris and I are planning on going back again next year.
I may not be your typical festivalgoer but at 54, I’m proof that you’re never too old to enjoy yourself. Tom and Ellie tell me I’ve now got ‘festival fever’ – I can think of worse things!
‘I WAS A LITTLE NERVOUS’