Toothpaste and tequila

One of the things to which we have become accustomed over the last five days of jazz fest is the glorious taste of toothpaste and tequila. This is largely due to the inspirational placement of a frozen daquiri tent right by the entrance where we arrive at the fairgrounds, by also owes a nod to the incredible humidity that makes the 20 minute walk from our apartment to the festival a sweaty affair and one which demands almost instant refreshment. Beer wouldn't really hit the spot, but a mixture of margarita and 'N'awlins punch', which is mostly pink coloured rum, makes for a perfect arrival drink, and on occasion good road drink for the walk home.

So far, I have managed to balance perfectly on the line between dehydration and the need to use one of the portaloos on site. However, we have discovered that there are proper, permanent toilets in the grandstand which is somewhat of a relief and means that I have been able to make free with the beer without having to face my fear of plastic toilet facilities. Yet another reason why jazz fest is so much more civilised than any other festival I've been to.

Fest-iquette

Jazz fest is by far the most civilised festival I have ever had the pleasure of attending or even watching on television - not only do some of the tents have proper seating and carpets, but the gospel tent even has an air conditioning rig (albeit largely down to the fact that a large proportion of the performers are either old, wearing robes or both). Because everything finishes at 7 pm and there's no camping on site, they clear everything up in the evenings, change the toilets and even manage a pretty comprehensive job of putting sand and wood-chips down in the muddy areas, and everyone goes home or to their hotels every night to clean themselves up so there aren't those mud-covered ghouls that you see wondering around Glastonbury.

However, there are still those who manage to express their enthusiasm in really annoying ways, specifically those who bring along ten foot poles with flags, toys and other accessories on the top which they wave gleefully around regardless of whether they are standing in front of one of the big screens designed to aid everyone's views or in a tent which is full of people who have already seen a fishing pole in their lives and don't need another one waved in their faces while they are trying to listen to a band. There was one particular offender who managed to obscure the views of hundreds of people by planting a massive Japanese flag with a skull and crossbones underneath it right in the middle of one of the stages, so we had to continuously dodge back and forth to try and see Dr John busting some impressive moves, including a rather natty little number where he bent over and touched the floor.

Having said that, the quality of festival goers is by far higher than the gang of drugged up 'we're so crazy' students that you get at the kind of festivals I have frequented in the UK - for a start there's a good contingent of oldies rocking out which is always nice to see. Plus plenty of families with small children who are always good value particularly last week when there were a goodly number of mud puddles which were like catnip to the littlies and watching their repeated and unrelenting escape attempts was an entertaining pastime with just a tinge of guilt as we saw their parents continually breaking away from their attempts to relax to round up their offspring and try to park them in at least a semi-permanent position. The joys of the child free jazz fest experience certainly made for enjoyable viewing.