Off to WOMAD with Ronald the au pair and Arden. I've been going for some 20 years but this is the first time at the new venue of Charlton Park, and the first time in a wheelchair. Sweltering heat, which is better than last year's mud, and hard to find shade. Arden and I have been going together for about four years now, usually arriving on the Saturday, camping overnight and then coming back late Sunday afternoon. For a visit with no legs, going just for the day seems a lot more sense and it's only about a 40 minute drive from home. I had tried to book an electric wheelchair in advance, without joy. Not impressed. Nor can I hire one on the day. I'd hoped to take my Cougar handcycle, but the kids have been driving it about and managed to get the chain completely stuck. So it's a good old manual chair to cope with the gravel and very uneven grass. It's hell. Exhausting and not particularly safe either: nearly fall out several times. Enough to put me off WOMAD altogether. And this is my favourite music festival. Feel very disabled, can't get into the shade for Arden because too many people, unable to get anywhere close to the stages (there are specific platforms for wheelchair users, but you'd have to get to the bands early to be able to reach them). Thank god for Ronald: he does a fair bit of pushing. I wouldn't have been able to cope without him. Sadly, Arden seems to have grown beyond WOMAD: "it's deafening, the music is awful and I'm almost passing out from the heat."
So, next year, take the Cougar. Wear a leg bag too - couldn't find any accessible toilets, though there were meant to be some around. Still, manage to see Dengue Fever, Ernest Ranglin and Bassekou amongst others, I know what to expect for next year and I got two tickets for the price of one...
