Sharon’s festy blog: You can’t improve on perfection!

We didn’t make it to Stonehenge last night. I kidded myself it was because we were too tired, we had too much to do in getting ready for Glastonbury and it would be Father’s Day today, so the boys would be getting us up early bouncing on the bed and handing over cards and suchlike.

But the truth is, I was worried that it wouldn’t be as good as last time. On the one occasion I’ve made it to the Stones for summer solstice, the weather played a blinder. A clear starry night, with the biggest pumpkin coloured full moon I’ve ever seen, lit up the cornfields (and the cavorting couples in them) with a golden, glowing cast. The crowd of about 20,000 was pretty much the perfect balance of teenage ravers, elderly Pagans, businesslike Druids and tourists.

We’d parked the camper van in the free car park and I spent the night with a group of striking English Heritage employees who passed round the red wine liberally, while my family slept in the van. The sunrise itself was stunning, the clear skies keeping the night cold and the morning increasingly warm.

Two year old son in his buggy, rubbing his sleep-filled eyes and then getting into the party spirit and dancing among the stones. Meeting friends from far and near. No trouble. Bright sunshine on Midsummer’s Morning.

2005 was brilliant. 2009? Well, I hear that it was overcast, there were 15,000 more people there and police had a horseback presence. I didn’t fancy it. After all, how could you improve on perfection?