Festivale - waiting .... waiting

There was quite a famous joke doing the rounds when the Soviet Union was still 'the evil empire' rather than a part of history. It summed up perfectly what life was really like in that 'worker's paradise'. Two Russians are standing in yet another endless queue waiting to buy bread when one of them turned around and said "I am sick of always lining up. Everything we line up, all the time we line up! I am going to kill our leader!". "Don't bother" said his friend " that queue is even longer".

To quote Boney M "oh those Russians", but what's a bit of international humour got to do with Festivale? Quite a bit as it turns out.

Festivale is a great food and wine event. Being able to spend most of Saturday or Sunday eating, drinking and  listening to musical acts that are well past their use by date is a lot of fun. Having been to a few over the years we would heartily recommend it to anyone. 

This year however we experienced the horror that is Friday night at Festivale. Queue to get in, queue to eat, queue to drink and queue to use the toilets. The Russians would not be impressed.

The problem is that too many people want to experience the first night of Festivale. So waiting around is the thing you will do the most. For example, in the time it took for Michelle to get her favourite dish, Tempura Mushrooms, PJ had drunk two wines (purchased from from different stalls at opposite ends of the park),  eaten a bratwurst, dropped onion into his Native Point pinot and gone back to get another glass and drunk that.

Festivale is well worth a visit, just not on Friday night. On the plus side there is no way you will eat or drink too much, there just isn't enough time between when you finally get in and the event closes. So if you are thirsty, hungry or not of the patient persuasion go on either the Saturday or Sunday.

Yet another great piece of consumer advice from Winepunters.

What do you think?  Send us a comment