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Thread: Glenn Miller Festival of Jazz, Swing and Jive

  1. #1
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    Glenn Miller Festival of Jazz, Swing and Jive

    DT and I had talked about going to Twinwood (near Bedford) for this festival before, but we'd decided against it as it seemed to involve camping and we didn't fancy that.
    However, closer to the time and I find myself wanting to sort out a nice weekend away for us as a surprise.
    So I booked us into a nice hotel in Bedford (the Bedford Swan) for B&B, got us Saturday only tickets (and a very, very nice restaurant for Friday night - the St. Helena).
    Anyway, we drove to the car park Sat morning and got on the old "battle-bus" to the festival.
    What a day!
    You enter a big grass arena with food and drink stands, and retro/vintage clothes stands and a big stage area for the bands. There's a big outdoor dance area and plenty of space for seating (bring your own).
    Past there, there's a long (outdoor) corridor of more clothes, music and memorabilia stands, as well as NAAFI bars and small museum buildings.
    At the far end is a Marquee (for taster dance lessons during the day and dancing in the evening), followed by another live band area (and dance floor), more stands, food and bars and the Hanger. The hanger includes a dance lesson area for more advanced dancers and the Glenn Miller museum.
    Throughout is lots of vintage cars, military vehicles and period things.
    John Miller isn't the best host, but his stories can be interesting.
    The bands were all fantastic. It seemed to be Rock 'n Roll at the far stage and Swing in the arena.
    We could've spent a fortune on the stalls, but we resisted. There was so much good stuff.
    We bumped into a lady having her hair done in one of the museums and it turned out she was getting ready to get married! They got all done up in 40's gear (including a lovely period dress), went off to the local register office and came back to hang around in all their period wedding gear.

    I'd say that less than 50% of people dressed up, so you don't need to, and there were quite a few Modern Jivers there too.
    For anyone who's into Lindy, East-Coast, Rock 'n' Roll, just loves the period costumes or just loves to hear live bands, this is a must.
    They do it every year and now DT and I have had a taster, we'll definitely be going back next year and probably for more than just the day.

    I'll put a picture album up soon, or they're already on DT's facebook.

  2. #2
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    Re: Glenn Miller Festival of Jazz, Swing and Jive

    Hi Gav,

    I went last year mate, as you say excellent, I couldn't get myself sorted in time this year.

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