Secret Garden Party took things to a whole new level this year as it celebrated its 10th Birthday. As well as a few impressive new stages and arenas we were treated to skydivers parachuting into the lake, an aerobatic display featuring some incredible pyrotechnics and camel rides for the “gardeners” to enjoy. There was a huge strobe lit wheel of punting skeletons and without doubt the most impressive musically co-ordinated fireworks display I have ever seen at a festival. The sound quality on the main stage was an enormous improvement over last year’s rig. In fact we enjoyed Orbital’s headline performances from a position well back from the stage thanks to a conveniently placed repeater tower and all around the site stages and sound systems blasted out into the night from high quality PAs.

There have been some serious complaints in recent years over the security staff at SGP but I have to say that this year they were absolutely spot on. All were friendly and courteous both at the gates and around the site. And life was also made a lot easier for us because the campervan field was actually brought inside the fence for the first time so that, like our friends in tents, we could fully feel as though we were an integral part of the festival at all times.

In fact the only downer about the entire festival this year was the conditions underfoot. Heavy rainfall in the days and weeks leading up to the event coupled with 32,000 pairs of boots stomping about meant that the majority of the site suffered very badly indeed. Friday was sloppy and slippery and by Saturday night many a welly was lost. As a result we regrettably didn’t get to see and do as much as we would have otherwise and failed to visit many of the quirky little “action camps”. But on Sunday the sun shone, the ground baked hard enough to sit on and the crowds turned out in force for the annual paint fight in front of the main stage.

One criticism I often hear levelled at SGP is that it is far pricier than equivalent festivals and I made this very point myself when I first attended in 2010. The full price “tier 5” tickets are indeed priced at an eye watering £195, which is equivalent to what one would pay for Glastonbury or Reading. But early birds can pick a ticket up considerably cheaper than this and with the amount of effort that goes into making SGP such a wonderful event, plus free programmes and parking, I would argue nowadays that it actually represents fairly good value for money. With there being no Glastonbury or Endorse-It this year we decided to make this our family festival and my kids (now aged 22 & 19) are already both talking about how many of their mates they want to persuade to come along in 2013. I’ll definitely be there!