But before I list my favourite five, a gripe about the queues. I know we are meant to be a nation prepared to queue, but I really struggled to work out how some of the queues were so poorly managed. It meant a few things that I had hoped to attend, I did not get to which is particularly disappointing as you are often left at a loose end - despite a programme apparently packed with exciting things to do. I felt particularly down on Saturday after queuing to get my son in the kids activities. 45 minutes of queuing still resulted in failure - frustrating immediately as I had decided against seeing Trent Vineyard in order to queue - but then a dawning realisation that we now had a 8 year old to factor in to our plans. The kids clubs queue seemed effectively to be a queue for a queue - I noticed seasoned Greenbelters who seemed to turn up still with their sleeping bags - or maybe they simply went from a late night event and slept in the queue for the kids club token.
In the end, we never used the kids clubs.
But the rest is good. So here are my five favourite things about greenbelt
The ice sculpture - Beyond produced 1.5 tonnes of ice sculpture. There was something enchanting about the sculpture and how it melted. You can read more about it here (link to Beyond). It was great to see people just sat watching and, although it was a shame, and somewhat disturbing, when people started to hack at it, I was pleased when I came back in the morning and found that it had regained some of its beauty - losing the rough edges. The melting of the ice marked the passing of time, something we noted each and every time we walked past the spot.Beer and Hymns - the queue outside the Jesus Arms was testimony to the popularity of (a) decent beer and (b) beer and hymns. Although staying inside the tent proved too much for my eight year old son, listening the the hymns being belted out was uplifting and soul stirring. Excellent.
Of all the people in all the world - Stan's cafe in the Christian Aid tent. I found myself drawn back time and time again to this exhibition using rice to illustrate events and challenges in life, where each grain of rice represented one person. It was moving and thought provoking - and very well presented.
Rob Bell in conversation - I love the Nooma DVDs and whilst I have a few issues with Rob's book, Jesus wants to save Christians, it was great to see Rob chatting and answering questions. He was even sat on the grass a couple of feet away from my wife just before getting on the stage.
The entertainment - okay, so that is a pretty broad group, but I am struggling to get everything into a list of just five things. yfriday, Sixpence none the richer, Shlomo, The Welcome Wagon and Athlete - all great on the Main Stage. Some of the bands busking and appearing around the Racecourse were great as well, as were the Love and Joy Gospel Choir in the Big Top. The comedy as well - we particualrly enjoyed James Dowdeswell.
There were loads of things I couldn't do, and probably some things that I did that I should have put in the top five.
The atmosphere - was fantastic. We enjoyed it - the kids had a great time - Tee-shirt painting, staying up late, rock climbing, skate boarding and drinking far too many hot chocolates from the cafes around the course (they voted The Tank the best hot chocolate).
All in all, an excellent bank holiay weekend.
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