Blog of Norman Ralph

It was a question i asked myself numerous times in the week leading up to the start of this years MAG Farmyard Party, would big hairy bikers want to eat primarily vegetarian food at a bike festival? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. I have just returned from my second festival working for Rakesh’s vegetarian catering unit, Nomad’s and the impression I got was that he made a decent profit at the festival despite the atrocious weather and the crazy biker types that frequent these gatherings.

Sarann and I set out on Thrusday afternoon in the pouring rain to meet Rakesh at Duncombe park, Helmsley, North Yorkshire. It was a nice enough drive, despite the rain and Sutton bank is a really nice little area. The rain eased as we approached the festival site, which was a blessing as there is nothing worse than putting your tent up in the rain. We soon had the tent pitched and a full belly of chick pea chana and chips. The rain held until just gone 22.30 and with the rain we headed off to bed. My first shift was at 9am and was a great chance to meet Jeanette, another of Rakesh’s crew and someone I have not had the pleasure of working with yet. She is a lovely lady, full of life and stories ranging from her two sons to Barney (her 2yr old black German shepherd) and her life in York. The shift passed quickly, with the pair of us glad to be in the van rather than the torrential rain outside. Sarann and Lis took over at 1pm, Lis is another of the new colleagues I got to meet at this festival, really good fun and as kind a person as I have had the pleasure to meet with a mischievous streak a mile long!

The weekend revolved mainly about work, I did get out and about a bit, saw several of the custom bikes and had a wander round the stalls. We did venture out at night on the Friday, saw a few cover/tribute bands and a bit of the nightlife, but I ended up on the phone to Liz most of the evenings so didn’t spend too much time out and about.

The rain eased up as the festival progressed, I even managed a little sunburn on the Sunday before Sarann and I headed home. Only eleven days until Workhouse in Wales

Looking forward to seeing Liz this week although she was off to see Muse today, so that is about all I will hear for the next few weeks.