Friendly Feast of Lanterns

‘MYTHS and Legends’ was the theme for this year's Camping & Caravanning Club’s 86th National Feast of Lanterns (NFOL), which took place at the Devon County Showground from 30 August to 2 September.

The festival – termed by one journalist as the ‘Glastonbury for campers’ – saw several thousand caravans and motorhomes eagerly pitch up and enthusiastically take part in a series of wonderfully wacky events. Forget Robbie Coltrane’s current ‘B-road Britain’ series, this was British quirkiness at its best.

These included a Mardi Gras street parade put on by individual regions, which featured everything from waddling mermaids to a full-size Trojan horse being dragged by frequently-whipped slaves (two slaves were additionally charged with cleaning up the frequent ‘horse mess’ - much to the amusement of onlookers).


Other notable Mardi Gras entrants included various naval themed groups, a motorhome-sized smoke-belching Dragon being hauled along by St George-liveried knights, Leprechauns toting both rainbow and pot of gold, as well as various assorted TV legends. There were also several people painted gold from head-to-toe – answers on a postcard as to what they were representing (King Midas?).

Various musical events were also held on the site in the evenings, ranging from kayleighs to tribute bands. The Melton Mowbray Toy Soldiers band proved a big hit with the crowd, while the Royal Marine band and the Camping & Caravanning Clubs own brass band had an equally enthusiastic reception.

The highlight for most people, though, were the actual lantern displays – as night fell, hundreds of illuminated displays were switched on all over the site and crowds of LED-bedecked visitors ambled amongst ‘streets’ of decorated caravans. One of these featured rock legends, with caravans displaying artists that ranged from Elvis to ZZ Top.

There was good trade support at the event, too, with the latest caravans being displayed by dealers and a wide range of stalls selling everything from water pumps to folding chairs. Throw in an on-site supermarket, lots of good food and drink, plus plenty of entertainment for the children and it was not hard to see why this is such a popular family event.

All in all this was a well-attended and good humoured event that most people seemed to enjoy. The 2008 event takes place at Pickering Showground in North Yorkshire and has a Christmas theme. Expect to see car-sized Christmas tree baubles, massive reindeers, gift-wrapped caravans and hundreds of jovial Santas…

www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk

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