Cherry Lodge Cancer Care thanks everyone who helped make the 2017 Summer Soulstice festival in Barnet such a great day out for all the family.
Unlike the extreme heat which engulfed everybody on the actual solstice day, the weather for the annual Soulstice event, held on Saturday 24th June at the Old Elizabethans’ grounds, was mostly very comfortable and human-friendly. Nobody sweltered and, unlike last year, nobody got drenched either. It was another terrific day, which the incredibly hard-working Soulstice crew started preparing for some six months ago. Increased security is very much a sign of the times and the presence of additional security personnel and patrolling police was reassuring.
Cherry Lodge was, as usual, well represented at the festival, with our volunteers manning the Cherry Lodge gazebo (which had to be re-erected after being blown down on Friday afternoon by a great gust of wind!) and car park. The colourful outfits of the 4,500 festival goers and the evident enjoyment of the many people sharing their extensive picnics contributed to a hugely pleasurable and enthusiastic musical event, which must almost equal Glastonbury albeit in smaller numbers!
As well as being hugely popular among the many fans of soul music, Summer Soulstice is a family event and the children had their own special area of entertainment around the huge, inflatable cockerel. The event was sold out several weeks ago and the organisation proved to be most efficient. The specially cordoned off area for campers proved particularly popular and resembled a canvas village. Unlike at Glastonbury, however, milk is not delivered to people’s tents in the morning! Seen keeping the grounds tidy was one particular young man who cheerfully went about his job while dancing to the music.
In short, this year’s festival was a wonderful day of entertainment and glorious music, held in memory of Andy Weekes and raising a great deal of money for our charity. Summer Soulstice is Cherry Lodge Cancer Care’s largest third party fundraiser by far and pays for us to employ Kirsty as Outreach nurse and to run our van, which can often be seen about Barnet and Borehamwood. Once again, we extend our most sincere thanks to the Soulstice crew for their amazing generosity and to all the volunteers whose dedicated support made this event such a success. Special mention is due to those who manned the Cherry Lodge merchandise stall and those who took people’s money in the car park! Another day to remember.
Click on the small images below to see larger, complete photographs. Also. you can see lots more photos by visiting www.summersoulstice.org.uk
