Is anyone else dreaming of the Summer weather yet? Even though I know that I will moan that I am too hot fairly constantly, I do enjoy the warmer weather and the myriad of sartorial choices that it affords me. I love the sunshine, even if it doesn’t love me (I’m a pale, easily burnt thing).
A highlight of my Summer each year is the Twinwood Festival in Bedfordshire. Funnily enough, the festival itself and the friends that we made by attending were largely behind our decision to leave London and move to beautiful Bedford! If you have not yet discovered this wonderful event, allow me to pot it most conveniently for you.
Twinwood Airfield was an RAF base in WW2 with a rather special and sad claim to fame; Glenn Miller and his orchestra, who were based in Bedford at the time, played an open air concert on the airbase in August 1944. It was the only open air performance that Glenn Miller played on a British airbase – presumably because of our terribly unreliable summers. Later that same year, Glenn Miller’s plane took off from Twinwood Airfield, never to be seen again. Whilst no-one can say for certain what happened to Glenn Miller, what is undeniable is the enduring bond that Bedford and the Twinwood Airfield feel to this very day with the man and the music.
Twinwood Festival is an annual celebration of vintage music and fashion. Sure, there is plenty of big band swing en homage to Glenn Miller and plenty of dancefloor space for the incredible swing dancers to spin and twirl, but there is also rock’n’roll for the Rockabillys, really cool jazz in tiny late night cafes for the aficionados, cabaret, soul, and electro-swing into the smaller hours of the morning for those who want to party all night. There is even a traditional pub, The Nag’s Head, where you can drink ales and have a knees up around the piano.
Dancing in the outside Tiki Bar
The style is no less diverse and exciting; within a single group of friends you may encounter mid-century prints, fifties petticoats, and WW2 uniforms. There is an air of anything goes anarchy, which I love. We’re all just a bunch of well-dressed weirdos.
Enjoying early evening sunshine with Chris
Picture: Jez Brown Photography
Hello? Twinwood ticket hotline, how may I help you?
1. Dig out a picture of yourself in a vintage outfit (there are rules, click here to read them)
2. Email the photo with your name, age, and a little info about yourself to twinwoodmarketing@gmail.com and keep your fingers crossed!
If you make it through to the shortlist, you could win FREE festival tickets to attend the live festival final. The winners get a stupid amount of swag including a cash prize. If you win, you have to buy me a drink. That’s an extra rule that I have just added.
Stay gorgeous!
Cxx
