Van Love Fest 2025

We arrived around 2pm and wound our way past the entrance to the air museum to what we thought was the entrance. In fact it was the entrance to the "holding area".  We weren't told anything more and so after a while things got a bit heated, especially as it was very hot and sunny.

Our journey from our overnight stay at Cresslands near Bourne took longer than we anticipated as we chose to take a more eastley route over the Humber Bridge. It's quite spectacular and only £1.50 for a car and van under 3.5 tonnes (3500kgs). It was worth the experience but if I had to do the journey again I'd go the quicker way via the A1!

We seemed to be in the last of the holding area lanes and I had a walk to see as it looked as though the actual entrance was nearby. It was actually about a mile away. We were in the tenth lane. 

Molly second van behind the blue car....

As the vans moved from lane 1 across to us, the area they had vacated was filled with those that arrived after us. Then we had the long run to the actual entrance where they took our name, a guffaw at Devall (!) , and we were in. I had hoped for Reggie's sake to back onto the grass at the edge of the runway, but the very insistent marshal made us park one row in. At least we were near the row of portaloos (aka thunderboxes), and the chemical waste dump!

But where was the main stage and the stalls and bars?   We were parked up next to Lee and Michelle in their very nicely self build WW Transporter. They have a YouTube channel called Our Forever Roam. As we have a continental van with the sliding door on the driver's side.  UK vans have it on the left on the passenger side. We chatted a lot and they are a nice couple. We decided to follow their channel and see what they show... maybe we'll get on there!

As it turned out, the main area with the stage and food outlets plus the satellite stages and wellness zone were over half a mile away! It doesn't seem far but slogging back and forwards, in the rain, isn't to be laughed at.

The view from in front of our Molly!

Yes. The main stage area is right there. Almost hidden by the curvature of the earth .

Friday wasn't too bad and we walked up there with Reggie and even at nearly 15 years old he managed it. It rained heavily in the evening. We missed Ellie Sax on the main stage as it was literally peeing down. The music was loud enough to hear anyway!   Not as loud as the group of "Hells Grannies" that came separately in four vans and were just to the rear and right of us. Music, screeching with laughter and spliffs.

Saturday was a bit wet early and once it faded out we had a walk with Reggie to check out some stalls. We signed up to another dog food system, Butternut something.  At least we have signed up to try it for 2 weeks.  We are looking for different stuff for Reggie to eat. We can cancel if he doesn't like it. He has taken to not eating his breakfast until later in the day now.

It rained again and we were confined to the van until around 8pm.  We left Reggie asleep and went up to get a coffee and watch Chris Moyles on the main stage.  Not my kind of music but hell it's a party.

 I even tapped my toe. We saw a few of the YouTubers who we follow but didn't see their little dance that was posted on YouTube. We didn't like to impose on them....

Easier to see at night!!!

Sunday was supposed to be the cavalcade of the vans all on the runway but with the bad weather we had no idea what was going on. 

Of the 1200 vans that were supposed to have checked in, it seemed, around us, there were many that had decided to leave early.  

Lee said that he's been told it was supposed to have been 12 noon but had been put back to 1pm.  We were packed up in any case and about 1220pm we gave up. We had a two hour drive to our next overnight stay and so we called it quits.

Had the weather been better i.e. dry, it would have been much better. 

I think communication from the organisers could have been better from the moment we arrived at the airfield to Sunday when it was time to leave to let everyone know what was happening and when.

We still enjoyed the weekend. We met a nice couple and chatted to them about all kinds of things. 

Would we go again?  I doubt it.