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Since Thursday, I’ve been at Wickham Festival, Hampshire. The weather has been beautiful and the large crowd, on the first day, was probably (mostly) there to see Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) performing a solo gig.  Also Matthews Southern Comfort, Judi Collins and The Proclaimers were playing. It was a great line-up, especially if you’re of an age where you remember these guys when they first made it big.

Graham sang song after song and talked about things that had happened in his life, and of his good friend, Joni Mitchell. I have to say that I’ve never seen a crowd so visibly moved as they were when Graham Nash sang his last song, ‘Teach Your Children‘. As they left the tent, people were wiping their eyes… me included. You really did feel as if you were in the presence of ‘greatness’.

Other big name acts over the weekend include Ralph McTell, Judy Collins, local boy (from Meonstoke) Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls, Cara Dillon, Afro Celt Sound System, Elephant Sessions, Lil’ Jimmy Reed & The A Team, Grace Petrie, Lindisfarne, The Kiefer Sutherland Band and Alabama 3.

One of the other highlights was Zelva, a giant mechanical tortoise, who greeted the crowds this afternoon at Wickham Festival.  She took three years to create and blinks, sneezes (water) and opens her mouth to eat. She was built by The Flying Buttresses for their latest show, ‘What The Tortoise Taught Us’.

You can see photos and a video of Zelva, the tortoise, below.