This is the perfect festival for people who don’t like mud, canvas or generally venturing beyond the London nderground system.  You can go hard and still go home at the end of the day – or even  onto the after party at Fabric should the mood take you. 

Bug eyed ravers unused to the daylight, teeny boppers with faces painted like fafinettes, Euro house heads in bandanas, club kids in day-glo, Hoxtonites, die hards and try hards … they all descended on Clapham Common like a mashed up version of a Mike Skinner track – in fact, it was about as multi-cultural as SW4 is likely to get. 

Get Loaded is testament to the fact that diverse musical genres can co-exist happily in a smallish compound – albeit on four different stages. 

XFM stars, Royksopp, are so synomynous with T-Mobile and Apple you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re an advertisers’ avatar but they’re not half bad live and VV Brown whooped it up earlier with crowd pleaser, Shark in the Water but top talent was undoubtedly breakthrough Brixton act, MPHO, who is certainly destined for great things. 

The Clash tent took the average age down by about ten years with Chase & Status and electric loud mouth, Peaches but the Dim Mak stage had the best energy culminating with The Crookers’ Kid Cudi collaboration, Day and Nite.

The main event saw Sneaky Sound System’s Miss Connie shaking her crazy afro, the besuited Freeland boys going all 1984 on us with Under Control and We Want your Soul and Carl Craig proving that Kenwood House isn’t the only outdoor venue that can attract an orchestra. 

Orbital were the perfect London festival headliners – they even take their name from the M25 – and although their comeback hasn’t as yet spawned any new material, it does open up the floor for a new generation of fans who already recognise their universal Dr Who theme track.  An awesome light show provided a great backdrop for classics like Satan and Chime but serious snaps go out to the guys who pulled off a three tiered shoulder stand in the crowd – way taller than the flags festival organizers are trying to ban but more impressive as a feat of engineering than it was annoying. 

The www.be-at.tv guys pulled a Bank Holiday triple whammy with film crews at Creamfields and Reading as well as getting loaded in London town – check out the site for footage and hope you weren’t caught gurning on camera …

All in all, thoroughly well organised by Stix’s Lock n Load team with none of the bottle necks that went down at some festivals we could mention, food stalls from London restaurants Bodean’s and Tortilla instead of out of towner animal fodder and no more people than the compound could handle.  The weather could have been better but unlike the messiah-esque shapes thrown atop the amps by the Bloody Beetroots – we can’t expect divine intervention all of the time.

www.getloadedinthepark.com
www.locknloadevents.com

Bored of goat curry, whistles and carnival chaos and searching for something a little different this bank holiday? The travelling Gorilla circus is offering flying trapeze classes to people of all ages who have dreamt of honing their skills in aerial circus. Whether it’s simply a single lesson, or a string of regular lessons, Gorilla circus will leave you with a series of techniques and tricks.

Happening throughout various locations in London the Gorilla circus is specifically specialised in flying trapeze and aerial arts. The outdoor classes have only been opened to the public since June and will be finishing on 6th September. With jugglers, gymnasts and unicyclist expertise, the circus has an eclectic mix of trained teachers who even suggest a “Try n Fly” practice at ground level for just £4 for those not quite convinced by one and a half hours in the air.

This bank holiday the Gorilla circus will be giving their lessons in Regents Park Running Track and will be remaining there until they finish in September. For bookings and queries go to their website.

So, with companies anxiously checking their overheads, as we loom deeper into recession, maybe running away to the circus isn’t such a bad idea.

A single flying lesson costs £16.75
Ten lessons £144
www.gorillacircus.com

Sushi fans, not to mention those of the female form, will be delighted to know that Flash Sushi’s authentic Nyotaimori dining experience is back in London town.

Originating in Japan, Nyotaimori – or female body presentation – is the traditional Japanese art of eating sushi off a naked female body.  The century old practice started as the preserve of the Japanese elite but has enjoyed huge popularity in New York and LA’s hip night life scenes.  Sasha Baron Cohen Fans will remember its being parodied in Brüno where SBC tries make Paula Abdul eat sushi from the body of a naked man.

Super exclusive, Flash Sushi only runs one sitting per month for a maximum of 24 people.  And just like the capital’s private restaurant’s like Miss Marmite Lover, Green Onions, The Savoy Truffle Supper Club and The Hidden Tea Room, its various locations remain a closely guarded secret. 

You’ll never find it in the same location or on the same day of the month.  Once guests have a confirmed their place online, they receive an invitation in the post.  The venue (don’t worry, they’re all in zone one so you don’t have to schlep to Peckham or Dalston)  will only be divulged 24 hours prior to the event via SMS message.

Then from 7 o’clock, the invited gastro thrill-seekers will meet for a  champagne reception before gathering around the communal dining table adorned with stunning Hadaka models bedecked in sushi and sashimi – for an exquisite ten-course, seasonal Omakase style sushi dinner.  

Master chef, Saito – with 20 years’ experience under his belt – works with the suppliers of world leading Japanese restaurant, Nobu.

Tickets cost £250 per person and include unlimited quantities of champagne, wines, Japanese beers, mineral water and Japanese whiskeys – no getting lairy though – the models are for display only and strictly off menu!

You’d better be quick though because as with all good ephemeral pop-ups, Flash Sushi is only here until March 2010 before slipping back into the shadows of gastronomic folklore.  So come and get it while it’s hot … or should we say body temperature.  

www.flash-sushi.com

Finding the prefect cocktail is not an easy job and it certainly looks like it’s going to be hard for the judges of  the ‘Hunt for Holly’ cocktail competition launched by Chambord. And when I say judges I mean you.

17 elite bartenders have been shortlisted and their individual cocktails will be voted on by the public. On the 15th September the winning cocktail will be announced at La Vie en Chambord, a fancy dress invitation only event for bartenders celebrating Chambord’s involvement with West End show Breakfast At Tiffany’s, at The Valmont Club in Chelsea. The winning cocktail will be called the ‘The Holly Golightly’ making it the official cocktail for the new show Breakfast at Tiffany’s starring Anna Friel.

The shortlist cocktails were selected by a panel of judges comprising of Chambord ambassador and founder of The Hoxton Pony Gerry Calabrese, Producer of Breakfast at Tiffany’s Colin Ingram, founder of intoxicology.co.uk Andy pearson, editor of Theme Ian Cameron and Chambord Brand manager Charlotte Ashburner. The cocktail will be judged on its high calibre, use of ingredients, originality and its ability to be as iconic and sensational as the lead character herself, Holly Golightly.

The winner will also receive exclusive tickets to the Breakfast at Tiffany’s West End show, a luxury 2 night stay at the four-star deluxe Cavendish Hotel, pre-theatre supper at Inamo Restaurant & Bar, a pair of bespoke Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses, as worn by the original Holly Golightly, Audrey Hepburn and a state of the art LG Cookie touch screen mobile with 3.2MP camera and video recorder. Not a bad list of things to win.

Check out the 17 shortlisted cocktails at www.intelligent-pr.com/huntforholly/drinks.php

For tickets to Breakfast at Tiffany’s check out www.BreakfastAtTiffanys.co.uk

By now you are probably aware that the infamous, fashion photographer Rankin is searching for real models to photograph as part of a project on British Style. In a quest to discover representatives who capture the sense of what it is to be British, Rankin is looking for eccentric and enthusiastic volunteers to take part in an interactive exhibition.

The project, known as Rankin Live! Is due to end September 18th and the goal is to shoot around 1,000 people who touch socially, historically and culturally what it is to be British; and with an average of around fifty people per day, Rankin is hard at work.

Although the huge publicity attached to this exhibition has made it somewhat ubiquitous, Rankin is keen to point out that this is not a PR stunt and that all profits will go to Oxfam, (the idea originally came to him when he was shooting in a refugee camp in Congo, for Oxfam.)

Despite being renowned for his works of beautiful women, Rankin mentions that this project has reminded him “of the importance of shooting people as people.” Rankin’s skill is drawing out the truth and “realness” of a person, hooking into their personality and capturing something so subtle and acute they might not even be aware of it themselves.

To support Rankinlive! Apply online at rankinlive.com before 18th September 2009