Kingston Green Fair is one of the longest running and largest of the green fairs and marks the start of the great British festival season, weather permitting! Hundreds of stalls selling a wide range of green, ethnic, hippy and just plain fun stuff from Moon cups (guys – just don’t ask!) and fairy wings to culinary herbs and bric-a-brac. All at such reasonable prices too. Retail therapy that doesn’t require a bank loan, this has to be every girl’s dream. From general bargains galore to items of originality seldom seen outside the festival scene. Why not kit yourself out for Glasto? And what about a glam outfit for Lost Vagueness or maybe the Fairy Ball or perhaps just for a fun summer in the sun.

In true green style, a wide variety of vegan food stalls abounded, much to the disgruntlement of a couple of carnivorous friends who told me that they could have murdered a proper burger. Content in the end though with the tofu burgers that I bought - “see, you can’t even tell the difference” said I. Hmmm, perhaps that was going just a little too far!

Kingston Green is the place to bump into all those mates I haven’t seen for so long. It has become a melting pot of diversity, from the middle aged, middle class “greenies” to the India-bound hippies, all gathered to enjoy this great (and cheap!) day out.

Four music stages rocked until dusk with some great acts from around the globe. It was hard to find time though to relax and enjoy as there really is so much going on. A treat on the world music stage was Pete Ardron’s Orchid Star, a pre-Glastonbury performance from this wonderful and diverse band.
Or perhaps the tranquillity of the healing fields is now called for. A session of Reiki or perhaps a massage, Shiatsu, Swedish, Thai? The choice is yours. Feeling this good whilst listening to some chilled ambient relaxing tunes, guaranteed to make you float back into the sunshine.

What a shame when the sun fell over the horizon and it was time to go home. Broke again but what the hell!

Eli Saikadeli

for more photos click here

There is one major difference, though, and that is in the music: the Warp had trance and live bands, but I always felt that the music was a secondary thing: at Synergy, there seems to be more emphasis on music, with a greater diversity of sounds.

There were two rooms of live music: one showing global music bands with belly dancers, the other, which I immersed myself in, was a room where two MC’s called Double Negative – an Asian guy and a white girl, who sang positive lyrics about unity. They went down well with the crowd, and, personally, they were my faves on that night.
Every room seemed to be dedicated to a particular cause – that room featured artists involved in the Peace Not War campaign. Check http://www.peace.fm
There was a chillout area run by BinglyBongly; and on the main dancefloor, Dark Angel, Liquid Ross, and pumped out psy-trance. Earlier, Whirlygig resident DJ Monkey Pilot made a rare outside appearance, playing global trance rhythms.

In the main room, the visuals are always worth a look. This time, Survival for Tribal Peoples had taken over the projector, and images of tribesmen were mixed with distorted photos of George Bush. There was also a show by tribal drummers from Ghana, which went well with the vibe generated by the friendly crowd of hippies and traveller-types rockin’ to the beats.
For me, parties are as much about people as the music: there’s a crowd of people who go to Whirlygig and Planet Angel, then there is another lot who go to Raindance and Resonance, as well, of course, lots of other people from the underground scene. And they all seem to bump into each other at Synergy.

As the name suggests, the Synergy Project is more than just a party, it is a gathering of various groups involved with the underground scene.
What makes it unique is the sheer variety of things on offer: you can listen to poetry, or see films, look at artwork, or meet activists from groups such as Campaign against the Arms Trade, the Green party and others. All the organisations represented there come from the green/left political spectrum. As well as the bar, you can also get a cuppa and a bite to eat, or you can have a massage, buy some new tunes, or check out the ubiquitous fluorescent clothing and jewellery stalls.

All in all, Synergy is a great place to take those friends who don’t normally like clubbing, as well as the diehard ravers in the family! For info on the next party check
http://www.thesynergyproject.org

Minnie Mouse

The Synergy Project is a collective which aims to increase awareness of global issues affecting the planet and the lives it supports through the mediums of music, dance and arts from around the globe
This time I’m starting the day behind the scenes, helping to set up the “dark blue” area, this time hosted by BinglyBongly. Spare a thought for the hardworking crew providing the essential elements of the party for you.

We arrived around midday to put in 10 hours of hard graft, teamwork and inspiration, climbing ladders, hanging backdrops and lighting and trying hard to avoid the slimy gunge falling from the walls straight into my eyes, yuck!!
Well, this is certainly one way to conquer my fear of ladders - and a good workout ahead of the party!
For the first time, Whirl-y-Gig hosted the main dance room.
Whirl-y-Gig, a child friendly and extremely fluffy party, which has been running now for around 25 years, something of a record within our community and owed in a large part to its very loyal supporters, many having been going since the beginning.

The showcase was the “Kakatsiksai” master drummers from Ghana, whipping the crowd to a frenzy with their immense skills. This was followed by Whirl-y-Gig’s very own Monkey Pilot, playing a mighty 3 hour set of global beats. A little different from the usual psy-trance offerings up to this point, but then the Liquid crew took over the decks ending the night with wonderful journeys into the realms of trance.

The ID Spiral crew were joined by Hafla, a Jewish/Arabic collaboration, to provide us with wonderfully ethnic influenced music and dance, including some fantastic belly-dancing, a total inspiration for me, having just taken up classes myself.

Other live music rooms included the “Peace not War Project” featuring some radical rappers, reggae, drum & base and hip-hop styles with strong anti-war messages in both the lyrics and accompanying projections.

And back to the Dark Blue rooms, 3 connecting rooms of bright backdrops, projections and lots of seating. The perfect place to sit and have a little chill, but not too much, and enjoy the journey though the realms of dance music accompanied by some fine percussion from Mr Bongly and friends.
All in all, The Synergy Project remains one of the most musically diverse, conscious raising and influential parties within our community.

Eli Saikadeli

click for more photos here