So Parklife is most certainly back. Yes, it was back last year too, but this time it feels different. There are no vaccine passports, no LFTs, no masks, no elbow bumping. It all feels like it was a nightmare and that ‘new normal’ that people were talking about has been truly abandoned, in favour of the old normal, which everyone liked fine.
It’s the first time at Parklife for Charlie, 23, and Aaron, 28. They’ve travelled five hours from Bournemouth and South Wales respectively, and it’s a relief to be back in a field after two years with no festivals. They know each other because they do extreme sports on horseback together. Obviously. It’s called the Mounted Games Association, and it takes them all over the world.
“We jump on and off and do stunts together,” bellows Aaron in deepest valleys brogue over Girls Don’t Sync’s garage set at, appropriately, The Valley stage. “We compete internationally, European championships. Flat out, mate. It’s just what we do.
