Viv Paterson reports on how she coped with her first ever foray into an outdoor music festival

Two things have stopped me from going to music festivals - opportunity and temporary loos!

For the first  51 years of my life I did not have any accessible festivals to go to and, anyway, Woodstock sounded so much more romantic from afar than it might have been had I actually attended.

I enjoy Glastonbury on TV but I am always grateful that I am not there. Wellies and mud are not my idea of fun.

Add to all this the fact that I rarely see public loos of any kind - and I certainly wouldn't want to use the ones I hear they have at festivals.

So, anyway, with legs firmly crossed and a some trepidation I gave in to the badgering of our photographer Tom Kay, who is also one of the organisers of Solfest.

I was accompanied by colleague Federica Bedendo as I spent a day at my first ever festival.

We did not get off to a great start. Federica kept introducing me to people as "this is my gran. She's 65 and never been to a festival before!"

But I loved Solfest. I didn't stay overnight and I kept my legs firmly crossed so had no reason to try the loos. I don't think I'll ever camp out at a music festival but, after seeing Solfest, I would definitely go back

My first surprise was how big it is - and yet I am told this is a relatively small festival. There were so many tents, all offering different types of music. 

We arrived quite early and enjoyed the relative quiet of a festival morning where campers who got to bed at dawn were still asleep. 

There were plenty of families up and about, though, and the family nature of this festival is probably what struck me first. Parents were pulling children around in elaborate buggies converted into beds. 

Most of the children and many of the adults were in fancy dress. I saw fairies and superheros and Snow White to among the kids and Bavarian men, various animals and funny hats among the adults.

We went into the vegetarian and vegan tent which was also the chill out tent. Honestly! Half the people there really looked like hippies. It's just what you would have expected. I loved it!

I suggested to that Solfest was a cliche of every festival I've heard about. Federica said that was not true; Solfest was what festivals used to be lik.

I couldn't get over how much choice of music you had. There was also a choice of food from practically every country on earth. There were people selling everything including the hat I bought - and despite an unfavourable weather report - the sun shone.

I have come to the conclusion that festivals are not scary, and they are not just for hard core musicians - and I would certainly take my grandkids to Solfest.

By the way, I experienced one more fist at Solfest. I have never in my entire life had my fact painted. 

When Federica urged me to have a butterfly on my face I expected a tasteful little painting on my cheek.  Instead I got a blue monster covering my face. 

Oh well! It was worth it. Solfest was worth it!