Innocent Unplugged 2016 • • Spark
While Mr Motivator from GMTV Breakfast, whipped the crowd into a sticky sweaty mess on the main stage, Spark was tucked away in another tent with 70 audience members. It’s 9pm on May 28th and we are at the Innocent Unplugged Festival in the Kent countryside.
Our host was Nav who some of you may know from Exmouth Market and our theme was ‘Wide eyed and Innocent,’ which one audience member astutely whispered to a friend, ‘could be dangerous.’ People often think Spark makes perfect sense at festivals. It’s probably the connotations of campfires and the woodland setting that makes it feel like a good pairing. And it is but it’s not that easy to coax 70 odd brits who hadn’t planned to speak into a mic to open up their hearts to strangers even if they are in the middle of a wood. We are used to this and we know deep down the stories are in the room they just need coaxing out, and that’s what happened.
We heard a total of 12 stories during the 90 minute and the theme of Innocence was rung out, turned inside out and pulled into new shapes with each of these experiences. The premise of the Unplugged Festival was to turn the phone off and just spend some time with each other, which I have to say felt really good. It also means if you missed these stories then there are no recordings so all those voices exist only in the minds of those who were there. Hopefully we will be back for more next year.