Green Man festival 2022 review - the UK's most wholesome festival

A family festival for proper festival-goers....
Music in Video: • Old Village
Digital Spy (UK)
2022-08-22T18:00:42Z
Green Man 2022 brought a close to the Welsh boutique festival's twentieth edition yesterday (21 August) and it's quite possibly the most wholesome festival experience you can have in the UK.
From the sweeping mountainous backdrop carved out behind the aptly named Mountain Stage, to the sweet little stream trickling through the site and into the pond reflecting animated artwork next to the Rising Stage, and then the free internal postal service, which haplessly hopes to deliver hand-written messages to friends' tents.
Elsewhere in the Glastonbury-esque Nature Nurture, we saw sound baths, massages, tarot card readers, yoga classes, and plenty of craft shops, and that's before you explore the huge kids' field, Little Folk, with all manner of funky family revelry, culminating with a parade through the festival site on Sunday showing off all the cool things they've made to the 60,000 attendees.
Then there's the Somewhere section for teenagers with DJ classes, firebreathing and loads more, as well as the Einstein Garden area's science classes from universities like Cambridge, with over one hundred music, theatre and interactive classes folded in.
Plus, there was a new secret bar, Wishbone, hosting drag queen sets, the acrobatic dance stage, Back and Beyond, the funky dance tent-come-cocktail-bar, Chai Wallahs, and the annual beer festival hosting numerous stouts, ales, and IPAs to try in the festival's very eco-conscious reusable cups.
All of this, before we even get to the key thing about Green Man - the music. Our personal highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly Metronomy, who disarmed plenty of fans with just how strong of a headline set they delivered. Meanwhile, Beach House, Bicep, Jessie Buckley & Bernard Butler, Kae Tempest, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Willie J Healey, Michael Kiwanuka, and Kraftwerk's cosmic 3D show complete with disposable glasses were big favourites from across the weekend.
But even in the smaller moments, with Welsh bands performing in Cymraeg with an on-stage painter, to the BGT-style dance acts on Back and Beyond, to the kooky man covered in sawdust making wooden mushrooms outside the Walled Garden, there's joy and spectacles to be found in every corner of the site.
Unlike Camp Bestival, Green Man feels like a proper event for festival-goers who have kids, rather than being built entirely around children with acts like Mr Tumble, it's truly a proper family festival and one that isn't overwhelmed with giant pull-along cribs thankfully, either.
As for what didn't work so well, our only criticism is that the line-up for 2022 could have been stronger, and beyond the headliners mostly veered into very laid-back, rising, and generally undiscovered talent that has yet to trouble other more major festival line-ups.
Some stage scheduling seemed to jump from very chilled guitars, to rock, to dance in the same area, which made it harder to decide where to best place your time. But that doesn't seem to bother the incredibly hip attendees who definitely appreciated the chance to discover something new.
The festival would certainly benefit from a line-up app, and the absence of one does feel more like a chance to sell the £12 lanyards and guidebooks, than being the best way to navigate a festival in 2022. Meanwhile, the food, as with all festivals, hit some eye-watering prices generally ranging from £9-13 per dish. Although, some stands hosting a child-friendly £5 option was very appreciated, and at least it was decent grub ranging from Indonesian slow-cooked beef rendang to vegan sushi, to Vietnamese Bahn-mi tacos.
Nevertheless, given the rate of inflation, and the rising cost of living, taking a whole family to a festival and actually feeding them there isn't going to be financially viable for many but the very wealthy. But thankfully, the option to bring - and cook - your own food is welcomed on camping stoves, as is the chance to carry around your own alcohol in the festival, a glorious benefit we'd only seen at Glastonbury before this.
It would be nice to see the festival embrace more Welsh culture throughout the festival, although signs are in both English and Welsh, there are some Welsh acts, and what seemed like mostly non-Welsh attendees, the festival's uniqueness could certainly harness it more, to hopefully become a beacon for the country's tourism, as it's events like Download and Wireless who have nailed a niche, that seem to have the most longevity in a very competitive market.
Green Man is effectively a smaller, more family-friendly, and much more wholesome Glastonbury, just without anywhere near the sam