AS Larmer Tree virgins, and arriving at the event on its 25th anniversary, we were on a mission to see and do it all on the closing day of what, by all accounts, was one of its best runs in recorded history.

No pressure. Of course doing it all at Larmer is tricky. Distractions are 10 a penny, and following a tight schedule is a near impossible feat.

One thing we soon realised as newbies is this:  hurrying ourselves along would be missing the point of this leisurely, laidback and frankly bonkers affair. We had it all wrong; there is more to the Larmer Tree Festival than music and comedy. 

From the carnival procession, to the legions of arts and crafts stalls surrounding the place, it was a task to tear ourselves away. And that is saying nothing of the food: lobster rolls, Mexican enchiladas, burgers, crepes and well-stocked beer tents all vied for our attention.

But after a few platefuls, we went on exploring and that, frankly, could take all day, let alone the measly two hours we had set aside for it.

First up was the lost wood, and the lost lounge with its sofa, tree decked with disco balls and fringe lampshades. Next, was the shadow puppet-theatre – an unplanned but required stop- which transported us to the careless days of our childhood.

Stepping deeper at the heart of the forest, past some woodland fairies lolling under the canopy, we were drawn to a door. Yes, a door left in our path, bathed in pink neon light and from which came a rather enticing, slightly puzzling, racket.

This we soon discovered was the ‘party door’, one of many installations strewn across the woods. Peeking through the keyhole revealed hordes of dancers, arms up punching the air to the beat (a clever use of video).

Strolling past children’s arts and crafts workshops, a family dance competition and a board-game tent,  it was not difficult to see why the number of children at Larmer Tree nearly equalled the adult contingent, so geared was the festival towards little ones.

Our woodland excursion complete, we settled ourselves on the main lawn where the magic, we were promised, happened. It was not long before we leapt to our feet, jiggling to fro to Indian band Raghu Dixit’s rousing folk-rock and Bollywood fusion.

And the head bobbing, arm flailing continued vigorously the moment CoCo and the Butterfields hit the garden stage. With a double bass, guitar, banjo, saxophone, violin and even beat-boxer, the band is an eclectic mix, adopting chart-topping hits and lesser known treasures before transforming them into masterpieces entirely their own. Out of their daring and teasingly diverse repertoire, the big winner of the night was a beguiling cover of Toxic by Britney Spears.

But the true highlight and the reason behind our rather belated visit on the final day of the festival was comedian Bill Bailey. A Larmer Tree virgin just like us, he need not have worried about fitting in. His signature blend of ‘sing song’ and comedy routines fitted the bill to a tee. An accomplished wordsmith he never failed to bring the simplest anecdote to life with evocative and extremely visual language. Launching into impassioned declamations about the state of the world, Britishness and our self-scuppered pursuit of happiness, no-one and nothing escaped his witticisms.

Celebrating Larmer Tree’s 25th anniversary is a big deal and as such Bailey had prepared a little ditty in the form of Happy Birthday – A Rhapsody of Sadness. He would have performed the original light-hearted version of Happy Birthday had it not been copyrighted.

With further gems like Chickens Marched on Kiev, an electronica  cover of Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball in German, an instructive rap on the laws of thermodynamics (Bailey won’t stand for an uneducated audience) not to mention a reggae take on the Downton Abbey theme, we were in for a treat. All these wisecracks at pop music were interspersed with alarming tales of near-death experiences – between cliff edges and glacial sleigh rides, Bailey and his family are disturbingly accident-prone.

A poet, humorist and fabulous musician, Bailey was the man to crown our first taste of Larmer Tree. He promised to be back and so do we.