After hearing so much about Oliver Gray's SC4M Festival in Winchester's Railway Inn, I made the decision to attend this year.

Great acts throughout the day, evening and night, in a great location (which I believe has had some relatively recent refurbishment work done), with two alternating venue rooms in the Railway Inn and a nice outdoor area with food available into the late evening. The sun came out in force too, which was a bonus.

For the last little while, I've been attending gigs without a dedicated camera. The pros to this come before the gigs and the cons, only after but it was great to relax and be a punter. That said, I managed to sell some work and all things considered, I'll take that!

The Festival itself ran like clockwork, from my point of view at least! Oliver remained his cool, friendly, welcoming, collected self and the day was a credit to him, Birgit, his team and all at the Railway Inn.

We had a great night before with Sid Griffin and The Coal Porters.

Chatting to Sid after their show was a highlight, as was the offer of joining his remaining tour dates as photographer (which I had to decline due to other commitments).

Some lovely communication from him after the weekend and I know I'll be seeing him again - this time, I will have a camera!

You could see the acts had a great time, with many of them attending the others' shows. Very much in the spirit of the Kilkenny Roots and Static Roots Festivals, with that personal, family-like touch about it all.

Artists such as Peter Bruntnell, Lewis & Leigh and This is the Kit, had great memories of Kilkenny and told me to send back their best. Three of my favourite acts on the day ironically enough. John Murry by way of Kilkenny was also on the bill, so it was very much a home from home day.

Catching up in person with friends from the UK, Scotland and Germany was amazing and therein lies the 'family' essence of such Festivals. It's even a catch up with many of the acts, which adds to these highly personable events.

Winchester itself is a beautiful, picturesque town. I couldn't fault any aspect of it. Great old ale houses, its amazing Cathedral and in general, more history than you can shake a stick at.