Proving that Fife can hold it's own when it comes to celebrating all that's good about the local area, the two-day festival was one of the most chilled out, family-friendly events there can ever have been.

With the unique setting of the Lomond Hills and the historic palace in the background, the festival was always going to have a charming, almost medieval like atmosphere with visitors enjoying music, dance, food and drink.

The excellent weather on both Saturday and Sunday no doubt also helped draw the crowds.

But what surprised me (more than some sun in July!) was how crowded the car park was. As we pulled up there were literally hundreds of cars, camper vans and tents!

A good sign for organisers of what was the third, and undoubtedly best, Big Tent festival.

The site was divided up into different areas including a children's zone with puppetry and storytelling yurts (tents) as well as traditional crafts and entertainment designed to fire their imaginations and knowledge about stewardship. In addition to entertainment for children there were also several stalls, including one from Fife Animal Park, which gave locals and visitors alike a chance to find out more about other attractions in the area.

The food village at the Big Tent was testament to the quality and variety of local produce in Fife and the surrounding area. Not only was it tasty and healthier than your average 'burger van' fare, the food tent — and accompanying stalls and beer tent — were not quite as pricey as a similar (albeit corporate) event held not too far from Falkland a few weeks ago, and they even had recycleable, not plastic, beer glasses!

From good old-fashioned grub to food for the soul, the Body and Soul area, located in the palace orchard, acted as a sanctuary for those looking for an escape from the buzz of the festival. It was there that several workshops, talks and debates on the environment and lifestyles were given throughout the weekend.

On a noiser note, the festival had two areas dedicated to good music — Big Hullabaloo and the Wee Shindig — which were full of song from noon each day.

One of the biggest draws on Saturday evening was King Creosote and the Fence Collective while the Peatbog Fairies played on Sunday evening.

Other acts getting the crowds up on their feet included Grassroots Zimbabwe, who took a turn on each stage over the weekend, and the Celtic-inspired John Langan Band

With the theme of the festival being 'Taking care of things that matter,' big tents around the arena played host to a number of organisations including Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, Save the Children, Scottish Native Woods, Friends and the Earth, and Transition Towns Scotland — all of which had lots of information available for visitors.

Fife Air Cadets Conservation Group, which has been heavily involved in the setting up of the festival, also had a strong presence in the main arena with their recycled timber bridge display and 'grow your own potato' project.

Also enforcing the sustainable living message was the 'One Planet Zone' where there was a wide array of information on climate change and biodiversity and how we can help change our lifestyles so that we can all live 'one planet lives'.

One of the highlights of the whole festival, for me anyway, was definitely the relaxed atmosphere. There aren't many events you can take a two-year-old to and not feel you've got to apologise to other people at least once or twice, but the Big Tent was buzzing with people of all ages and the safe, friendly environment made it the ideal place to take little ones to.

We're already looking forward to next year!