A bus pulled in, and a big group who'd come all the way from Nagano got off and unloaded a bunch of drums, and all kinds of percussion instruments, and proceeded to erect a huge colorful tepee.

At the top of the steps to the main camp area was a lean-to, in which a guy who looked like an Indian sadhu and a woman in a sari were selling chai, brewed up over a small fire, for Kampa payment by donation.

The main topic of conversation around the site was the typhoon - which had apparently heard about the festival and decided to double back from China to take part. As the sun went down, the first of the 30 some live bands that would play over the 3 days got started, and a huge autumn moon rose in the clear sky. People moved around the site introducing themselves and seeing what the people from the various tents had on sale. Many of the tents had some homemade food out front - we had a big tub of veggie chilli, and a mountain of chocolate chunk cookies - and, in true festival spirit, most people were quite happy to make a trade as well as get paid in cash.

The first night was pretty mellow, and when the last band was done at around 11pm, everyone hung out around in small groups talking and drinking before finally stumbling into their tents.

On Saturday morning, as people gradually emerged, coffee was brewed, and hairs of the dog drunk, the wind started to pick up and for an hour or so things got a bit hectic as a few stalls were blown down, and several tents turned into kites.

The wind didn't last long though, and by early afternoon we were enjoying glorious post-typhoon weather and the music got started. As another beautiful moon rose the matsuri feeling started to grow. A bonfire was stoked, the music was punctuated by fireworks, and we were treated to an impressive Polynesian firedance.

Once the last of the bands finished it was drum time. A huge group gathered around the fire with drums of all shapes and sizes and beat out a continuous rhythm - it rose, fell and mutated but never seemed to stop - lasting through till dawn penetrating dreams in every tent.

By Sunday, all trace of the typhoon was gone and the blue sky and sunshine made the location all the more impressive. Horizontal seemed to be the preferred position for most of the day, letting the music wash over us, getting up occassionally to replenish beer, get some food or take a walk around the lake to a nearby icy freshwater pool.

One of the nicest treats came from the kaki-gori man who rolled up in his van and served up huge shaved-ice treats in his tie-dyed Grateful Dead apron!

One band which made quite a few people sit up was Nekomushi whose low-fi sounds and quirky lyrics, with songs like "7-11" and "Yagi" made us giggle and were perfect for that (late) summer's day.

The real treat however, was a performance of Indian music and dance by Tenjikuza. Led by the chai sellers chai.
They told us that they divide their time between Varanasi, India where they make music, and Japan where they travel around the festivals performing and selling chai.
For their performance, they were joined by a Sitar player and a Hiroshima local Hiroko Konomoto.
At the end of a beautiful day sitting outside, watching them in the perfect light of the afternoon sun, the lilting Indian music and graceful movements of Ami left me feeling completely relaxed.

The sun was going down on the last day of the Earth Children Gathering, and there was one more band to go. But before Kaya took the stage, it was time for the Nagano posse to strut their stuff. They grabbed their drums and led a procession from their tepee to the fire were they were joined by everyone else who had found something to bang on. People grabbed anything that made a noise. The kaki-gori guy was playing a corn-on-the-cob shaker while another hipster was jingling out a beat with her keys.
It was as though the whole festival site which had been so chill all day had suddenly woken up and decided it was party time. Kaya were one of the most professional bands that played the festival and their reggae heavy set went down REALLY well - not least the 3 or 4 Bob Marley numbers they finished off with.

Earth Children Gathering has to be one of the most relaxing and enjoyable events I've been to in Hiroshima. The whole idea behind it was that it's the people who show up that make or break a festival... this was so true.

I don't consider myself a "hippy", I don't wear tie-dye, I certainly don't have the sense of rhythm to play a bongo drum, and I'm not really into most of the music that the bands played, but I had a GREAT TIME. Give it a look next year and I'm sure you will too .

Respect to One Love and Soboku for their hard work in getting it together.

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