If you kicked off the New Year in 2020 with plans to don a sun hat and sip margarita’s in the Spanish sunshine, you’re in good company with the rest of us. We’re pretty sure we weren’t the only one’s googling ‘best holiday locations’ and smugly imaging ourselves frolicking on a beach whilst simultaneously grimacing at the winter rain hammering at the window.

Because there was definitely, absolutely, positively nothing that could possibly hinder our wanderlust-induced travel plans. Nope, nothing at all.

Little did we know a global pandemic was lurking around the corner, armed with a festival season-destroying plan and a host of revolting symptoms – sweeping away any bucket-list type holiday itinerary we were tentatively making as quickly as a giant wave can wash away a kid’s sandcastle (you know - the one they’ve spent hours on, complete with shell decorations and fully working drawbridge etc.) Yeah…thanks for that Covid. Anyway, we digress…

30% say they would consider swapping a holiday abroad for one in the UK to reduce the impact of travel on the environment

The point is that an enforced lack of travel abroad, and for many, a decrease in holiday budget too, has made us look closer to home – and what we’re seeing isn’t half bad. In fact, its positively glorious. A recent study showed that in the 25-49 age group, 30% say they would consider swapping a holiday abroad for one in the UK to reduce the impact of travel on the environment (Source: YouGov). Bravo to those people.

“Staycations are already becoming a major trend to look out for..."

The good news is that staying in the UK doesn’t have to mean a wet weekend with a stick of rock and a ‘Kiss Me Quick’ hat for company. Oh no. Say hello to Staycation 2021…

Next year, travel will (hopefully) make a return, armed with fanfares and much rejoicing. And we, for one, won’t be taking it for granted. But instead of jetting off to get our kicks in the Med, we’ll be looking at how to get our kicks in our own backyards. As Duncan Dewar, Chief Executive of Best of Scotland Holidays reports, “Staycations are already becoming a major trend to look out for obviously because we will be able to freely travel around our own country before being able to travel to another…Staycations for UK residents needn’t be an issue, not when we have a plethora of natural beauty spots and have been blessed with fantastic weather throughout lockdown too.” (Source: LinkedIn)

From the Isle of Wight to the New Forest; the Lake District and the Scottish Highlands – the UK has miles of cracking coastlines, cities that are positively aching with the weight of history, stunning inland waterways and rural areas that are un-rivalled on the chocolate-box-ometer.

Taking a staycation to a UK festival is THE best way to relax and get your entertainment kicks all in one go.

And what about festivals? Because…who doesn’t love a festival? The performers; the melting-pot of music-lovers; making memorable moments with your favourite people; eating (and quite possibly drinking) your own weight in food and beverages…But more importantly, they’re the perfect holiday escape - wrapped up neatly in one hedonistic weekend. Taking a staycation to a UK festival is THE best way to relax and get your entertainment kicks all in one go.

It’s safe to say the UK festival scene – like so many events that were planned this summer - has taken a huge hit.

After all, isn’t the whole point of a festival to mingle with other like-minded souls in a way that social-distancing and the blanket ban on mass gatherings is really not conducive to.

The reality is that if things aren’t back to ‘normal’ or the ‘new normal’ or even the ‘new-new normal’ by next summer, the festival industry is going to be dealing with some serious financial hardship; especially the smaller, independent festivals, who rely on the previous year’s profits to carry them through to the following year.

Many postponed events have rolled their 2020 tickets forward to 2021

2020 could have been a belter. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Many postponed events have rolled their 2020 tickets forward to 2021 – good for the goers and good for business too. This also buys festival organisers time to work out some sort of post-apocalyptic recovery strategy. It also buys Coronavirus time to bog off to wherever it came from and leave us all alone so we can live happily ever after.

And what about Brexit, ‘What’s Brexit?’ I hear you ask. After all, it's been at least 18 weeks since we last talked about that.

But here’s the thing - there’s a chance the exchange rate after Brexit could make travelling abroad an expensive way to spend your time. Not only that - keeping our money circulating in the UK instead is the best way to grow our economy. We’ll be boosting local communities and putting sustainability before sombreros. Without coming over all heavy, man, it kinda makes sense.

We don’t know what a festival in 2021 will look like. But we do know that people will need to eat and drink (because, lets face it, a mosh-pit full of hangry festival-goers is not most people’s idea of fun)… and animal-friendly health-food trends are on the rise faster than ever (See our last blog on ‘Flexitarianism’ – check it out.)

So, with this in mind... For all you stay-cationers in 2021 who will choose support the incredible UK festival scene – we, The Mixing Jug, pledge to you the following:

We’ll continue to offer the highest standards in hygiene whenever you visit us at a festival – our 5-star rating and fully-trained team are testament to this. We also take contactless payments, so there’s no need for germ-ridden cash to change hands – hurrah! *Disclaimer – we will still take your cash (with only a half-displeasing look) if you can’t make a contactless payment.

We’ll make sure we’re hitting all the right festival flavours with a range of nutritious food, drink and smoothies – designed to compliment the healthiest of healthy diets. Not only that, we’ve added smoothie bowls to the menu, containing not only Grade A fruit and vegetables, but also just the right amount of pick-me-up after a hard night of festi-fun. At the family events we attend, you’ll also find kids portion sizes - making sure the littlest members of your festival crew are getting the same nutritional boost as the rest of the team.

We’ll carry on catering to all of your dietary needs, be that dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian. We’re pretty hot on food intolerances too, so just let us know what doesn’t float your boat and we’ll make sure we’re only using ingredients that are right for you.

We can multiply and multitask like demons, which means we can have several outlets spread across an event. Good for social-distancing and good for making sure festival-goers are only ever a shout away from smoothie heaven.