It rained on and off over the festival weekend (but mainly on), bringing back to many memories of Stumps of old, although the equestrian centre proved not to be quite the quagmire of the scout venue (apart from a few choice spots!)
Stump 2009 seemed to bring a number of long time no see Stumpers back to the festival, and the response was "it's good to be back". Now that Stump has found its stride at the Equestrian Centre, it's continuing to grow into something new and different, but still distinctively Stump. The community spirit around the village fanning out from the main arena dwarfed even the music, arts and teaching that the festival is known for. Stump is about community, and Stump changes lives.
As Andrew Palmer put at the Monday morning gathering, "If Stump only changes 200 lives each year, and I believe that's a conservative estimate... if each of them goes on to affect 200 other people's lives... then that will be a total of - more than I can count. I'm not very good at maths. But Stump changes lives."
If you were at Stump 2009, why not take the time to give us your feedback to help us start planning for the next festival?