Having gone through my first May Week at Cambridge, I expected this second one to be similarly filled with (slightly shameful amounts of) excess and indulgence. It was a nice surprise, then, to be starting off the week at RAG ChariTea – very much a back-to-basics garden party.

Despite the lack of a suitably famous philosopher to 'headline' this year, ChariTea promised much: live music, comedy, massages, henna, and a petting zoo. The music was decent – I particularly enjoyed the Churchill Jazz Band’s set – and added to the laid-back atmosphere. Likewise, the comedy from the Impronauts went down well, though again added to the overall atmosphere of the event rather than being an essential part of the afternoon.

This feeling sustained itself through the event: guests were able to wander round the unstructured areas and participate in everything or nothing. Each area of the field - the petting zoo, the massage/henna area - was well-visited throughout the afternoon, with some (small) queues, and guests were generally pleased with the entertainment on offer.

However, it is worth noting here that there seems to have been less 'stuff' around this year. Speaking to people who had attended last year, there were fewer stalls and activities (such as no bouncy castle) in the 2016 edition. While this wasn’t a major problem for me, as the relaxed atmosphere of the event was its charm, a few seemed a little let down.

Food and drink was fairly good. Drink in particular was well supplied, with endless (genuinely endless) amounts of Pimm’s and G&T on offer, as well as a selection of fruit ciders. Food was less so: the Aromi stand ran out of their (supposedly one per guest) cannelloni before I’d managed to get into the event, and there were very long queues for the Wandering Yak stand, unless you were vegan. There was, thankfully, no shortage of ice cream.

Queuing was also a problem to get into the event in the first place – there were two entrances, but this wasn’t well advertised and led to a half-hour wait for many. The approach to queue control seemed to be to send acapella groups to entertain those waiting rather than to divert people to the other entrance.

In spite of these issues, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The atmosphere was fantastic – pleasant, peaceful and more than a little tipsy – and as an antidote to the intensity of both exam term and the oncoming May Week it did little wrong. It’s certainly worth the  £18 ticket + donation, especially for the charities supported.