In the distance, a bunny in Calvin Harris shades whizzed past Scooby Doo on a snowboard, while a man in flip-flops led a colourful conga line.

Welcome to the mad, magical world of Volvo Snowbombing, a unique festival held each April in Mayrhofen, Austria.

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Where else could you sway to Doves around the corner from Narnia's wardrobe (turned bar) and party in a forest with De La Soul?

Not to mention morning warm-ups on the slopes led by Mr Motivator, getting hungover skiers and snowboarders ready for the slopes. And this year the Lycra legend will be joined by Olympic "hero" Eddie the Eagle Edwards.

The event takes place from April 4-9 and tickets are sold as an accommodation and entertainment package.

If you're really up for an adventure, you can start the party early by joining the Volvo Road Trip, which departs from London on April 2. Celebrity performers Example, Professor Green and the hilariously hairy Cuban Brothers will be among the procession of cars.

At last year's festival we stayed in the heart of Mayrhofen, at the fourstar Hotel Strass Garni.

Part of a sprawling range of accommodation including a spa hotel and selfcatering apartments, the Strass is on the main road that runs through the centre of Mayrhofen and is metres from the gondolas to the slopes.

You can watch the infamous street party, which launches the festival with a drink-fuelled fancy dress parade in true Volvo Snowbombing style, from your balcony - until you're ready to join in.

This year's fancy dress theme is - of course - the royal wedding. Expect Kate and Wills masks, tiaras and lots of crown jewels.

There will even be Prince Charles ears available to wear if your costume needs that extra something.

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And the guest list of 6,000 makes April 29, with its 1,900 guests, seem like a small, intimate affair.

Mayrhofen itself is a charming Austrian town in the Tyrol region, at the bottom of a bowl of gentle slopes and alpine peaks, and a two-hour coach ride from Munich airport.
The local people don't seem to mind being invaded annually by thousands of revellers in fancy dress.

Everyone is friendly and seems thrilled to serve up beer and giant sausages.

All of the festival's venues, from the main stage to the forest, are within walking distance of the town's main street. And the weather is usually beautiful.

Before Volvo Snowbombing I'd never really understood the concept of getting a tan on a skiing holiday.

But the festival seems to fall at a perfect time of year when it's warm enough to sunbathe but the heat hasn't yet melted the thick layers of snow.

I needed sunglasses to look up at the sky or down at my feet, as the bright white snow sparkled like a WAG's diamond in the blazing sunshine.

To get the most out of the event you have to realise it is an all-day, all-night affair. Often the headline acts, like Doves last year, don't appear on stage until the early hours.

But the next morning you'll see the very same mentalists who were downing Jagerbombs at 4am heading to the slopes with snowboards tucked under their arms, wearing clashing bright waterproofs and sepia-tinted sunglasses.

If you're lucky enough to get tickets, travel to another glacier for the Volvo Ice Camp. Last year Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac spun the tunes.

Each year also has a forest party, with wolf masks handed out to guests who dance to a big name act in a clearing under the stars.

Last year we bounced and bopped to De La Soul - this year the trees will be cowering from The Prodigy and their fire-starting antics.

And perhaps the biggest of all is the Igloo Party, hosted each year by Norman Cook, below, alias Fatboy Slim - one of the festival's biggest fans.

A lucky handful of ticket holders pile on the funicular railway and go to the top of the glacier, where Fatboy spins his classics from a mini igloo-cum-DJ-booth inside a bigger igloo adorned with ice sculptures and an ornate bar.

Outside there is another bar, and a roaring fire circled by lounge chairs.

It feels like you've been whisked to an exclusive celebrity getaway.

Just make sure you wear sensible shoes, as the toilets can only be reached via a short but slippery slope.

A new addition to the festival this year is Altitude, from the festival of the same name previously held in Meribel, adding a line-up of top comics to Volvo Snowbombing's entertainment.

Performers this year include Andrew Maxwell, star of Have I Got News For You and Mock The Week, and Celebrity Juice regular Rufus Hound. But Mayrhofen has plenty more to offer aside from the festival's attractions.

There's something for everyone - try paragliding, whitewater rafting or cycling along rivers and through pine forests.

But after dancing all night and skiing all day, where will you find the energy?

GETTING there:
British Airways flies from Heathrow to Munich from £192. To book call 0844 493 0787 or you can visit britishairways.com. Accommodation and entertainment packages start from £279 and can be purchased through snowbombing.com.