Glastonbury

Well, Gary Linekar singing "Mud, mud, glorious mud" whilst getting a tad splattered by a bit of the brown stuff in his recent Walker's Crisp advertising is a bit of an insult to those of us that really know the true meaning of Glorious Mud.  Yes, once again the Oxfam Possee were afforded the opportunity to don our wellies and ever-so-trendy Oxfam ponchos, and to venture out into the brown see of Avalon.  The party did go on, and despite the slight dampness, most people enjoyed another fantastic festival.

Glastonbury festival is difficult to describe in a few words as it is such a vast tapestry of life incorporated into about 800 acres of land.   As with all previous festivals, so much went on but highlights this year had to include hot pear cider, the stunning set by The Who, Dame Shirley and her now infamous wellies and, the inventive (and sometimes bizarre) costumes donned by a number of our stewards.   A particular gentleman garbed in a wedding dress and flowery hat, accompanied by a couple of other `ladies' did not go un-noticed.  Nor did the many stewards who made such an effort to don their climate change costumes.  Big thank you to all.

An additional area to the festival was created this year and enabled another 30.000 or so people to be able to experience the richness of this mothership of festivals.  It also enabled one of our own crew to play Glastonbury live at the new Park Stage.  Not a bad venue to add to your CV! (Nice one Dan).  Also new this year was the fact that the festival really did start on the Wednesday.  Historically, while the gates have opened on a Wednesday, the mass of people tend to arrive on the Thursday/Friday. This year the site was packed on Wednesday night and the party had indeed, well and truly started.  Testimony to the great pulling power that the festival has.

On the stewarding front a MASSIVE thank is due to all stewards who carried on despite the inclement weather.  Not only did the festival go on, but it went on really well and raised staggering amounts of money for charity.  Oxfam alone received a donation of £400,000! This means that every steward raised between £150-£200 each and when you flick through an Oxfam unwrapped catalogue, you can see how this really translates into real life.  Every individual’s effort makes such a huge impact so thank you again.

A big thank you too to Jo, Holly and Paddy who did a fantastic job of guiding us through the festival.

Roll on the next Glasto, and may the big man up in the sky also bestow upon us some Glorious Sunshine in place of the Glorious Mud.  I think we earned it this year!

Mark Grayson