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Despite some newer upstarts we always see Reading and Leeds weekend as the last big party of the summer!  Looking back, despite what the occasional mud in the photos tells us, we always remember it as a hazy, band packed, exiting last blow-out before we all have to settle down and wait for Glastonbury Festival to roll around again…

History of the Reading and Leeds Festivals

The Offspring describe Reading as the ‘grand old dame’ of the festival circuit and they’re pretty bang on the money.

Reading Festival can trace its roots back to a festival in Richmond in the early 60s, giving it nearly ten years on Glastonbury, though the festival didn’t settle in Reading until 1971. Then in 1999 someone at Festival Republic (then Mean Fiddler) decided it was unfair to keep all the action down south and opened up a northern leg in Leeds…

The Reading and Leeds Festival Crowd

The Reading and Leeds crowd is quite a bit younger than most other festival crowds; this is what gives the shows their insatiable energy. Even in the (infrequent) wet years the crowd buzzes with enthusiasm, be that for the headliners in the arena or chasing a mop around the campsite. Yes the campsites can get a little odd after the bands finish – we’ll go into that in a while!

For many of the crowd at Reading and Leeds the headliners are only a small draw. Despite their younger age we generally think the crowd at Reading and Leads have a deeper musical knowledge than the other big festivals. We used to play a drinking game related to obscure band t-shirts seen around the campsite – though we had to give up as it started becoming dangerous to our health…

The Reading and Leeds Arenas

The sites are a bit different but both have ‘no nonsense’ arenas. Latitude Festival has the tag line of ‘more than a music festival’; well Reading and Leeds are pure music festivals for music fans.

The arenas are fairly compact which means you can dash between stages quickly, catch bits of one set, then nip off to another. This works really well and means you generally don’t find yourself seeing the end of one band only to face a half hour walk to get over to another stage where the band playing have just finished playing the songs you really wanted to see!

The downside of this is there isn’t much space to relax. Though you can always sit at the back of the main stage crowd or pop into the alternative stage and catch some of the non-musical entertainment.

That crowd energy we mentioned is very present in the arena. The huge mosh pits at the front of the bigger stages are very fun but certainly not for the faint hearted. Similarly, watching people literally jumping with excitement outside the Radio 1/NME (second) stage as the band they’re running to catch comes on never fails to make us smile.

The Reading and Leeds Campsites

As we mentioned earlier the campsites at the Reading and Leeds Festivals have a distinct feel to them; they’re not quite like anywhere you’ll have ever been before! Once the bands stop all that energy gets put into some really odd ventures; mass pillow fights, flash mobs, Dave raves (raves with small portable stereos where everyone claims to be called Dave), multiple limbo competitions and more than a few full on games of cricket!

Alongside the homemade entertainment there is some officially laid on entertainment too. At Leeds there are campsite DJs and the Piccadilly Party playing music well into the night. At Reading there is the ActionAid Tent where you can dance till the small hours and two silent discos (setup due to the festival site’s proximity to Reading town centre), where you can carry on even later…

Its’ worth noting that the campsites at the Reading and Leeds Festivals are significantly louder, and people stay up far later, than at most other festivals. As you get further away from the arena and deeper into the campsite they calm down a bit and if a good night’s sleep is your cup of tea (seriously?!) then each site has a dedicated quiet campsite.

Reading or Leeds Festival, which is the best?

This is an on-going discussion with the Reading loyalists sticking to the ‘it’s the original and still the best’ argument and the Leeds converts arguing that Leeds is the new and improved version.

As they share a line-up it often boils down to the site. Reading’s site is in the middle of town, a short walk from the station and all the amenities which is equally a blessing and a curse. You can pop into town to get a cold beer, pick up some shopping and use the conveniences. But it restricts late night noise.

Leeds is out in the country. This means the festival has more space to expand so it doesn’t feel as cramped and the late night entertainment can be louder. Although it also means you can’t just pop down to a pub on Sunday afternoon for a roast if you fancy it.

We’ll probably never agree on which is better but it’s always fun to have a bit of a row about whether the new upstart can compare with the old master.

Leeds copying Reading since 1999, or Leeds being everything Reading wished it was since 1999…

Who to see at Reading and Leeds…

Below we’ve listed our top 5 picks of this year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals.

Generally we’ve ignored the big bands as chances are you will already know about them, instead we’ve picked out some of the smaller acts we think you might like…

Fight Like Apes on The Festival Republic Stage – as we mentioned in our Big Chill preview they are our band of the moment. Combining excitement, anger, synths, guitars and a voice to equal Florence from Florence and the Machine. Despite their small crowd at The Big Chill they blew us away and we will definitely be making a beeline for them again at Reading and Leeds.

Foster The People on the Festival Republic Stage – if you like MGMT you’ll love them. Pumped up Kicks has been one of the theme tunes of our summer.

Flogging Molly on the Lock Up Stage – they’re a folk punk band who will play a brilliantly raucous and sweaty set. One of the most fun bands to monkey dance to, ever!

Frank Turner on the Main Stage – this generations Bob Dylan? Perhaps not, although when it comes to man and an acoustic guitar you have to go a long way to find someone better than Frank. His lyrics have an honest, passionate edge that brings his songs to life and he’s also normally very good for a sing-along.

The Offspring on the Main Stage – okay we said we’d steer clear of the big bands but seriously, The Offspring are more or less Reading and Leeds’ house band. Every time they play, which is more or less every other year, they go down a storm and we have a brilliant time. Also we quoted them in this post, so it’s only fair really isn’t it…

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Related posts

• PAAM’s Festival Survival Guide
• How to work at Music Festivals
• The Big Chill Festival Preview and Guide
• Glastonbury Preview and Guide (Part One)
• Glastonbury Preview and Guide (Part Two)
• Latitude Festival Preview and Guide

There are a lot of contenders for the best festival site, and each show has its own thing that makes it special. Glastonbury has its size and unique almost medieval quality, Green Man has its terrace lawn leading down to the stage, and Latitude has its wooded areas. However, nestled amongst the Malvern Hills in the grounds of Eastnor Castle there is a deer park that we think hands down beats the rest, and in this deer park is held one of the best festivals going, The Big Chill Festival!

The Big Chill Festival Site

The Big Chill has a lot in its favour but the festival site itself is definitely its best selling point. As we’ve mentioned it’s in the grounds of Eastnor Castle that you can see poking over the trees in the distance. In the middle of the site sitting behind and in-between the Deer Park and Castle Stage are two beautiful lakes.

The site is massive but it still has a relatively low capacity so it always has a nice spacious feel to it. The arena is in a valley with an empty chill out space on one side and ‘The Enchanted Garden’ stretches all the way up to a large monument on the other side of the hill.

The festival started off as a Sunday afternoon club night / tea party in Union Chapel, London. Chilled out tunes and cocktails were the order of the day and in an odd way not a lot has changed. The club night (and accompanying tea party!) has moved outdoors, stretched itself over a long weekend (remember the music starts on Thursday this year!) and incorporated more art, but the driving force of chilling out with a cocktail to some brilliant cutting edge electronic music still holds true.

Art at The Big Chill Festival

Speaking of art; art throughout the festival site is another thing The Big Chill does really well. The lakes become an amazing stage for artist’s work previously including a helter skelter, mirrored boat and a huge rubber duck! The trees have become clotheslines for washing that will glow if you peddle a bike fast enough, and if you join the wrong queue in the enchanted garden you might end up kissing a stranger through a small box with a window in it (we hope your mum or dad wasn’t in the other queue!). We have no idea what art you may come across at The Big Chill this year although we know it will be amazing and we’re really excited to see what we can find…

As you can tell from the above, audience participation is high on the agenda when it comes to The Big Chill’s art instillations. Over the last couple of years The Big Chill has also given many a festival goer the opportunity to take part in the biggest ever Zombie gathering and one of Spencer Tunick’s Naked Art Installations!

The Music of The Big Chill Festival

It’s a little odd getting to the music so late in a festival preview, but the Big Chill is the sort of show you can go to without knowing anyone on the line-up and still come home having had the best weekend of your year! Of all the festivals The Big Chill has had the most profound effect on our musical tastes.

The Big Chill is the festival where, whilst watching London Elektricity perform one of the best shows we’ve ever seen on a festival site, we fell in love with Liquid Drum and Bass.

When we first started going to The Big Chill Festival we would only know a couple of people on the bill and normally tag along with a more knowledgeable friend. Now we often find ourselves as the knowledgeable friends so we’ve put some music specific tips together for you which you can find at the end of this post.

Camping at The Big Chill Festival

This leaves you with the question of where to crash. There are five main campsites: Red, Yellow, Purple, White and Green.

Green is family camping so if you’re with the kids this is definitely the place to stay.

The others are all general camping with White and Purple being on the side that has traditionally been the later and louder side of the site (in closer proximity to the late night entertainment), Red and Yellow being on the more chilled-out side of the site.

Music Tips for The Big Chill Festival

Fight Like Apes – One of our favourite bands at the moment. A brilliant mix of anger, excitement, guitars and synthesiser. MayKay, the singer, has the best voice since Florence and the Machine found fame.

DJ Derek – The Big Chill wouldn’t be The Big Chill without DJ Derek. Probably the first ‘Bus Pass DJ’ Derek mixes on minidisks in a tank top and tie. He’s in his 60s but can still spin brilliant dub tunes.

Submotion Orchestra – chilled out live grooves with a brilliant, slow, baseline. Very Big Chill.

Norman Jay – another Big Chill saltwort, we can’t imagine a Sunday afternoon in Eastnor without getting down to Normal Jay on the Deer Park stage.

Ghostpoet – now Mercury nominated so probably not as good a tip as when we first thought about this post but still well worth a watch.

DJ Food – some brilliant breaks and down tempo hiphop.

Luke Vibert – AKA Wagon Christ a veteran of both ninja tunes and warp records is an old hand at the down temp, what we might now refer to as the Big Chill scene.

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Related posts

• PAAM’s Festival Survival Guide
• How to work at Music Festivals
• Glastonbury Preview and Guide (Part One)
• Glastonbury Preview and Guide (Part Two)
• Latitude Festival Preview and Guide

A few years ago we were sat in the Tiny Tea Tent at Glastonbury when someone sat opposite us said ‘did you know there are more staff here than the entire capacity of Latitude Festival?’

Due to its popularity the Latitude Festival has grown in size since then, although its small size and amazing site (more on that later) give Latitude a brilliantly intimate feel.

That said don’t be fooled by its small size and intimacy – the main arena alone – where the larger artists can usually be found – is packed with things to see and do.

Camping at Latitude Festival

Chances are the first thing you’ll want to do when you get to site is pitch your tent; as with most UK festivals Latitude has a separate campsite and arena. The campsite is divided into four main zones for general camping (Green, Red, Yellow and Blue), plus a guest campsite, artist campsite, disabled campsite, and an area dedicated to families.

The younger festival goers, who also tend to stay up later and be a bit louder, usually camp nearer the arena in the Yellow Zone. As a rule of thumb the further you get away from the arena the quieter the campsite is at night.

If you want to reserve your partying for the arena and be assured of a good night’s sleep – there is a quiet camping area in the Green Zone.

The Latitude Festival Arenas

Once you’ve pitched up it’ll be time to explore the arena! As you pass through the entrance you’ll see that Latitude isn’t your normal festival thus doesn’t have a normal arena; we think of Latitude as having three arenas in one: the main stages arena, the lake area and ‘In The Woods’.

The Latitude Festival Lake and Lake Stage

Just through the arena entrance you’ll find a large lake on the banks of which there is normally something interesting going on…

There are not many places in the world that you can see performances on a floating stage, artists performing in an inflatable bubble, and multi-coloured sheep all at the same time but on and around the lake and the Lake Stage at Latitude Festival is one of them! Even with all this going on there are still areas around the lake that you can have a nice relaxing sit down and find time to unwind in the (fingers crossed!) sunshine.

The Main Arena at Latitude Festival

If you take the bridge across the lake the path will take you up to the Main Arena. In there you’ll find several tents containing a hugely diverse amount of entertainment; we’ve enjoyed everything from Mark Thomas (the comedian), to Ballet and Mumford and Sons in Latitude Main Arena.

The Main Stage is called the Obelisk Arena and is at the top of the hill – on the left as you come up the path from the lake. One of the nice innovations at Latitude is that the main stage has grandstand seating around it, though be warned that the seats fill up fast.

Try to explore all the knocks and crannies in the Main Arena. It can feel quite open but if you’re not careful you may skip past the Pimms Bus and Radio 4 listeners hiding in the trees.

‘In The Woods’ at Latitude Festival

Once you’ve had a look around the Main Arena you should defiantly head back over the lake and explore the woods!

The ‘In The Woods’ area is our favourite part of the Latitude arena and one of the places that make Latitude so magical. Aside from the stages, where there is always some good music to dance to, there are art trails and a cool hidden bar.

To add to the effect all the stewards that work in the woods dress up as pixies, which can be a little confusing at the wrong end of the night…

Fun For All The Family at Latitude Festival!

Latitude Festival’s relatively small capacity means it’s a great family event and the organisers have built on this.

Not only does Latitude have, as mentioned earlier, dedicated family camping (White Zone), once you get into the arena itself families are very well looked after. Just through the dedicated family entrance to the arena is a large kid’s area buzzing with activity to keep the young ones entertained. We honestly can’t think of anywhere*, let alone another festival, where you see more buggies!

*With the possible exception of Mothercare.

A Final Latitude Thought…

Our parting piece of advice for Latitude Festival is to listen carefully to what you are being asked to do and see…

After dark the acts in the arena tents can take a more adult flavour. A few years ago one of our friends asked us if we wanted to go and see some burlesque, we thought this sounded like a laugh so went along. Although, when the dancers came on stage we were quite confused until our friend explained she’d said ‘bearlesque’ (don’t search for that at work) which is the same as burlesque but preformed by large, often hairy, men.

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Related posts

• PAAM’s Festival Survival Guide
• Glastonbury Preview and Guide (Part One)
• Glastonbury Preview and Guide (Part Two)

Following on from part one of our Glastonbury Festival Guide please read on to find out more about the hidden and unusual aspects of the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts!

Other things to see at Glastonbury

The size of Glastonbury makes it impossible to see anywhere near everything you’ll probably want to. Our advice is to make your plans a little vague (the aforementioned cider from part one helps with that…) and go where the festival takes you. Try and accept the fact that you will miss at least as many bands as you see, and factor in time for random wanders around the site – this will often be much more fun than watching the bands!

Non-main stage must see…

We’ve broken down our top tips into two main sections, first off our ‘non-main stage must see’ list…

The Green Fields

Make sure you have a good wander around all the nooks and crannies throughout all the varied Green Fields’ areas. Some of the real gems of the festival are within the Green Fields – try to check out speaker’s corner for some surprise impromptu comedy sets, or catch some of the random films that are screened in the solar powered cinema. Although no matter what you get up to at Glastonbury make sure you have a cupper in the Tiny Tea Tent! If you can try and pop in both late at night and early in the morning as it takes on a different atmosphere at different times of the day…

Shangri-La and Trash City

Here lies the twisted nightlife of Glastonbury! If you like fire, explosions and strange dancers Shangri-La and Trash City is where you should head although watch out as they get rammed after the headliners finish.

The Stone Circle

At the top of the Green Fields you will find the ‘sacred space’ in which the stone circle sits. The sacred space is the more chilled out late night destination.

Try to take a walk all the way up to the top of the hill – if you make it the journey will be worth the destination!

If you can manage it one night try spending the night in the sacred space so you’re there for sunrise. Don’t get too carried away with the mysticism though; the stones were installed in the 90s…and no not by aliens!

Circus and Cabaret fields

The Circus and Cabaret fields are overlooked by many a festival goer but when you’re at a loose end they are well worth a wander though. They take a distinctly odd twist after dark too…

The Bandstand

Like all good towns in the middle of Glastonbury’s markets there is a bandstand. It’s a good place to go for a jig in the evening and a handy meeting point!

The funny, daft and just plain ridiculous…

Next up is our ‘funny, daft and just plain ridiculous’ list! The below is not an exhaustive list – round most corners at Glastonbury you’ll find something a little odd. We’ve included some of our favourites to get you started…

Cider Bus Casualties

People who have been drinking strong Somerset Cider Bus cider, as if it was the lager they normally drink in their local! Cider Bus Casualties can normally be spotted lying in the sun looking fairly worse for wear, unsurprisingly mostly in the general vicinity of the cider bus; particularly prevalent on Wednesday and Thursday.

Minor Celebs

Extra points if you spot them in wellies or trying to be spotted.

Popup Pirate

There’s an urban (or in this case should it be rural?) legend that once, a festival goer got into one of the long drops dressed as a pirate and stuck his head out shouting ‘Popup Pirate’ when an unsuspecting victim opened the door. There are too many issues with the tail to truly believe it but be warned!

Green Police

The Green Police dress up in crazy costumes and try and encourage people to be green. They were brought in after the Glastonbury Festival was fined due to the amount of urine that ended up in the local water courses as a result of unscrupulous men using the hedges as toilets. Double points if you spot the Green Police whilst embarrassing someone using the hedge as a toilet.

Weather Casualties

A close relative of the Cider Bus Casualty is the Weather Casualty.

On a hot year you’ll find them burnt to a crisp (good with some spicy sauce or a cooling dip).

On a wet year you may spot them rolling round in the mud, or walking away from rolling around in the mud and doing their best to convince themselves it was a fantastic idea.

If you’re really lucky and it’s a mixed year you may get two for the price of one!

Either way it’s always best to keep your distance – we have no idea what is in the mud and prefer it that way!

The Musical Bike

No one is really sure where it comes from (let alone where it goes) but keep your ears open for the peddle powered sound system! It roves the site, often with an entourage!

A Medieval City

The Green Fields take on a different atmosphere dependant on the time of the day. Early in the morning when the sun is still low in the sky a mist often starts to make its way around the Green Fields which makes the whole area feel like the set of a Robin Hood film!

Stone Circle Zombies

Completing the holy tri-factor of Glastonbury festival Casualties is the Stone Circle Zombie!

A Stone Circle Zombie is created when too much partying (did we just write that?) takes place and those in question haven’t got any energy left to make their way out of the stone circle after watching the sunrise. Usually spotted lurking in the general vicinity of the stone circle at 9am…

Naked People

No it’s not the sixties anymore but you do see the odd naked person wandering around. Try not to stare, point, and please don’t poke them (with a stick or anything else you find lying about).

Michael Eavis

Can often be seen wandering through his kingdom. If you’re really lucky you’ll spot Michael Eavis giving the Pilton Village locals their annual tour in his specially outfitted coach!

A Newspaper

Not so odd in itself but many don’t realise that due to Glastonbury being so large it has its own newspaper! Always a good read in the morning before the music starts.

The Glastonbury Rumour Mill in action

Somewhat under threat from smart phones but still going strong you will certainly hear about the cancellation of a headliner, that Wales has finally invaded Scotland, or the most traditional festival rumour – the tragic death of several celebrities.

You can’t imagine how shocked we all were to get home following the 2009 Glastonbury Festival to find out that Michael Jackson actually had died!

You have been warned – don’t believe everything you hear! Although you could take a moment to try it on with the zombies…

The Milk Truck

Your love, or lack thereof, of milk, will define if the milk truck is an oddity or a life saver. In the morning tractors pull trailers around the campsites selling fresh milk!

This brings us to the end of our ’2011 Glastonbury Festival Guide’! We hope it helps you get the most out of your Glastonbury!

If you’re heading over to Worthy Farm this year, see if you can spot anything we’ve mentioned and be sure to let us know if you have any great festival tips in the comments section!

More Glastonbury info

There are a lot of other places you can get information about the Glastonbury Festival. With a little help from our friend Google you’ll find several websites dedicated to Glastonbury.

For a broad overview and line-up the official Glastonbury Festival website can’t be beaten. You’ll find the fine guide on the official website which is a particularly detailed walk-through of the festival; available to download as a PDF and including a good basic map.

For more about what to see and do, plus hints and tips about what might be going on you can try delving into the festival forums dotted about the web. Both eFestivals and Virtual Festivals have the two best Glastonbury dedicated forums around at the moment.

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Related Posts

• PAAM’s Festival Survival Guide
• How to work at Music Festivals and who to contact
• Europe’s 5 Best Music Festivals

If you haven’t been to the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (to give it its scientific name) before, you will know its reputation as a place unlike any other. Even if you’re a hardened festival veteran once you get onsite you will soon realise Glastonbury is like no other festival…

Where to camp at Glastonbury?

The first difference you’ll notice between Glastonbury and other festivals is Glastonbury’s size – the site holds a whopping 177,500 people! The second is that there aren’t distinct camping and music areas…

So, where to camp? We’d say the best camping field has to be Big Ground, right in front of the Pyramid Stage. Big Ground allows you to take full advantage of the lack of an arena and on a lazy Sunday morning you can watch the main acts right from your tent’s porch! Big Ground also has some handy power lines running through the field so, if you don’t mind the buzz, camping under them makes finding your tent a lot easier. The downside of Big Ground is it’s a little far from the night time attractions.

If the Other Stage or dance areas are more your scene you may prefer Pennards Hill, although remember this is where the iconic photo of the cannoning was taken in the great flood of 2005 so camp at the top of the hill! The camping ground to avoid is the one next to The Other Stage – when it rains that area turns into a total swamp!

The markets at Glastonbury

Once you’re set up it’ll be time to get a feel for the place and there is a lot to see! The mains stages don’t start until the Friday but there is a lot more going on at Glastonbury than just the music…

The markets are a good place to start your wandering as you’ll probably be hungry after putting up your tent. The main markets stretch across the middle of the site and in them you can buy more or less anything you can imagine; from high street surf brands and ponchos to one-off wacky hats (try not to buy one of these no matter how drunk you are) and venison burgers.

From a food and drink perspective our top three stalls are the Square Pie Stall – does exactly what it says on the tin and somehow square pies are better than round. The Shaken Udder – they put more or less anything you can imagine into a milkshake. Then last but not least The Tor Rugby Club’s food stall – this is near the Somerset Cider Bus in the markets next to the Pyramid stage and, with the exception of the free food the Hare Krishna’s dish out at their tent, The Tor Rugby Club is probably the best value food on site.

The best bars at Glastonbury!

We’ve already mentioned the cider bus – you’ll be in Somerset so yes cider is mandatory. The two best places pouring our Cider at Glastonbury are The Cider Bus and The Brothers Bar.

The Cider Bus can be found in the markets near the Pyramid Stage and the Brothers Bar is stage right in the West Holts field. We suggest you head to The Brothers Bar on a sunny afternoon as their pear cider is brilliantly thirst quenching though watch out, although it doesn’t taste it, it’s very strong!

In the evening head over the Cider Bus and try some of their hot and spicy cider – widely referred to as ‘Christmas in a cup’.

What to take to Glastonbury?

What to take? There are a lot of festival websites out there that will give you a really good comprehensive list of things to take but it’s quite a personal thing. For example depending on how much money you have to blow over the weekend you may want to take all your food with you or buy everything onsite. However there are some essentials…

Most people recommend wellies but we prefer a good pair of walking boots or sturdy work boots – depends on how much walking you’re planning on doing at Glastonbury…

Socks are greatly under estimated in these lists as well, in a hot year your feet will be sweaty and in a wet year your feet will be damp but dry socks are essential. At a particularly wet Roskilde we once saw someone selling fresh clean dry socks for £2 a pair and he had a big queue!

A wide brimmed hat is also a festival essential unless you want to be confined to the shady spots in the middle of the day. Be aware – apart from the Glade there are surprisingly few shady spots at Glastonbury and those you find will be very busy if it is hot. To accompany the hat for the day you’ll need a jumper for the night – one of your warm winter ones as it gets very cold at 4am in the stone circle…

We could go on about what to take forever but we’ve already done that! Have a look at our Festival Survival Guide for some handy hints for your festival packing!

The Glastonbury Festival toilets!

The toilets always get a lot of flack (no pun intended) at Glastonbury although they’re not actually as bad as they once were.

Our top toilet tip is to always go for the long drops (the big green metal open topped toilets) rather than the portaloos (the plastic box toilets). This may seem counter intuitive but as they are open air they don’t hold the smell in and they always seem cleaner.

WaterAid supplies some latrine style toilets in the Kings Meadow (aka ‘The Sacred Space’, the field with the Stone Circle) which are generally spotless but they do ask for a donation. WaterAid also supplies some ‘She-Pee’ urinals for woman in the Other Stage which may be tempting for the more adventurous woman out there…

Part Two of the Glastonbury Festival Guide!

Part two of our Glastonbury Guide looks at some of the more unusual and hidden away aspects of Glastonbury Festival!

If you’ve got any tips for Glastonbury let us know in the comments section!

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You can catch up with all things PAAM on the website or find us on both Twitter and Facebook…

Related Posts

• 2011 Glastonbury Festival Guide Part Two
• PAAM’s Festival Survival Guide
• How to work at Music Festivals and who to contact
• Europe’s 5 Best Music Festivals

With this year’s festival season fast approaching, we thought it could be handy to put together a festival survival guide to help you through your festival experience! Festival going perfection is a hard state to reach but we think we’ve got some pretty good experience that could help you out, particularly if you’ve got your first festival lined up for this summer…

If you’ve ever wanted to take things one step further and work at a festival such as the Glastonbury Festival, Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Latitude Festival or The Big Chill Festival (yep you get free tickets!), then get in touch to see what’s available, or read our guide to working at festivals.

Pack Light

First things first, take as little as you can survive with and nothing you’d mind losing!

Most of us take more than we need when we go away which isn’t so much of a problem when we have cars, trains, coaches, boats and planes to help us move it all about, although when you’re having to drag it all through six fields to get from the car park to your preferred spot in the sun it’s a different matter!

If you really can’t be without that fourth pair of shoes then plan for this – many festivals offer wheelbarrow hire services to help you transport your gear but these can be very popular and when you finally get out of the traffic jam and into the festival the last thing you’ll want to do is wait in another queue. If you have a look about on the net you’ll be able to find one of the lightweight foldup wheelbarrows that you can pop in the car and use to transport all your stuff.

It will (probably) rain!

If you manage to fit everything into one rucksack, then you should make sure your supplies include some wet weather gear!

It’s likely to rain at some point over the weekend and whilst you may be able to hide in the Dance or Tiny Tea Tent for a while, after three days of constant rain you’ll either be on the way to hospital due to a caffeine overdose or so sick of your favourite tunes that your next festival experience will come with complimentary cowboy hats and straw bales…

Festival Fashion

So at this point you may be thinking that the sensible option sounds, well, sensible. Although the idea of heading to a festival for a weekend probably means you’re looking for something a little different?

If so you’re in luck! In recent years all sorts of functional yet funky festival clothing has appeared on the market. One of our favourites is the WedgeWelly! Theses boots actually came into being due to Glastonbury Festival – a couple of girls wanted to take a friend for her first festival experience but wearing anything but heels was a no no, so the WedgeWelly was born!

Funky boots aside, the great thing about festival fashion is that anything goes! You’ll see everything from ball gowns and tuxedos to daft t-shirts and sandals, and everything in-between – yes even monkey suits and probably more than your fair share of mankinis!

If you’d like a little festival fashion reference a good place to start is one of the many festival photos galleries.

Planning Your Days

With so much on offer at festivals these days it can sometimes be a bit of a headache trying to plan out your days, let alone tie in your movements with your friends!

We’ve always found its best to try and not plan too much. Being restricted to a tight schedule of bands, comedy, cabaret and everything else you’d like to see will probably not give you the most enjoyable festival experience. Often, the funniest stories and most memorable moments are those happened upon by chance. Try just picking one or two main things you’d like to see each day and the rest of the time just taking a wander round. You’re then far more likely to come across the new and unusual, some of which may become stories you tell and moments you remember for years to come!

In short – make sure you leave some time to go with the festival flow.

You’re going to smell…at least a little!

Three or four days of fast-food, porta-loos, intermittent showers and living in a field means you’re probably not going to be smelling your best by the time Monday rolls around.

Try not to worry about it; everyone is in the same boat and after many a cup of pear cider you probably won’t care too much anyway.

You can try and limit the damage and try not to camp next to the toilets; there’s a good reason why they’re the last spots to fill up!

Another top festival survival guide tip is to bond well and truly with the joy that is a packet of baby wipes! Buy a big packet of baby wipes and some ziplock bags – you can then use the latter to keep a few wipes in your pocket when you head out. Very handy when you’re covered in sauce following yet another irresistible bowl of chilli, or are heading out of the toilets to find a row of empty hand sanitisers.

Booze, booze, and oh err…BOOZE!

It’s worth taking a good supply of your own beverages to a festival, although be aware that pretty much all but the smallest of festivals won’t let glass anywhere near the event. Don’t risk wasting all your money; make sure you buy cans of beer, decant your favourite vodka into plastic containers before you leave and try and buy wine in boxes rather than bottles (it’ll last longer that way too!).

Festival arenas usually prohibit you from taking in your own alcohol, so make sure you have enough room in your budget to buy drinks from the bars!

Last but not least be careful! A lot of sun and a lot of alcohol don’t mix well so pace yourself. There are no points for being the first admitted to the medical tent!

Make Some New Friends!

Get stuck into the festival spirit and get to know your neighbours in the campsite. Making new mates at a festival will introduce you to all sorts of fun and will make the campsite a much better place to be. Often it’s the people that you bump into and randomly make friends with that can make a festival such a good experience.

Most of the festivals have online forums that you can join before festival and then use to chat with others who have been before and are going again. Festival forums are a great place to get hints, tips and insider knowledge. If you’re heading to the festival on your own you can even organise to meet up when you get there, camp together or even share the cost of travel to the festival – saving money and helping the environment along the way!

And now for the festival survival list to end all lists…

If you’ve never been to a festival before, or like us you just can’t remember all the things you forgot last year and know the only way you’ll remember is to make a list of it all – we’d thought we’d try and help out by condensing all of the above into an easy to check music festival survival guide list! Hopefully it’ll help and make your festival a cleaner and greener experience too!

Getting there…

• If you’re travelling via public transport – bring your coach and train tickets!
• Thought about lift-sharing? Try www.liftshare.org or www.freewheelers.co.uk.

Getting in…

• Your tickets! If you forget these it’ll all be over before it’s even begun!

What to wear?

Music festivals can be VERY HOT and VERY COLD – all in the space of one weekend! So please pack clothing to cover both extremes, for example…

• A waterproof jacket.
• A jumper or fleece.
• 2 pairs of lightweight trousers that dry quickly.
• A pair of shorts.
• A hat.
• Lots of warm socks.
• Boots, trainers, sandals or flip flops.

Still have space in your bag? Okay…

• Money and cash card and remember to keep these with you rather than leaving them in your tent.
• ID (Passport / ID card / NI card / driving license) – again remember to keep these with you.
• Tent, sleeping bag, blanket, and a pillow – if you don’t fancy carrying these home at the end of the weekend, take them to the left luggage / lost property / donation point before you go.
• Camera – or just use your phone.
• Mobile phone & charger – if you can try to switch it off when you’re not using it and when you’re asleep. Your battery will last longer and you’ll be doing the environment a favour too!
• Condoms – you never know you might just get lucky!
• Paracetamol or just drink some water before you go to bed.
• Sun cream and a hat as you’ll hopefully be in direct sunlight all day.
• Tin opener and bottle opener.
• Tissues and loo roll – try to buy the recycled type.
• Torch – everything looks different at night and that floral tent you bought thinking you’d be the only one with it…seems everyone else had the same idea!
• Toiletries and a towel.
• Hair brush, hair bands and a mirror.
• Lip balm.
• Nail clippers/nail file.
• Toothbrush and toothpaste and some chewing gum/mints.
• Bikini or trunks for the showers.
• Wet wipes for when you just can’t be bothered with a shower!
• Sunglasses.
• Pacamac – not very sexy but you’ll look better wearing that than a bin bag if it rains.
• Bin bags – put your clothes in one as you pack so they stay dry during the weekend. Try to buy recycled and re-use the plastic bags you bring your shopping in. If you do need more you can get bin bags and recycling bags from one of the many litter and recycling points around the music festival site. Please bag up all your rubbish and recycling and designate a litter and recycling point in your campsite area. Try to keep glass and cans separate.
• Lager and cider – please bring cans as these can be recycled at the recycling points. Remember glass bottles are generally NOT allowed onsite.
• Wellies – you’d be surprised how many pairs of wellies get left behind. If you don’t want them please take them to a left luggage/lost property point.
• Small camping stove and pans to cook in. Remember that gas canisters are banned at many festivals. It’s worth checking first although most allow disposable barbecues, meth stoves, Trangia stoves, solid fuel stoves, gel stoves, Greenheat Base Camp Stoves and firelighter stoves.
• A mug for tea, bowl, plate, spoon, knife & fork – bring reusable picnic sets if you can, rather than using stacks of the plastic disposable type.
• Washing up liquid (for the above) – try to buy the environmentally friendly type.
• Water container – buy a large, empty water container from a camping shop that you can fill from the water points or buy one large bottle of water and re-fill this.
• Pot noodles/packet meals.
• Teabags & coffee.
• Sugar packets (from the services on the way!).
• A sense of humour and an open mind!

We hope that helps you get a little more from your festivals! If you’re off to a festival this summer and have some tips please let us know about it in the comments section?

You can catch up with all things PAAM on the website or find us on both Twitter and Facebook…

Related Posts:

• How To Work At Music Festivals
• Europe’s Five Best Music Festivals

Nu Kleen provides litter, recycling, dustcart and VIP cleaning staff and services to UK festivals and events and has decided to use PAAM to help with recruitment and event management of their staff and volunteers throughout their 2011 season!

Nu Kleen provide both staff and volunteers to their UK festivals and events. Nu Kleen’s volunteers work twenty four hours prior and/or during or after the festival or event. Nu Kleen’s event staff work a minimum of eight shifts prior, during and after the festival or event.

Nu Kleen already have Rockness and V Festival on their 2011 application and more are planned to be added soon.

There is a wealth of info on the Nu Kleen website so please do visit Nu Kleen at www.nukleen.com if you’re interested in a staff or voluntary position with Nu Kleen in 2011!

You can keep up to date with PAAM on both Twitter and Facebook!

The festival scene in Europe is more popular than ever, with many new festivals launching every year and tickets for the major events selling out within hours. Having been around on the scene for some time we thought it would fun to compile a list of our favourite festivals.

The five festivals we’ve picked have been going for a long time and are now well established. If you fancy going to them you’ll have to act fast as tickets sell out very quickly. For the more adventurous of you, we’ve included some festivals on the continent. Most of these events are easy to travel to, and are great if you fancy something a little bit different!

In no particular order:

Sziget Festival – Hungary

When? Mid August

Sziget is based in Budapest, Hungary’s capital city. The line-up features a wide range of artists from mainstream rock bands (Muse, Pulp, Radiohead) right through to less well known dance acts and almost anything else you’d wish to see.
It’s also one of the biggest events in the world with over 400,000 attendees spread across 400 different concerts. Cheap flights into Budapest from the UK can be found with many budget carriers. We would’t recommend driving…it’s quite a long way!

Glastonbury Festival – UK

When?  Late June

The Glastonbury Festival started life in 1970 and remains to this day on the original site, Worthy Farm in rural Somerset. What makes Glastonbury unique is that it has managed to retain it’s individual character throughout the years, and is still renowned as one of the best festivals that exist. Festival goers can spend all day walking amongst the various areas, all with their own ‘vibe’ and entertainment.

The line-up is as equally varied and always features a great mix of artists from brand new bands to longstanding legends. Out of all the festivals listed, Glastonbury is the MUST attend event for any serious music fan.

* Work at Glastonbuy *

Reading Festival and Leeds Festival – UK

When?  August Bank Holiday

The Reading and Leeds festivals are traditional rock festivals, with the line-up leaning towards the more edgy side of the spectrum. If you’re a fan of rock, this is definitely the festival for you. Reading and Leeds are a twin site event, sharing the line-up over the weekend between the two sites. The line-up is always of a very high standard and previous headliners include Guns and Roses, Kings of Leon and Metallica.

* Work at Reading Festival and Leeds Festival *

Roskilde Festival – Denmark

When?  First Weekend Of July

Roskilde is often cited as the Scandinavian equivalent to Glastonbury, and was in fact established in the same year (1970). Visitors to Roskilde can enjoy a huge range of activities from rock climbing to poetry competitions, and that’s before you even think about the music.  Each year around 75,000 festival goers come to the festival to enjoy a great line-up of bands previously including Muse, Coldplay and Teisto.

If you fancy making the trip over from the UK, there are plenty of organised coach trips to choose from. Alternatively, cheap flights into Copenhagen can be found very easily from a selection of budget carriers.

Rock Am Ring Festival – Germany

When?  First Weekend of June

Rock am Ring is set at the Nurburgring in the Eifel mountains, providing a stunning back drop to the festival. However, the area suffers from a sometimes cruel micro climate, so make sure you pack accordingly! The line-up is usually pretty similar to the Reading and Leeds events, however Rock am Ring does provide a little bit more variety.

Rock am Ring is approximately 4 hours drive from Calais, or if you don’t fancy the drive there are usually organised coaches from London.

You can keep up to date with PAAM on both Twitter and Facebook!

Working at a music festival is great fun, you get to meet loads of new people and watch some of your favourite bands at the same time. What could be better?! If you’re thinking about working at a festival this summer, there’s a variety of different organisations you can contact and submit your details to.

Here’s a few of the best:

Hotbox Events

Hotbox Events runs a team of volunteers called CATS (Campsite Assistant Teams). Volunteering as a CAT means that you’ll work three eight hour shifts spread over the time that the festival is open to the public. In return for your work you’ll receive your ticket for free, camping in a secure crew campsite dedicated to the CATs – close to crew toilets and showers! Because you only work three shifts, you’ll have plenty of time left to enjoy the festival too!

Festivals you can work at: Latitude, Big Chill, Reading, Leeds.

DC Site Services

DC Site Services (DCSS) provides a range of staff to a large range of events and festivals throughout the whole summer. Jobs available include anything from supervising fire towers to managing traffic in the car parks. Shift lengths vary but are typically 8-10 hours in length. However DCSS is one of the very few stewarding companies that pays its staff and provides meal vouchers for the staff café.All staff also have access to crew camping, toilets and showers.

Festivals you can work at (including): Glastonbury, Latitude, Golf Live, Big Chill, Reading, Leeds, Download, Taste Food Festivals, T in The Park, NASS, Rockness, Sonisphere, Red Bull Air Race, Proms in the Park…

Workers Beer

Worker’s Beer is the company behind many of the bars at the UK’s major summer events and festivals. Interestingly, they are also a non for profit organisation and have helped raise over £5,000,000 for good causes since they started in 1986. As a volunteer you’ll typically work a six hour shift everyday in return for free entry, free beer and meal vouchers.

Festivals you can work at (including): Glastonbury, Hop Farm, Latitude, Reading, Leeds, BBC Proms in The Park, Womad…

Nu Kleen

Nu Kleen provides cleaning staff and services such as toilet cleaning and litter picking to some of the UK’s largest music festivals. Nu Kleen don’t just provide staff for music festivals but also events such as trade shows, pub, restaurant and club based events, sporting events and seminars. Additional to their events arm Nu Kleen provides commercial office cleaning – this was actually where they started! So if you’re looking at cleaning as a career or would just like to earn some money and get into some festivals for free this summer Nu Kleen is a great place to start!

Oxfam

Oxfam’s stewarding arm provides over 5,000 stewards each year to festivals all over the UK. The festivals donate to Oxfam in return for the stewarding services and through this relationship every year Oxfam stewarding raises around a million pounds to help those living in poverty around the world. Oxfam provides its stewards with hot food, warm showers and crew camping.

Festivals you can work at (including): Rockness, Download, Glastonbury, Latitude, WOMAD, Camp Bestival, Big Chill, Reading, Leeds…

Festival Republic – Environmental Health Monitors (EHOs)

Festival Republic’s EHO volunteers monitor the sanitation on Festival Republic’s festival sites. The EHO posts are particularly suitable for students studying for qualifications in Environmental Studies or Environmental Health. Volunteers are responsible for inspecting campsites, guest and production areas for a build-up of litter, inspecting toilet blocks to make sure that toilet roll, signage and lighting is functional, inspecting hand-washing facilities and water points. Volunteers work three eight hour shifts or four six hour shifts during the festival. More info and details of how to apply can be found on the festival websites (rather than the main Festival Republic website).

Festivals you can volunteer at: Latitude, Reading, Leeds, Big Chill.

Festival Republic – Green Messengers

Festival Republic’s Green Messengers do exactly that – promote the green message to festival goers at Festival Republic’s festivals! The Green Messengers responsibilities include handing out bin bags to festival goers on arrival, informing the campers about the recycling initiatives – in particular asking people to take their gear home with them. The Green Messengers also manage the recycling bins throughout the festival sites – making sure the right stuff goes in the right bin! Volunteers give twenty four hours of their time during the festival for free entry, access to staff camping, showers and toilets! Again more info and details of how to apply to be a Green Messenger can be found on the festival websites (rather than the main Festival Republic website).

Festivals you can volunteer at: Latitude, Reading, Leeds, Big Chill.

Peppermint Bars and Citrus Event Staffing

Peppermint Bars provide both the bars and bar staff for events of all sizes from one day music concerts and boutique festivals to full-on weekend long camping festivals. Bar staff are paid and recruited via Citrus Event Staffing. Citrus Event Staffing not only provides bar staff but entertainers including stilt walkers, fire eaters, jugglers, burlesque dancers, face painters, acrobats, stewards, promotional staff and more!

Festivals you can work at (including): Bestival, Secret Garden Party, Field Day, Polo in the Park, Beach Break Live, Glade Festival, Rockness Festival, Camp Bestival, T4 on the Beach, Henley Regatta…

Midland Fire Protection Services

Midland Fire Protection Services provide fire protection and safety services for all sorts of outdoor events including many of the UK’s largest music festivals. Midland provides a wealth of services including consultancy and training to onsite standby and helicopter cover! Additional to their events arm Midland Fire works with the film and TV industries providing film set, studio and location cover, in shot and action vehicles, training and first aid.

Festivals you can work at (including): Party in the Park, Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, V Festival, WOMAD Festival…

ActionAid

ActionAid works to tackle the effects of poverty across the globe. With more than two thousand civil society partners worldwide ActionAid works with and supports the poorest and most vulnerable people; fighting for and gaining their rights to food, shelter, work, basic healthcare and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. You can volunteer with ActionAid to take the ‘Bollocks to Poverty’ message to festival and event goers; getting them interested in what ActionAid does.

Festivals you can volunteer at (include): Beach Break Live Festival, Underage Festival…

Event Medical Services (EMS)

Event Medical Services (EMS) provides medical staff and support services to a wealth of music festivals and music events in the UK. EMS’ services include first aid, ambulance supply and staffing, trained medics, doctors and nurses, response vehicles and staffing, onsite treatment centres and first aid point supply and staffing. Additional to EMS’ festival arm the company provides medical staff and services to sporting events including track and field and extreme sports, exhibitions, motorsport, film and TV and air shows.

Specialized Security

Specialized Security supplies security stewarding staff and crowd management services to a diverse array of UK festivals and events. Specialized Security are well known for providing security staff across festivals from campsites to the main stage pit areas. Through Specialized Security’s training arm (Specialized Training) the company provides both SIA and sector specific training. Additional to their festival arm Specialized Security train and provide staff for exhibitions, conferences, sporting events, the retail sector, community and door supervision.

Festivals you can work at (include): Glastonbury Festival, Reading Festival and The Royal Highland Show…

Cash and Traffic Management (CTM)

Cash and Traffic Management (CTM) provides and manages traffic admission stewards at numerous UK festivals and events. CTM’s traffic services include traffic planning, car parking, plus dealing with road closures and park and ride services. CTM’s admission control services are focused around programme sales, box office management, ticket sales and ticket checking and wristbanding.

Festivals you can work at (include): Glastonbury Festival, Glade Festival, Burghley Horse Trials, Reading Festival, Leeds Festival and Latitude Festival…

Gainsborough Security

Gainsborough Security is an ACS, SIA approved contractor which supplies security and stewarding services to festivals and events all over the UK and Ireland and has been doing so for more than twenty years. Additional to their festival arm Gainsborough provides staff and services to the Earls Court, Olympia and ExCel London venues, offers front of house and reception security, valet parking and traffic management, door supervisors, promotional staff, CCTV monitoring and control room staff.

Festivals you can work at (include): Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival, The Big Chill Festival, Leeds Festival, Electric Picnic…

Festival Medical Services (FMS)

Festival Medical Services is a charitable trust that provides trained medical and administrative personnel including doctors, nurses, paramedics and first responders to some of the UK’s largest festivals and events.

Festivals you can volunteer at (include): Glastonbury Festival, Reading Festival, The Royal Bath and West Show, Glastonbury Extravaganza, The Pilton Party…

You can keep up to date with PAAM on both Twitter and Facebook!

The PAAM Events Management and Event Recruitment Software Application Online Help Guide has been updated!

You can find the updated PAAM Online Help Guide here.

The PAAM Online Help Guide provides an overview of the PAAM Software

Application and detailed walkthroughs of each of the sections including:

• A breakdown of PAAM Statistics
• PAAM Email Messaging explained
• The PAAM Blacklist and Whitelist
• How to Export an Excel spreadsheet from PAAM
• A walkthrough of setting up a PAAM Event
• How to search for staff and volunteers with PAAM
• PAAM Event Administration
• How to use PAAM to recruit new staff and volunteers
• How to keep your staff and volunteers up-to-date
• How PAAM can help you get event specific information and documents to your staff and volunteers
• Working with PAAM post event including rating members and adding member notes
• A breakdown of the PAAM Member Profile
• How to update your company’s PAAM Settings

The above is just a selection of the information in the PAAM Online Help Guide – please do take a look at the updated guide and please contact us if there is something you’d like to see in there!

We’ll be updating the guide often so please do drop back to the PAAM Blog to be kept up-to-date!

You can also keep up to date with PAAM on both Twitter and Facebook!