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After everyone’s supped up the warm Stella, cider or vodka they had packed in the back of the car,
they turn to the beer tents on site. Topping up and delivering pints to thirsty festival goers is, we
would say, right up there with heart surgery and solving the global economic crisis in importance. And
quite rightly performing your duty for the good of mankind will get you a free ticket.
The Workers Beer Company (http://workersbeer.thewebbureaus2.com/), lead the way in festival
refreshment, holding a licence for Glastonbury, Hop Farm, Latitude, Leeds, Reading, Rise and
Womad among others.
Richard Baillie, a psychologist from Sussex, took time out from staring into people’s minds to help
them get out of them, signing up for The Workers Beer Company at Glastonbury, and he enjoyed a
smooth festival experience.
Pulling pints gets you in through a special entrance, provides private camping, three square meals
a day and, wait for it, beer tokens. And for all this you only have to work six hours a day. But those
six hours a day do come at a price. “Inevitably you miss some of the bands you want to see,” admits
Baillie, “but you have access to loos across the site just by waving your pass – that’s pretty cool.”
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At festival time every major charity gives you a chance to get in gratis and all you have to do is check some tickets,
direct people to the lav, collect some lost children and practice your best ‘nearest exit’ pose. Sound easy enough?
Well, it is, but there are a couple of catches. First up, you still have to cough up the money for the ticket. In a bid
to prevent people going MIA as soon as they’re the right side of the fence stewards have to offer up festival bail
money, to be returned in full once they’ve completed all their shifts. Secondly, as a steward you could potentially be
faced with all manner of bellyaches from the general public.
If you’re not a people person this job ain’t for you. Still, exclusive camping and showers might just swing it,
especially when Bestival, Beautiful Days, Camp Bestival, Cream Fields, Glade, Glastonbury, Latitude, Leeds,
Reading, Rockness, Shambala, Summer Sundae and Womad all use charities. Visit www.oxfam.co.uk for more
details on how you can get your hands on one of those fetching yellow waistcoats.
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“Singing, dancing and social revelry is the essence of festivals, so I had the idea
of creating a hub for inclusive live music-making,” says David Stanbury about the
simple inspiration for The Big Easy Jam, a special tent that invites anyone to pop
in and trade licks on the guitars, piano and tons of percussion provided.
Stanbury’s session is now something of a regular in the Park area at Glastonbury,
having done three years on the trot after organiser Emily Eavis took an interest
and got him on the programme. But he’s not stopping there. With an offshoot, the
Drum-Along-Disco Soundsystem (read it again and it makes sense) and plans to
get the jam into other festivals across the UK, David’s set for a busy summer.
Be warned though, this ‘freebie’ isn’t for the faint-hearted: David and his crew
really put it in the hours. They set up on site a week before and the tent is
manned continuously throughout the festival. There’s some hefty hours but
ultimately it all pays off. “It’s very rewarding to see it through from start to finish,”
says Stanbury. “We meet lots of new friends along the way and we’ve built up a
crew of returning jammers over the years. It’s certainly a labour of love for us all.”
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Amazingly not all festivals are rocking business practices more at home
on the FTSE. Some are actually free. Thin on the ground, certainly, but
they do exist and they’re well worth seeking out.
London is teeming with freebies culminating in the awesome Notting Hill
Carnival and further north you can try out the well-established
Leeds Party in the Park.
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