WORK | Glastonbury Festival 2013

This time last week I had packed up the tent I’d called home for a week and was making my merry way home, along with the rest of #teamfash, from my first ever Glastonbury Festival. I joined approx. 250,000 other people who descended on Worthy Farm, Somerset for the iconic 5-day event. Having had a year-long break, anticipation filled the air, soon to be mingled with the odour of portaloo, alcohol, overall euphoria and a mixture of musical accompaniments. 

OXFAM

I was lucky enough to be working as a quarter of Oxfam’s #teamfash for the festival and alongside around 2000 other Oxfam volunteers who were part of the stewarding, campaigns and shop teams. Making our way between the three Oxfam shops and the press/hospitality area, we were intensely style spotting, shop styling as well as having an Oxfam Festival Fashion photoshoot with dome of the shop’s finest wares.

OXFAM FASHION PHOTOSHOOT

FASHION

Glasto is an extremely good looking festival with such a mash up of different styles and fashion statements. Here is a selection of style spots from across the festival site…

Top festival fashion trends as picked up on site are…

FLORALS
BRIGHT WELLIES (particularly Orange Hunters)
DUNGAREES (Despite the portaloo impracticalities)
ANKLE BOOTS
CROCHET
DENIM
MEGA PRINTS

MUSIC

Work took precedent over the epic line up of this year’s festival. Whilst the majority was absorbed as an occasional melody floating through the crowds, we managed to catch the Arctic Monkeys and The Rolling Stones EPIC headline sets. 

ARCTIC MONKEYS//PYRAMID STAGE

I feel it necessary to mention that a low point of the festival falls under the music category also. Public Enemy, I have no idea why you felt the need to desecrate all over Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit but it was excruciatingly painful.

It’s accurate to say that Glastonbury satisfies every musical taste. Even if you ignore the stage scheduling, there are tucked away tents and bars hosting everything from various drum & bass sub-genres to a motown disco. I also felt a lot of love for the Chameleon Bar which was sponsored by my favourite club night Propaganda. 

CELEBS

We couldn’t help but do a bit of celebrity spotting whilst in the press/hospitality area. Amongst the musicians, press, PRs and photographers we saw: Greg James, Nick Grimshaw and Chris Moyles of Radio 1 fame; Dawn O’Porter and Chris O’Dowd; Cara Delevingne who was walking through The Park completely unnoticed (except by us!); a very colourful Florence Welch; Caroline Flack, Keith Allen, Millie Macintosh and Professor Green amongst many more..

HOSPITALITY BAR 

GLASTO PRESS TENT 

ON SITE

To list the amount of weird and wonderful things I saw over the weekend would take a ridiculous amount of time and I’m sure it was only a small portion of the wonders the festival holds. From what I got to see, here were the highlights… 

The Healing Fields 

This area felt like the vibrant soul of the festival nurturing the same peaceful energy as when the festival began over 40 years ago. Quaint tents and teepees offered spiritual healing, massage, tarot readings and various other divine techniques. 

Block 9

A train carriage crashing out of a block of flats and NYC Downlow, the first established gay venue at a UK festival, was the post-apocalyptic start of our Saturday night expedition. Purchasing our moustache entry tickets from a glitzy drag queen, we entered the smoky, makeshift cub for a full trans-everything treat. Next door was the Unfairground which was a carnival of nightmares and a salsa sensation at Glasto Latino. 

Shangri-La 

This is a notorious post-headliner hotspot which was this year themed with Heaven and Hell. We sacrificed the last hour of the Rolling Stones to beat the rush and ventured through a maze of graphic obscenities to come across the Shangri-hell stage. Shangri-heaven was alleged to have carpeted floors and a free bar if you could convince St Peter you’re cool enough. 

Arcadia

The 40-tonne, fire breathing spider structure, whose ferocious flames can be seen across site, is the work of arcadia spectacular http://www.arcadiaspectacular.com/ who attend numerous festivals with their recycled sculpture and acrobatic performance. At the heart of the scrap metal beast is a DJ pod where the likes of Andy C and Chase & Status performed sets to the crowd below. 

The Park 

This whimsical wonderland was home to the infamous rabbit hole, the ribbon tower, the famous Glastonbury sign and, most importantly, an Oxfam shop amongst other exciting vendors.

To get even more of an idea of the Glastonbury beyond the Pyramid stage, I highly recommend Julien Temple’s documentary ‘Glastonbury: After Hours’.

Was anyone else at Glastonbury this year? What were your highlights?