Sunday 21 September 2014

Greenbelt ABC - Travelling Light (1)


Hello again. Yes, I know...in these days of instant communication, this must be one of the latest Greenbelt Festival write-ups ever. And it gets better! I'll be posting in instalments, so with luck you may be fully in the picture by Christmas. 

On the other hand, I may have forgotten exactly what happened by then.  Enjoy


A- Arrival.  Just don't ask! Arrival this year was particularly gruelling given the long long walk from reception to car park and on to the campsite. On a lighter note - as a volunteer, you   arrive  during build week several days earlier than general public (I refuse to call them 'punters!)  It's one of my favourite times, watching the festival take shape around me. Depending on how early you are, the infrastructure - water, signage, pathways, food stalls  may not yet be in place, which holds its own challenges. Of course there are perks; for nearly two glorious days I shared our section's block of portaloos with just two other people and there's nothing in the world more glorious than falling asleep to a chorus of sheep baa-ing, cows mooing and owls hooting.   

B  - Boughton House in Northamptonshire, one of the Bucculeuch estates, Greenbelt Festival's new            home. 

       Backache - Enough said. See C for codeine.

      Big Sing - With the Wild Goose Resource Group.  Always a highlight and a delight.

       Bunting -My collection grows every year. I love prettifying my tent with chintzy florals and                fairy lights, even thought my new tent this year was more of the Goth persuasion.

       Bad Christian's Manifesto - reinventing God with Greenbelt stalwart - Dave Tomlinson.

       C -  Communion. I'm never quite sure what to expect from this one. Sunday's mass, open-air              worship         is like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it.  Hats off to the organisers though -        what a project to have to pull off year after year.    Read one  Mystery Worshipper's take        on          this year's service.  No, as you ask, it's not Greenpatches in disguise.

        Cumbrian Sausages. My favourite food stall and offers  best value for money for your                       volunteer vouchers. It also provides endless innocent amusement and an ideal photo op. One               youngster posing next to their 'Giant Sausage,' billboard said that he'd found a photo of his                   father taken next to the self-same notice many years previously!

Greenbelt 2014 - all set up in Early Curfew
[What on earth's happened to the formatting? Gremlins, I tell you!]




4 comments:

  1. Good to see you back! Obviously the dreaded Blogger Gremlins have been missing you... I can't say I envy you *all* of your Greenbelt experience but it's great to read about it from the comfort of my sofa. Hope the codeine worked!

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    1. Took the edge off it, thanks. Though it did mean I had to go easy on another of God's gifts - alchohol, which given my lack of co-ordination and the bumpy terrain was probably a good thing!

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  2. Excellent, looking forward to the next instalment ;0

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