Glastonbury’s late-night areas don’t do partying by halves. From Block9, with its New York cab and London tube carriage smashed into the side of a tower block, to Shangri-La’s maze of venues and the Unfairground’s warped, circus-themed tents and moving sculptures, there’s more than enough on offer to usher in each bleary-eyed sunrise.
Block9: Stephen Gallagher, cofounder
The buildup: If people have been to the festival before, they’ll have seen our setup with the NYC Downlow, London Underground and Genosys. This year is really about programming: we’re putting on some acts from 4pm, even though traditionally we’re part of the late-night area.
We’ve got Andy Butler from Hercules and Love Affair doing one of the afternoons, and disco legend Cerrone opening everything up for us on Thursday night, so it’s really exciting – I think the afternoon parties are going to be big. I’m hoping the weather will be good for us, but we can still rave in the rain if not.
The payoff: Hearing the Downlow radio call on Wednesday evening to say that our field is open is a pretty amazing feeling. Unfortunately, that’s not when the work ends, but is more like the start of the next phase of the work. On Thursday, we make sure that everything’s working and in good order. Then, we’re off.
What I hope the punters will enjoy: I think that hopefully people will understand that we’re creating a festival here in its true form, in that we want people to be active participants rather than spectators. That’s something we really encourage, and have learned over the years.
I don’t know how it works, but just the act of donning your moustache at the NYC Downlow makes people lose their inhibitions and makes them more friendly, more likely to talk to people. That’s the most important thing, and to me that’s what makes Block9 so special. We’re like a massive family, and I hope the people who come down to Glasto and pay for these tickets feel that. It’s not just work: People are down here for love.
Shangri-La: Kaye Dunnings, artistic director
The buildup: Our applications for Arts Council funding were turned down this year, so it’s made the story of rebellion in our Shangri-La narrative resonate even more. We’ve just had to pull it together with so much less, and have got some really exciting performances lined up: a group of people playing MPs, a dance troupe, loads of brilliant artwork and a 107-hour performance piece called the slumber party, by my friend Harry Clayton Wright – playing a teenage girl called Rebecca.
The payoff: I’m looking forward to people interacting with our performers, in the windows of our small venues. There’s this new political party we’re calling U-Slip – we had to do a play on Ukip – and the public will be able to go into the room windows with them and will be forced to make rosettes in a merchandise sweatshop. In another window, they’ll be looking for people that aren’t from Shangri-La, on U-Slip’s behalf. And Harry’s going to be on display in his piece that whole time, of course.
What I hope the punters will enjoy: I want to encourage people to speak up for themselves and each other. To actually take action instead of just talking about it or tweeting about it or whatever. May’s election results really changed everything: suddenly I didn’t hold back on the art pieces I’d chosen, because we could all be a lot braver about how we really feel. I’m a little nervous about people seeing this one image that looks like a huge portrait of David Cameron – but actually it’s a collage by artist Chu, built of images of people protesting against his government.
The Unfairground: Sam Haggerty, organiser
The buildup: We’ve got an outside space, Wango Riley’s travelling stage, that I’m excited about. Wango hasn’t performed here since 1990, and represents one of the only hippie or traveler stages left since the festival was founded in the 70s. He’ll be reminding us of the Battle of the Beanfield, because it’s the 30th anniversary of that conflict between the police and traveller community. We’re using this time to introduce some of the younger kids to what happened all that time ago.
The payoff: The funny part of my job is to watch the ebb and flow of people coming in, in the evening. And you can see some people coming in and their eyes lighting up, looking excited. Occasionally you see one looking absolutely horrified and running out of the field.
What I hope the punters will enjoy: The sideshows! We try and get to engage with the public as much as possible, for two reasons. One, we’re here to provide entertainment, that’s our job. Two, we’re trying to get people interested in the lives that we lead, and the wider aspects of alternative culture and the travelling community. Every year we pick up someone who then works with us next year, and then gets more in our aspects of life rather than theirs.
Right now, I feel tense. The theory is that I’m supposed to be responsible throughout the festival, but it doesn’t always work. We’ll see …
