Why Glastonbury ? Glastonbury is so much more than just another music festival. In fact, its full title is the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Perfoming Arts. The perimeter fence (excluding the car parks) is an incredible eight miles around and the truly huge site becomes one of the biggest cities in the South West of England during the festival, only to be dismantled a week later! There are dozens of programmed stages in the official programme which incorporate all type of rock and dance music but also comedy, theatre, film, circus opera, ballet and all kinds of madness. Even poetry! But beyond that there are literally hundreds of tented bars and restaurants all offering the most incredible entertainment around the clock. There are nightclubs, fairgrounds, hot tubs, burlesque dancers, 30 foot robots spitting fire, casinos, ballrooms and things that are just beyond description. You can even get married there! But the festival’s roots were in the counter culture and the environmental movement and it’s heart still remains there with all profits donated to causes including Greenpeace, Oxfam and Wateraid. There are also many acres devoted to political and environmental causes and traditional crafts and, for many people, it’s in here - as well in the historic and spiritual aspects of the location - that the festival’s unique spirit is best encapsulated. So my first poem for my residency tries to encapsulate all of that diversity and asks why we don’t bring the communal, loved up vibe and the lessons of a culture based on sustainability, co-operation and creativity back to the real world. Here’s an audio recording of my poem,
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:16:51 +0000
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