Glastonbury Check One
We have been trading at festivals since 1993 when we started with our own handmade jewellery selling from a blanket, our first Glastonbury was 1995 and we traded on the way up to the stone circle from a blanket as it was easy to grab it with all the stock and disappear when the security would come chasing us all away.
Glastonbury, Check one Check one two
Well what would we be doing this week, having mini panic attacks mostly as the excitement creeps in.
We have travelled and traded at festivals for 25 years and nowhere is like Glastonbury !
Have we got everything we need ? Can you have everything you need ?
Check one
We can't carry wellies too bulky for us, so we are praying for el scorchio, sunshine we can cater for, hats parasols and a few other lines..
Check two
There is shopping mega shopping to be done as close to the entry day as we can to keep stuff fresh, we have an extended crew of mates for glasto ,so top of list is refreshments for everyone, do we have all the right ingredients on board, pimms, mmmargaritas and mandarin mojitos, oh yes mandarin mojitos, we got that recipe thanks to our Mexican friend who runs Carlitos Burritos food stall possibly the most dangerous drink I have ever had the pleasure of having on account of it being way too tasty ..ouch !! , oh! and food.
Check one
Tickets, has everyone got their tickets, how are they all getting there from all over the place and when.
Team logistics are difficult, luckily we have learned to bend time and space to get that to come together, then there are rotas too, who wants who see who and when, we try to make everyone happy and keep a core team at Shrine central for the duration, this will fall apart regardless at some point but we need guidelines!
Check two
Music at Glastonbury challenges anyone's playlist, we have tunes on from 9 am till 1am most days but we have everything from Doris Day to the baddest drum'n'bass,
but some of our favourite DJs to play in the stall would be Koh Phangan legend David Chong https://soundcloud.com/dj-david-chong/on-your-way-to-heaven
As well as a healthy dose of funk and disco and also Austrian DJ Schiebosan https://soundcloud.com/scheibosan who has such a wide variety of genres and flavours. Music is what powers us and keeps us going.
Check one
We are in, the queue is a memory already, the stall is up and dressed at our usual pitch on the way in to the pyramid stage, great if we want a quick nosey.
We settle in and let the good times roll ( The Cars )
What happens at Glastonbury stays at Glastonbury and what happens is anyone's guess, best plan is just to get lost :)
Check twice
Glasto is a long haul as festivals go, we are on site for a minimum of 10 days, we see the pristine green fields at the start of the week and we look forward to meeting everyone, traders and crew that we haven't seen since last time.
Glastonbury picks up a gear and gets into the swing when all the traders arrive and it just keeps building and building, the energy keeps rising and does not let up.
Glastonbury is happening and it must be the most wonderous artistic gathering on the planet and then it's all over. I won't talk about all the debris and festival ghosts, all the lost feathers and all the lonely sequins, all the memories scattered across the fields of Avalon and the dream slowly melts away until we dream again, time to go.
Have we got everything ? Where to next ?
Favourite packing up tune is Jackson by Jonny Cash and June Carter.
We would like to say a massive thanks and respect to all who make the wonder that is Glastonbury happen from the generals to the most essential workers...and all of our amazing customers that have graced our stall over the years, we miss you all. :) :)
