Glastonbury Festival - The Green Roadshow

Green Roadshow & Croissant Neuf

“If you must look ahead one year - sow a seed
If you must look ahead ten years - plant a tree
But if you must look ahead a hundred years - then educate the people”

This is what the Green Roadshow is already doing – we sowed the seed, the tree is already growing and we are educating the people. Here’s how...

In 1986 coordinators Sally Howell and Andy Hope raised the banner of the first Croissant Neuf tent – tucked in the corner of the one and only green field (now the craft and healing fields). In those days it was scarcely bigger than a large modern family tent and their team of nine had to sell Croissants (hence the name!) and coffee, to make their fuel money home! They even had straw bales for seats (which just shows how far Health & Safety has progressed since then!)……………..

Now, 18 years later, they are still here at the Glastonbury Festival – the oldest established family run venue still bringing in new talent and breaking new ground.

Now situated right in the very heart of the Greenfields, the Croissant Neuf Venue is reliably and rhythmically pulsating away, pumping its energy and life force through the veins of the greenfields, enriching the festival and nourishing its soul. With its state of the art technology, this ever popular venue never misses a beat.

In 2003 Croissant Neuf expanded their tent to accommodate around 700 people, almost twice as many as before and alongside the earth trembling Solar Powered 10Kw P.A System they had, for the first time ever in the UK, built an LED stage lighting rig that dances, dazzles and bathes the performers in every colour of the rainbow and only still uses the same amount of energy as two 100 watt household light bulbs!! Energy efficiency at it most advanced which has to be seen to be believed!.

Providing the energy for everything that happens in the Croissant Neuf tent is the ‘Solar System’, a purpose built mobile solar generator that carries a 16 panel tracking system on its roof which collects and stores energy in over 2 tonnes of batteries in the box below. By using low voltage amplifiers and low resistance circuits the ‘Solar System’ can fill a huge tent or stage with hi-fi quality crystal clear sound for less than a tenth of the energy that a traditional system would use.

ECO-tainment at its best – Croissant Neuf offers a full programme (see main listings), housed in a haven of salubrious and luxurious backdrops and décor, adorned by the Wicked Faerie team.

Outside

The Green Roadshow field plays host to weird and wonderful walkabout entertainers and a flow of musicians on their own built ornamental bandstand – a feature of this field for many a year.

Take a seat by the tranquil garden and capture a moment of the green field’s ambience – or savour the taste of bio-dynamic, organic and vegetarian food from the Ringwood Steiner school’s café.

Dotted around the field will be delightful stone, wooden and metal sculptures for you to feast your eyes upon – all brought here by artistes local to the Shepton Mallet area. With expert guidance from local sculptor Jeff Body, come and try your hand at stone carving .

Amongst the colourful array of enticing market stalls are the Green Roadshow's exhibits bringing to you their knowledge and expertise of a Sustainable Lifestyle and environmental concerns, – all delivered in a most fun and positive way.

Wind & Sun Ltd of Herefordshire are pioneers of Alternative Technology sources and a leading supplier in the UK.

Solar Energy Alliance from Lowestoft educate through a multitude of interesting displays and gadgets plus will be providing power to charge mobile phones.
Step inside the Greener Energy Bus to discover the solutions to fuel pollution and transport problems.
Learn how to make Bio-Diesel, a clean fuel solution, with BioDuk – who are collecting waste cooking oil from on-site caters and turning this old “chip oil” into Bio-Diesel!.
Expand your knowledge of low impact living and sustainability with Lili (Low Impact Living Initiative) a community offering courses at their Redfield Community base in Bedfordshire. Find out about their installation work and hands on activities at the festival this year.

So much talent, expertise, innovation, colour and laughter – all in one field alone! See what our neighbouring fields and comrades have to offer too – we are proud to be part of the Green Fields – it’s a fantastic place to be.

The Croissant Neuf Venue

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