The British Council exists to promote British culture, language and trade abroad. Although established as an educational charity, it fulfils the role of Cultural Attache to the government's foreign diplomatic missions. The Performing Arts Department of the British Council is far from the notions of stuffiness and elitism which the festival audience might associate with the concept of Cultural Attaches. They employ local arts managers in the countries where they work to promote British acts and events; and they invited two of these managers to Glastonbury 2000. Here is the British Council's own report :
"Whilst Performing Arts Department has a successful showcasing opportunity in UK theatre in the Edinburgh festival, no such opportunity exists in music. There are single genre events in classical, early music, jazz and folk, but nowhere to see a wide cross-section of music that would appeal to a predominantly youth audience except for large open air festivals. Glastonbury Festival is the biggest festival of its kind in Europe. It attracts over 100,000 people to camp for three days in the Somerset countryside to see over two hundred live acts across eighteen stages covering pop, jazz, indie, club culture, street theatre and world music (amongst others). The range of bands goes from good bands at earlier stages of their careers to world stars (this year's headline act was David Bowie). Performing Arts were keen to see whether Glastonbury Festival would be a viable showcasing opportunity so in June 2000 Music Project Managers Andrew Missingham and Jo Ross took two BC Arts Managers, Patricia Obozuwa from BC Lagos (Nigeria) and Sara Aslam from BC Lahore (Pakistan), to Glastonbury Festival. But how would BC arts managers cope with camping out at a three day festival, away from the creature comforts of a hotel room? Andrew Missingham interviewed them on their return. Q: What did you know about Glastonbury Festival before you went? Did you find what you expected? SA: I knew that it was an extremely popular music festival in the UK geared towards young people with numerous bands playing on different stages. I had seen last year's festival magazine, so I had a fair idea of where I was going, but nothing could have prepared me for the size of the festival and the number of people there. PO: I knew that if it rained it could get very muddy. SA: Yes, the weather is notorious, but saw none of these things as the weather was absolutely beautiful. Q: What were the biggest surprises? (good and bad) SA: Apart from the sheer size of the event, it was the diversity and range of music offered and how each stage and each area was so unique and different from others. It was amazing to see those magnificent stages and all possible facilities to be set up temporarily, just for a three day festival! In terms of bad surprises: the toilets and the trash strewn all over (which would get cleaned up every morning, but by the evenings the whole place would be messy again). PO: Definitely the toilets!
Q: What did you know about British music before you came? SA: I knew that Britain has one of the largest music industries in the world and that British music is multicultural with influences from all parts of the world, with a strong influence currently coming from Asia. PO: The strength of Britain's industry is reflected by the fact that British music is quite popular in Nigeria, so I was pretty familiar with British jazz and pop music. Q: What were your perceptions of Britain, the British and British culture before you came? SA: My perceptions about Britain were that of a modern, developed country trying to move away from the stereotypical perceptions attached to it of being imperialist, rigid and cold. I had thought that British people individualistic and professional, but not very friendly. On the other hand, I viewed British culture to be diverse, multicultural and modern with influences from many countries. Q: Were these perceptions altered? If so, how? SA: The festival further reinforced my perceptions about Britain being modern, developed and multicultural. In fact, I found the multicultural aspect to be much more tenaciously engraved in the society than I had imagined previously. As for the people, I found some to be extremely friendly and helpful while others were aloof and cold. One aspect of British people which was very evident to me at Glastonbury was this feeling of complete liberation, where everyone was free to do whatever they wanted to do with no pretences and inhibitions. Q: Is music 'consumed' in a different way at this festival than the way it is consumed in your home city? PO: Yes and no. In Nigeria audience reactions are very similar to the kind that I saw in Glastonbury. Audiences would be moved in pretty much the same way to their favourite groups and tunes in Nigeria. But audiences who could afford Glastonbury type shows are not likely to camp out for three days! SA: In Pakistan music is consumed in a very different way. Although music concerts involving local groups are quite common, music festivals where you can go and actually live, eat, breathe and sleep music are non-existent. Many concerts have theatrical seating where people go and sit and TRY to enjoy music and then complain why they are not enjoying it!!! There are some, where the ambience is more open and people dance, sing along and sway to the music. At Glastonbury, I saw people dancing wildly, jumping, cheering, swaying, singing, standing, clapping, sitting, lying down and actually sleeping at concerts, but they were ALL enjoying themselves, because they were being themselves and were doing what they wanted to do. Q: What is your principal target audience in Lagos/Lahore? SA: Our principal target audience in Pakistan are the well-informed young people (primarily ranging from 18-35 years). PO: And the same for me. Q: What problems do you experience designing an arts programme to attract them? SA: Our limited arts budget coupled with religious and social constraints in Pakistan seriously restrict the options available to us in terms of arts events, thereby posing problems for us in terms of designing the ideal arts programme for younger audiences. For high profile events such as music and theatre tours, we problems in convincing younger audiences to buy tickets unless they have previously heard of the band/theatre company. This is specially true for music tours, as people are not interested to buy a ticket and listen to a band they have never heard of. PO: In Nigeria we are involved primarily in supporting collaborative ventures in contemporary artforms that capitalise on British excellence. We require well-known artistes who can attract our target group. Doing this is cost-intensive and this has been a major constraint. Also, sometimes the groups that are sent to us are not appropriate for Nigeria even though their performance is good. Q: Has attending Glastonbury Festival affected the way you will approach your principal target group in the future? If so, how? PO: In terms of the problems that I spoke about in my last answer, I now realise that we don't really need a big name to attract a crowd. I saw a lot of smaller bands that moved the audience in a way that would appeal to Nigerian audiences . In future I think I'll lean towards this kind of band (for instance Faze Action, Kate Rusby etc.) SA: At Glastonbury, I have seen how people can really enjoy and appreciate music and how the ambience contributes to making an event a enjoyable experience...I think this would help me in numerous tangible and intangible ways to emulate the same for our events here in Pakistan. One specific inspiration was the Glastonbury radio station which encouraged me to try new ideas to attract younger audiences: for example, to work hard to ensure maximum coverage on our local radio stations to play songs of a band that would be touring Pakistan in future. This would give the younger audiences a feel of what they can expect at the concerts even before the tour starts. Q: Do you think that this is a valuable experience/process for other arts managers? SA: Yes, it most definitely is. After attending the Glastonbury Festival, I feel like I can relate to British youth culture, in a way that I could have never done just by going to the UK to attend meetings/conferences at Portland Place. Moreover, arts being the most effective perception changing vehicle for our target audiences, a large part of my job as Arts Manager for Pakistan is to challenge outmoded stereotypes of Britain and to promote contemporary British culture through arts work. Now, unless I understand the culture myself, I won't be able to do a good job of it, and Glastonbury is undoubtedly the best place to go if you want to get a feel of what a significant part of British youth culture is all about. PO: I agree with Sara. I think it is a valuable experience because you not only get to see a wide variety of British music and a bit of theatre, but you have a chance to see the British approach to presenting and consuming live music and get the feel of the British arts scene all in one weekend. It is important that overseas arts managers are up to date on British arts and this is an easy way of doing this.
	Q: How might PAD have prepared you better for the experience, or done more to make you comfortable? SA: I was as prepared as I possibly could have been. PAD had ensured that we had everything we needed and both Patricia and I are very grateful for that. Maybe, if we had been given a list of all things required, Andrew wouldn't have had to bring everything himself like Wellington boots, jackets, toilet paper, wet wipes, etc.!! PO: Sara had a copy of the Glastonbury festival magazine from the previous year. I would have been better prepared for the experience if I had had that to look at. Comfort? I was comfortable. I can't think of anything more that could've been done. The staff at PAD went to great lengths to ensure that we had all we needed.
Q: Who were the best band(s) that you saw and why? And the worst (and why)? SA: BEST BANDS: Macy Gray (US), David Gray (UK), Femi Kuti & the Positive Force (Nigeria) I really enjoyed these three bands, not only because there were huge crowds and they were extremely popular, but because it was evident that every member of the band was making an immense effort to involve the audience. They were a perfect blend of excellent music, amazing stage presence and terrific crowd involvement techniques. PO: I especially liked Faze Action (UK), Femi Kuti and the Positive Force (Nigeria) - for the way they moved the audience, Lyndon David Hall (UK) - I just love his music, and Kate Rusby (UK) - Her performance was funny and interesting. WORST BANDS: PO: I can't really say, I think PAD made sure we didn't see the worst bands. Q: Choose five words to sum up the experience for you... SA: Fantastic Uninhibited Exhilarating Smelly (At Times) A pandemonium of sounds, colours, people... PO: I would say: Liberating Educative Amazing Great and Fun (said together)