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Stalker's Whinge (Part Two)
This page is provided only for information, it does not apply to the 2002 festival.
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As I mooch down 'A' Market I chance across Joe Banana's Blanket Stall, an institution in it's own right. Handy that, as I need some extra blankets and this could be an ideal opportunity for a quick chat to start the ball rolling on this Roving Reporter type thang.
I collar a genial looking fellow called Geoff, partner in the stall with Ian who have run the stall for 23 years. Joe Bananas are always in the same place, which helps if, like me, you don't bring bedding to Glastonbury, preferring instead to buy them here and chuck 'em away after. They were also in a position in 1998 (the muuuud) to shift a gopping great pile of wellies in the blink of an eye. Also worthy of a mention is their reputation of putting on some pretty spectacular parties when the sun goes down. On site a week before the festival, there is plenty to sort out before the gates open.
When you consider the amount of blankets they move over the festival ("The best part of a Fair Few', according to Geoff), they sure are keeping the festival warm at night in more ways than one, which leads me on to the parties:
Geoff, you do like to stage the old shindig, don't you?
'Well, yes. We started doing it when the dance scene really took off and thought it would be a good touch'.
Hmmm, yes. Care to enlighten us on how you've gotten away with it so long?
'Treading that fine line, really. If they come and tell us to turn it down we usually manage to negotiate a happy medium.'
So what about all these wellies? You were ready with those a few years ago, weren't you?
'We're based in Salisbury, which isn't really far, and are usually able to cope with most demands to meet the changing requirements of the weather. When the wellies turned up in '98, 650 of them on a lorry, we had them off and out the door in 40 minutes flat.'
So would you say you're providing "Blanket Coverage" of the festival?
'We're providing Blanket Coverage of the festival'
You would. Thank you.
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So after a few snaps and the purchase of a couple of blankets I bid farewell and join the punters for a quick pint. Wandering through meeting point I spot a couple of people putting the finishing touches to a handmade sign. Sarah and Lee from Exeter are attempting to notify their friends of their presence at the festival. Admiring the childlike scrawl I enquire:
How the bloody hell do you hope to find your friends with that?
'We're going to put it up on that board over there' (indicates board that I still doubt the existence of)
What board?
'That one! Over there, see it? The one with the orange poster on it.'
Nope.
'There!'
No! Where? I see no board.
'Well it's over there'
Hmmm, yeah. Here's a thought; if I can't see it with you pointing then how are your mates going to?
'Ah...'
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Still wandering, still roving I encounter me old bonkers chums Vincent Bethell and Richard Chaffer. Their names may not mean a great deal to you but if you were here last year the sight of two chaps completely starkers distributing flyers encouraging people to take off all their clothes and 'Protest Naked' will surely ring a few bells. But here's the thing; they're both fully clothed. I nearly didn't recognise them. Enquiring as to why they're not in full uniform, so to speak, I'm told that within an hour of being on site and stripping off they were pounced on by a couple of security guards and ordered to 'put it all back on or bugger off'; sensing that discretion is the better part of valour our heroic duo reluctantly re-robed. After all, more can be done to fight the power by admitting a certain level of defeat and still remaining on site to distribute the literature than getting bolshy, thrown out and ending up flyering the car park. Although that is an idea..... For a link to their site click here: http://www.geocities.com/thehumanmind
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Part Three This Way...
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