Strawberry Earth at Glastonbury
Sit still for too long at Glastonbury and someone will eventually try to either paint your face, sell you “cakes”, or have sex with your leg.
It therefore came as no surprise when a friendly Oxfam volunteer approached me with a pot of blue dye and proceeded to daub it on my forehead. A bit forward, yes – but at least my leg remained unsexed.
So, as the mud on the ground and the paint on my head cracked and hardened, I went to see a “secret” Billy Bragg gig at the Climate Camp. Or, more accurately, I went to watch an empty stage with a few dreadlocked men passed out beneath nearby trees. Apparently the gig was a “secret” to Billy Bragg himself.
The stressed organiser looked at me apologetically. “I’m really sorry,” he said. “Billy’s just not a very good timekeeper. He could be here anytime up till midnight really.” Not keen on the idea of listening to snoring men for the next ten hours, I abandoned the camp and headed over to the Speaker’s Forum.
At the Speaker’s Forum The Guardian’s science guru, Ben Goldacre, told us that he’d like to have T-shirts of his own printed up with an all-purpose political slogan: “I Think You’ll Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That”. Which, as slogans go, is a pretty decent summary of every issue from abortion to carbon offsetting.
Speaking of complex issues, I bumped into someone looking to simplify confusing environmental messages. Bridget from the BBC’s It’s Not Easy Being Green was excited to tell us about her new project – The Big Green Idea. Some of the faces from the programme will be touring the UK in a green double decker bus, visiting town centres, schools and businesses. The message they’re spreading is do the simple, easy things first and make a big difference.
By evening I was feeling a little bit politic-ed out. Plus, the blue dye and sweat was starting to sting the eyes. So, bedraggled and covered in war-paint, I meandered into the insane hedonistic dystopia of Shangri-La and Trash City. Surrounded by belching fire monsters and fifteen-foot dancing puppets of African tribeswomen, it’s hard not to get struck by the flood of creativity and energy. If people can do this together, they can do anything. We salute the glorious, anarchic jumble of ideas that is Glastonbury!
