A Holiday, A Holiday

We're off to the Cropredy music festival today for four days. We've gone every year since we were teenagers. We love the camping, the music, the food, the shopping, the atmosphere, we love meeting up with our friends, we even love the weather. I've written some blog posts and saved them to be published automatically whilst we're away. But I won't be able to reply to emails or comments until I get back. And even then I'm only back for a couple of days before I head straight off to my dad's house in Ireland.

White Knight Revealed

You may recall that the Big Green Gathering was saved by the 11th-hour intervention of a mystery "white knight". Well the BGG's January newsletter revealed that the white knight is Stuart Galbraith

...whose previous productions included the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park in 2006 and the Live Earth concert at Wembley in 2007. Stuart's new company, Killimanjaro Live Ltd. (KLL), is providing the finance to settle our debts, but the BGG's democratic one-share-per-person structure has ensured that we retain the control of the company and the event.

The newsletter spells out emphatically that the BGG has not been taken over, it hasn't sold out, it hasn't diluted or altered its original vision.

I don't get the impression, though, that Stuart Galbraith is prepared to pump money into a bottomless pit, so BGG still needs to be able to be profitable (as it always was until Mendip District Council and Avon & Somerset Police added around £120,000 to the costs). So the board of directors decided to increase the cost of shares in BGG to £80 from March 1st. If you hurry, you can still buy a share (you're only allowed one each) at the original price of £40. Go to The Big Green Gathering website to apply for a share in the most exciting green festival in Europe.

Big Green Gathering is Saved

Great news from the Big Green Gathering AGM report:

Shareholders meeting in Glastonbury Assembly Rooms on Saturday November 24th voted to keep the Big Green Gathering company in business after the dramatic appearance of a ‘White Knight’ businessman who promised to put new capital into the company.

I said that if they saved it, then I'd attend this year. So that's a date then. See you there.

Big Green Gathering Update

I have written before about the financial crisis at the Big Green Gathering, Europe's biggest green festival. Green Radio, "a community radio station which broadcasts green politics and lifestyle to summer festivals and to the world at large", has created a short radio article about it. In it, the presenter interviews Brig Oubridge and Roger Smith of The Big Green Gathering, Margaret Robinson of Mendip District Council, and representatives of other festivals affected by the same legislation . You can listen to it using the little doodad - just press play (that's the button with a triangle, dad).

I'm still trying to find out what happened at the AGM on November 24th. There is nothing about it on the BGG website, the Save the BGG Facebook group, or anywhere else I can discover. If anyone knows what happened, please email me.

5 Weeks To Save The Big Green Gathering

It's not looking good at The Big Green Gathering, the sustainable summer festival. If you remember I reported how a sudden change in their costs has left them in crisis, and they need to raise £100,000 by the end of November or there will be no more BGGs.

They raised an encouraging £10,000 in the first week, but then donations slowed to a trickle. Now they need to raise £84,000 in the next 5 weeks, or they will have to go into liquidation.

The great thing is you can help with no risk at all. They will hold any cheques you send them and only cash them if they do raise enough to save the festival. If they don't get enough, they'll tear up your cheque and you've lost nothing. If you want to help, you can either:

• Become a BGG shareholder. Shares are available at £40, only one share may be held per person. Details of how to do that are on the BGG Crisis website. If you want to become a shareholder, you can choose to have your application held until after the AGM, so that your cheque would only be cashed if enough money was raised to save the festival.

or

• Send a cheque made out to BGG Rescue Fund to to BGG, 10 St Johns Sq., Glastonbury BA6 9LJ, or donate online at the donations page. Cheques are better for two reasons: online donations have a hefty processing fee and 30-day delay, and also BGG will hold all cheques and only bank them when they are sure they have raised enough funds to save the festival.

You can also attend one of the exciting events, such as an auction for prized including a wind turbine, a weekend in a tipi, and a subscription to Permaculture magazine. Or you can attend a benefit concert in Bristol.

You can also publicise the crisis on your own blog or website. Please let people know, and do what you can to save the Big Green Gathering.

Crisis at the Big Green Gathering

The Big Green Gathering, the annual green festival, is in financial trouble. Due to changes in their licence conditions, this year's Gathering cost about £120,000 more than usual to put on, leaving the organisation with a deficit rather than a profit.

They need to raise at least £100,000 to stay in business, and are appealing for support. It sounds like a lot of money, but it's only about £10 for everyone who attended this year's Gathering (less than they spent on vegeburgers and trinkets, probably). I've wanted to go to the BGG for years, but couldn't persuade Ed to either miss out on Cropredy or else attend two festivals. I'd be gutted if it went out of business before I managed to go, so I'll be supporting their fundraising effort.

If you want to support them too, here's how you can do it:

• Become a BGG shareholder. Shares are available at £40, only one share may be held per person. Details of how to do that are on the BGG Crisis website. If you want to become a shareholder, you can choose to have your application held until after the AGM, so that your cheque would only be cashed if enough money was raised to save the festival.

or

• Send a cheque made out to BGG Rescue Fund to to BGG, 10 St Johns Sq., Glastonbury BA6 9LJ, or donate online at the donations page. Cheques are better for two reasons: online donations have a hefty processing fee and 30-day delay, and also BGG will hold all cheques and only bank them when they are sure they have raised enough funds to save the festival.

I'm Gonna See All My Friends

Just got back from Cropredy 2008. To all those who missed it - I hate to do this to you but it was an absolute corker. Unbroken glorious sunshine, fantastic bands, interesting stalls and yummy, varied food, the usual great organisation, plus a few new extras.

Jools Holland played a fabulous set on Thursday night, and Richard Thompson was his usual stellar self on Friday, after Fairport played the whole of Liege and Lief with the original line-up (so far as possible). Dave Swarbrick was amazing. He's a new man following his transplant op. The last time he played Cropredy, he was wheeled on stage in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank behind him. This time he walked on, played standing and bopped about with the best of them. Needless to say his playing was peerless.

Cropredy festival now has a fringe. The two pubs in the village booked several acts (including some of the bands who performed on the main stage last year) and put on their own concerts. Also there was a huge screen behind the main stage on which they showed live images of the band, the crowd, and some cheesy videos (the one for Hiring Fair was especially cringe-able). It was great for a shortie like me, who has never really seen much at the concert, to be able to see what was going on onstage.

The highlight, however, came on Saturday night with the video for Matty Groves - in Lego. If you don't know what I mean, it was done in a similar style to The Brick Testament. Simon Nicol sang it absolutely deadpan, although the audience were all hooting with laughter at the video. They followed it up with the usual medley, played with even more energy and zip than usual, and the drawn-out ending was thoroughly silly and fun. I can't imagine how they're going to top it next year.

The only disappointment, for me, was the large number of absent friends. Our family met up with my sister Lindsey and her husband Andrew, and Lindsey's friend Steve and his kids, and we had a great time. But we missed Steve H., Jim and Catrin, the Roses, Shona, Ford, Christina and Alan, and especially my sister Steph who couldn't make it this year. Please, guys, do your best to make it next year. "Meet on the Ledge" just isn't the same without you.

A Holiday, A Holiday

We're off to the Cropredy festival again for the weekend, and when we get back back we're going to visit my Dad in Ireland for a week.

Behave yourselves whilst I'm away, won't you?

Who knows where the time goes

Cropredy 2006 was a good 'un. The weather was unusually cold, and we left our tent poles at home which didn't make for a great start to the festival. But the music was great. Steeleye Span with Maddy Prior, Dave Swarbrick and Flook were highlights. The food was also good - Leon's has been the best food on site for many years now, but I also enjoyed Molly Moon's Vegetarian Pies - new this year, hope they'll be back. The beer flowed freely. The shopping, as always was great. I picked up a couple of pairs of hippy baggy pants and some groovy tops, and the kids enjoyed hunting for bargains at the car boot sale.

But of course the bext thing about Cropredy was catching up with old friends. My sisters, Stephanie and Lindsey are pictured. Also there in 2006 were TJ, Andrew, Shona, a trio of Steves, Leila, Thomas, and Cropredy virgins Elaine and Amy. Absent friends this year included Jim and Catrin amongst many others.

It all seemed to be over far too soon but the dampness in my Doc Martens and the lingering smell of patchouli will keep the Cropredy spirit alive for a little while yet.

It all comes round again

We're off to the Cropredy Festival for a few days. It's a big 3-day folk/rock music festival and we've gone every year for the last 15 years. We camp out, meet up with old friends, listen to great music, shop at hippy ethnic stalls and just generally have the best time we have all year.

A neighbour will be chicken-sitting for us. The allotment can manage without any attention for a few days.

We'll be back on Sunday with lots of photos, suntans, lovebeads and muddy shoes. Hope you have a good weekend too.