From Green Futures to Shangri-la



June 27, 2014

Putting up your tent in the rain at Glasto feels like a festival rite of passage, a great induction test to archiving one of the greatest cultural phenomena of our time. A huge amount of respect and admiration goes to all the talented, creative and organised teams of people who make the whole festival possible.

Green Futures at Glastonbury
Green Futures at Glastonbury Festival, 2014, © Kate Bailey

As with the making of all great theatre, no part is greater than the whole and it is the sheer energy and collaboration of individuals from the litter pickers to the carpenters, from the chefs to the stage technicians who work together to create a fantastic shared festival space. We celebrate the hard work and the attention to detail from signage to flags, costumes to the meticulous scheduling. The green fields of Worthy Farm are a stage for everyone, a kaleidoscope of colour, expression and a sensory overload of constantly shifting scenography where sound, light, weather, smell and space both immerse and welcome the festival goer – no two visits are the same but we are all part of a shared experience…

Our first encounters with the artists in Green Futures reminds us of the true democratic and sustainable creation of art. Art for sake! Often it is the importance of the transient and the ephemeral that is memorable and sustainable.

Cabaret
Cabaret at Glastonbury Festival, 2014, © Kate Bailey

Walking through the day-lit stage sets of Shangri-la in 2014 is a strange home-from-home experience for a museum curator – an unexpected discovery of a Department of Culture and a theatrical archive. Order and chaos come together beautifully and decadently in Shangri-la. Looking at the illustrations by the artists that dominate the red walls we respect the incredibly imaginative work that mirrors our times.

Shangri-la
Shangri-la at Glastonbury Festival, 2014, © Kate Bailey

With something extraordinary at every turn, we consider every possibilty and opportuntiy for archiving Glasto.

Next stop cabaret, poetry, circus and arcadia..we look forward to uncovering what’s next..

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