Glastonbury

Glastonbury - from hippy weekend to international festival Steve Hende rson , Leeds Me t ropo l i t an Un ivers i ty

G las tonbury Fest ival has become a w o r l d w i d e a t t rac t ion

for music fans and ar t is ts a l ike. In 2009, Bruce Spr ingsteen

w a s added to the long l ist of ac ts ( f rom Paul McCar tney

to Oasis] tha t have appeared at the fes t i va l . It s ta r ted

in 1970 w h e n 1,500 hippy reve l l e r s ga the red on a f a r m

near G las tonbury Tor to be p l ied w i th f ree m i l k and

en te r ta inmen t f r o m a makesh i f t s tage. Now, Glas tonbury

is a m a j o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l f es t i va l tha t a t t r a c t s over

150,000 a t t ende rs . W i thou t any know ledge of the l i ne ­

up, the t i cke ts f o r the 2010 Fest iva l so ld out in days.

In those ear ly days, the Festival was developed by local

f a r m e r , M ichae l Eavis, w h o s e pass ion fo r mus ic and

soc ia l p r i nc ip les led to a w e e k e n d of mus ic as a m e a n s

of ra is ing f unds fo r good causes. It was a soc ia l m iss ion

rooted in the hippy c o u n t e r - c u l t u r e of the 1960s and

events such as Woods tock . Today, the G las tonbury

Fest iva l a t t ende r f inds tha t those ear ly days of h ippy

idea l i sm are a long way off. The sca le of the o rgan i sa ­

t i on d e m a n d s s t r o n g m a n a g e m e n t to s u p p o r t t he

ach ievemen t of the fes t i va l ' s soc ia l a ims .

At f i r s t , the s ta tu to ry r e q u i r e m e n t s fo r an event he ld

on pr ivate land w e r e m i n i m a l . Jov ia l po l i cemen looked

over hedges w h i l s t r ec rea t i ona l d rugs w e r e so ld f r o m

tab les near the fes t i va l en t rance as if t h i s w a s jus t a

s l igh t ly unusua l v i l lage fe te . Need less to say, the fes t iva l

began to a t t r ac t the a t ten t ion of a n u m b e r of d i f fe ren t

g roups , espec ia l ly as leg is la t ion a round the runn ing of

events t igh tened. Eavis s t rugg led w i th local res idents who

hated the invasion of t he i r pr ivacy; w i t h hippy act iv is t

g roups who fe l t tha t t he i r con t r i bu t i on in he lp ing at the

fest ival gave t h e m a sense of ownersh ip ; w i th drug dealers

ca r ry ing on t he i r act iv i t ies on the f r i nges of the fes t i va l ;

and fans c l i m b i n g over the fences to get f ree access.

The fes t i va l ' s con t inued expans ion has resu l t ed in

a fes t i va l w i t h over ten s tages cover ing jazz, dance,

c lass ica l , w o r l d mus ic and o the r genres . Added to th is ,

t h e r e is comedy , poet ry , c i r cus , t hea t re and ch i l d ren ' s

e n t e r t a i n m e n t a longs ide m o r e esoter ic s t ree t t hea t re

p e r f o r m a n c e s . Much of th i s is o rgan ised into speci f ic

grassy f ie ld a reas w h e r e , fo r examp le , the Dance Vi l lage

uses a n u m b e r of t en t s ded ica ted to d i f fe ren t types of

dance mus ic . Indeed, such is the range of e n t e r t a i n m e n t

Source: Getty Images

on of fer tha t some a t t ende rs spend the w h o l e w e e k e n d

at the fes t i va l w i t h o u t see ing a s ing le l ive mus ic act.

Though the Eavis f am i l y r e m a i n involved w i t h the ma in

p r o g r a m m e , m u c h of the o the r e n t e r t a i n m e n t is now

managed by o the rs . Ref lec t ing th is shi f t t o w a r d s m o r e

d iverse e n t e r t a i n m e n t , the name of the fes t i va l w a s

changed f r o m Glas tonbury Fayre [ re f lec t ing the anc ient

c u l t u r a l her i tage of the area) to the G las tonbury Fest iva l

fo r C o n t e m p o r a r y P e r f o r m i n g A r t s .

In s o m e years , the fes t iva l is fo rced to take a year

off to a l l o w the f a r m l a n d to recover f r o m the t r a m p l i n g

of t housands of pa i rs of feet . Not only is th is w ise on

an a g r i c u l t u r a l f ron t but a lso gives the loca l res iden ts a

rest f r o m the a n n u a l invasion of fes t i va l goers . Despi te

th is , the fes t i va l has me t w i t h a n u m b e r of con t rove rs ies

such as w h e n a la rge n u m b e r of ga tec rashe rs spo i l t

the fun in 2000. Th is caused the fes t i va l to be f ined

due to exceeding the l i censed a t tendance and excessive

noise a f te r the event . F u r t h e r m o r e , hea l th and safety

l aws now requ i re the event m a n a g e m e n t to have a

'duty of ca re ' to everyone on the fes t i va l s i te . To address

these hea l th and safety conce rns , suppo r t w a s sough t

f r o m Melv in Benn w h o ran fest iva ls fo r the Mean F idd ler

o rgan isa t i on . W i th a s tee l fence e rec ted a round the

p e r i m e t e r , Melv in Benn he lped re -es tab l i sh the fes t iva l

in 2002 a f te r a year off.

GLASTONBURY - FROM HIPPY W E E K E N D TO I N T E R N A T I O N A L FESTIVAL 25

Ownersh ip of the fes t i va l r e m a i n e d w i t h the Eavis

"am i l y bu t Me lv i n B e n n w a s a p p o i n t e d M a n a g i n g

Z -ector . However , conce rns arose in 2006 w h e n his

emp loye r , Mean F idd le r , w a s t aken over by m a j o r

— usic p r o m o t e r s , Live Nat ion and MCD Produc t ions .

- a w o r r y i n g move, Live Nat ion announced that they

•vould ent ice a n u m b e r of m a j o r a r t i s t s to appear on the

weekend n o r m a l l y used by G las tonbury at a new UK

; es t i va l ca l led W i re l ess . Based in London , th i s seemed

set to o f fer a c i t y -based a l te rna t i ve to G las tonbury . At

m u c h the s a m e t i m e , Live Nat ion announced that they

.vould launch the i r own on l ine t i cke t agency to suppo r t

the sa les of t he i r mus ic events . This shi f t in power

r e t w e e n the m a j o r mus i c p r o m o t e r s ind icated not on ly

the i r in te res t in the o w n e r s h i p of key events but t he i r

: es i r e to c o n t r o l i n come s t r e a m s .

E l sewhere in the w o r l d of l ive e n t e r t a i n m e n t , t he

s j c c e s s of G las tonbury had not gone unno t i ced and

:ne fes t iva l m a r k e t showed cons ide rab le g r o w t h . Some

of the o the r fes t iva ls t r i ed to cap i ta l i se on fea tu res tha t

3 las tonbury cou ld not of fer . For e x a m p l e , G las tonbury

•vas f a m o u s fo r its we t w e a t h e r w i t h p i c tu res of d a m p

-eve l l e r s and co l l apsed t e n t s be ing c o m m o n p l a c e .

_ .e Nat ion 's c i ty -based Wi re less fes t i va l o f fe red the

: c p o r t u n i t y to s leep unde r a roof at home or ho te l , as

: : o o s e d to r i sk ing the w e a t h e r ou tdoo rs . A l te rna t i ve ly ,

r e n c a s s i m in sou the rn Spain o f fe red a fes t iva l w i t h

= " exce l len t chance of sunsh ine and top ac ts fo r the

pr ice of a l ow cost a i r l i ne t i cke t . Other fes t iva ls noted

tnat G las tonbury a t t ende rs enjoyed the w i d e r en te r -

:a inmen t at the event . In do ing th is , they rea l i sed tha t

~iany fes t iva l goe rs w e r e a t t r ac ted by the who le soc ia l

i o e r i e n c e . So, s idestepping ma jo r acts and the i r re la ted

: h fees, s m a l l e r fes t iva ls w e r e c rea ted fo r j us t a f ew

tnousand a t t ende rs . These o f fe red e n t e r t a i n m e n t in

.a r ious f o r m a t s , of ten in a f a m i l y - f r i e n d l y a t m o s p h e r e .

5 : m e t i m e s desc r ibed as bout ique fes t iva ls , Fredd ie

-e l l owes , o rgan iser of the Secret Garden Party, descr ibes

" - i s type of fes t i va l as a chance ' to be p lay fu l , to break

: : .vn bar r ie rs between people and create an env i ronment

* h e r e you have per fec t f r e e d o m and per fec t n o u r i s h ­

ment , i n te l l ec tua l l y and v isua l ly ' . Fest iva l Republ ic , the

"ec randed Mean F idd ler , c rea ted a bout ique fes t iva l on

= .arger sca le w i t h t he i r La t i tude fes t i va l . S im i la r l y , Rob

za Bank, a BBC DJ, put t oge the r Best iva l on the Isle of

.'. ght w h e r e the a t t ende rs a re encou raged to jo in in the

• - - by appear ing in fancy d ress . Quite c lear ly , aud iences

; _ e now being p resen ted w i t h a w ide range of fes t iva ls

: : cons ider fo r t he i r l e i su re t i m e e n t e r t a i n m e n t .

Many of these fes t i va ls a t t rac t sponso rs w i t h s o m e

r e c o m i n g p r o m i n e n t by acqu i r i ng nam ing r i gh ts on the

fes t i va l . O thers have low pro f i le a r r a n g e m e n t s involv­

ing so -ca l l ed ' con t ra ' dea ls as opposed to sponso rsh ip

paymen ts . For examp le , G las tonbury has o f f ic ia l c ider

supp l i e r s w h o typ ica l ly boost t he i r b rand by g iv ing the

fes t iva l a p re fe ren t i a l dea l on the i r p roduc ts in exchange

fo r pub l ic i ty . Though these c o m m e r c i a l r e la t i onsh ips

a re s o m e t i m e s s p u r n e d by the s m a l l e r fes t i va ls tha t

see the b rand ing as an i n t rus ion on the i r fun env i r on ­

men t , l a rge r fes t iva ls of ten need such re la t i onsh ips

to surv ive. In o r d e r to a t t rac t sponso rs , la rge fes t iva ls

are t u r n i n g to rad io and te lev is ion b roadcas te rs as a

m e a n s to expand the aud ience and of fer w i d e r exposure

fo r the sponsor . Indeed, in 2009, the BBC sent over

400 staf f m e m b e r s down to G las tonbury f o r b r o a d ­

cas t ing a imed at sat is fy ing the in te res t of the a r m c h a i r

v i ewe r / l i s t ene r .

Wi th such huge d e m a n d fo r t he i r t a len ts , a r t i s t s

can have a luc ra t i ve s u m m e r mov ing be tween fes t iva ls .

S im i la r l y , aud iences can m a k e leng thy t r e k s to t he i r

favour i te fes t iva ls . For s o m e , th is has caused env i r on ­

m e n t a l conce rns w i t h G las tonbury ' s r u r a l l oca t ion , poor

t r a n s p o r t l i nks and la rge aud ience being c i ted as a

speci f ic p r o b l e m . On the o the r hand , a r t i s t s are not only

f ind ing tha t the fes t iva ls o f fer a good source of i ncome

but tha t pr ivate par t ies and co rpo ra te e n t e r t a i n m e n t

have e m e r g e d as a l te rna t i ve , o f ten g rea te r , i ncome

oppo r tun i t i e s . One newspape r c l a i m e d tha t George

Michae l pocketed more than £1.5m (~€1.65m; ~$2.25m)

to en te r ta in reve l le rs at the Br i t i sh b i l l i ona i re re ta i l e r

Sir Ph i l ip Green 's 55th b i r thday par ty in the Mald ives .

Hence, for many ar t i s ts , the s u m m e r has become a case

of ' che r r y p i ck ing ' t he i r favour i te fes t iva ls or seek ing

out the mos t luc ra t i ve oppo r tun i t i es .

Over t i m e , the shi f t f r o m s m a l l , h o m e s p u n event

to c o r p o r a t e - c o n t r o l l e d fes t i va l has prov ided a w k w a r d

s i tua t ions fo r M ichae l Eavis - f r o m the d i f f i cu l t ies w i t h

e s t a b l i s h m e n t f i gu res w h o fe l t the event w a s out of

c o n t r o l to the d e m a n d s of c o u n t e r - c u l t u r a l g roups such

as the t rave l l i ng h ipp ies. However , a long the way, the

fes t iva l has ma in ta ined its a i m of suppo r t i ng char i t i es

l ike CND and , la ter , Greenpeace, Oxfam and a n u m ­

ber of loca l cha r i t i es . In the m ind of the aud ience , th is

he lps pos i t ion the fes t i va l as a fun event w i t h a soc ia l

conscience. The cont inued expansion and shift in manage­

m e n t of the fes t i va l has f reed M ichae l Eavis to be the

f igurehead for the event and to pursue the o r ig ina l socia l

m iss ion of the fes t iva l .

Given this growing and increasingly compet i t ive market ,

t he re is m u c h to cons ide r f o r the fes t iva ls invo lved. In

recent years , G las tonbury has so ld a l l i ts t i cke ts and

made dona t ions to i ts favoured causes, c o n f i r m i n g

26 C H A P T E R 1 I N T R O D U C I N G STRATEGY

the f i nanc ia l v iab i l i ty of its c u r r e n t bus iness m o d e l .

Indeed, the fest ival 's iconic s ta tus has t rad i t iona l ly meant

tha t it is a r i te of passage fo r many young mus ic fans.

Yet, in 2008, Eavis pub l i c ly reg i s te red concern over the

age of the G las tonbury aud ience sugges t ing tha t se l l i ng

t i cke ts by phone w o u l d he lp a t t rac t a younge r aud ience .

Maybe Eavis w a s concerned by c o m m e n t s such as those

in The Times newspaper that cruel ly dec lared Glastonbury

as su i ted to the ' the h ip -op gene ra t i on ' and ques t ioned

w h e t h e r young people t hough t it w a s ' coo l ' to go to the

s a m e mus ic events as t he i r pa ren ts . On the o the r hand ,

the i r paren ts belong to the 'baby boomer ' genera t ion that

g rew up w i th popular music and fest ivals l ike Glastonbury.

So, t he re is no rea l su rp r i se tha t they w o u l d enjoy th is

ec lect ic event . Wha teve r d i s tu rbed Eavis, he announced

that Jay-Z, an A m e r i c a n rap a r t i s t , w a s to head l ine in

o r d e r to he lp a t t rac t a younge r aud ience . W i th sa les

s l owe r c o m p a r e d w i t h p rev ious se l l - ou t years , he la te r

s ta ted 'We ' re not t r y ing to get r id of anybody. The o lde r

people are fan tas t ic , but we do need young people c o m ­

ing in as w e l l . ' Then , re f l ec t i ng on the 2008 fes t i va l in

2009, M ichae l Eavis d isp layed conce rns over the f u t u r e

of the fes t iva l saying 'Last year I t hough t tha t maybe

we 'd got to the end and we 'd have to bi te the bu l le t and

fo ld it a l l up. A lot of the bands w e r e saying G las tonbury

had become too b ig, too m u d d y and too ho r r i b l e . '

Wi th such an es tab l i shed fes t i va l as Glas tonbury ,

one w o u l d expect the m a n a g e m e n t m igh t be look ing

to leverage its b rand w i t h , f o r examp le , f u r t h e r events .

Yet, the c o m m e n t s of M ichae l Eavis sugges t not on ly

a lack of c la r i ty about the ta rge t aud ience but a lso

conce rn over w h e t h e r it can pers is t . F u r t h e r m o r e , Eavis

s e e m s nervous about the fes t iva l ' s appea l to a r t i s t s who

have lo ts of oppo r tun i t i es to m a k e appearances over the

s u m m e r . Aud iences and a r t i s t s are the two key fac to rs

tha t unde rp in f i nanc ia l success at these events , as

success fu l fes t iva l p r o m o t e r s a re w e l l a w a r e .

Sources: The history of Glastonbury is charted on its website Ihttp:/ / www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/historyl whi lst ownership and finances are available through Companies House.

Most of the background to the festival and related market has been drawn from online news resources such as the BBC, Times Online and the Guardian, or industry magazines such as Music Week.

More information on UK Festivals is available from Mintel.

Questions 1 S t ick ing to the 35 w o r d l im i t sugges ted

by Col l is and Ruks tad in sec t ion 1.2.3, w h a t

s t ra tegy s t a t e m e n t w o u l d you propose fo r

the G las tonbury Fest iva l?

2 Carry out a ' t h ree hor i zons ' ana lys is

(sect ion 1.2.1) of the G las tonbury Fest iva l , in

t e r m s of both ex is t ing act iv i t ies and poss ib le

f u t u r e ones. How m igh t th i s ana lys is af fect

t he i r f u t u r e s t ra teg ic d i rec t ion?

3 Using the head ings of env i r onmen t , s t ra teg ic

capabi l i ty , s t ra teg ic purpose and c u l t u r e seen

in sect ion 1.5.1, ident i fy key pos i t ion ing issues

fo r the G las tonbury Fest iva l and cons ider

t he i r re la t ive impo r t ance .

U Fo l low ing on f r o m the prev ious ques t ion and

m a k i n g use of sec t ion 1.5.2, w h a t a l te rna t i ve

s t ra teg ies do you see fo r the G las tonbury

Fest iva l?

5 Conver t ing good s t ra teg ic t h i nk ing into

ac t ion can be a cha l l enge : examine how

the G las tonbury Fest iva l has ach ieved th is by

cons ide r ing the e l e m e n t s seen in sec t ion 1.5.3.