Stereoboard Speak To Green Man Festival Boss Fiona Stewart (Interview)
Monday, 15 April 2013
Written by David Ball
Rightly praised for its atmosphere, style and friendliness as well as a strong reputation for launching the best new acts around, Green Man Festival has grown consistently over the past decade and continues to excite and inspire people each year. 2013 will see Ben Howard, Band Of Horses and the recently announced Kings Of Convenience headline with hundreds of great acts spread across the spectacular Glanusk Park Estate in Wales' Brecon Beacons.
Stereoboard caught up with Green Man Managing Director and Owner Fiona Stewart to find out more about what makes Green Man so special.
When you first started running Green Man did you ever imagine it would grow into the award winning event it is today?
I started in 2005 and I am always surprised when people talk about Green Man as a big festival or important festival. I know its got bigger but I still feel a small festival friendliness and freshness about it. I didn’t think about making it bigger, that has happened organically.
How do you feel the event has changed and improved over the years?
Definitely the development of the non music areas have improved and got a character of their own now. That has added a lot to the festival and although music will always be the heart of the event the other areas provide extra depth and variety to the experience. Moving to Glanusk really improved the festival. Bringing in different curators has also brought more colour to the entertainment. Year on year the festival develops, it definitely has a life of its own now.
The focus on non music areas seems especially important, particularly the family friendly areas. How important is that welcoming atmosphere to Green Mans personality?
The friendliness of Green Man is a massive part of the festival. In any feedback we get from guests and artists the “vibe,” of the festival is what people value the most. We are really lucky to attract such lovely people to the festival and they are a lot of fun as well. There are a lot of those random acts of kindness and support which runs right through the festival in the way people help each other out in the camping areas to the way artists share equipment or are flexible about timings and loads of stuff just like that. We don’t have Police at Green Man as the incident level is so low. Not because people aren’t up for a party as the bars and entertainments are open 24/7 and are busy. Its just that the nasty has never been part of the festival and we do everything we can to protect Green Man from ever going that way.
We all get stuck a bit with work, life and other pressures and we want Green Man to not only offer entertainment but be the kind of experience that will invigorate and offer a bit of time out. We are keen to enable people to have new experiences and memorable moments. All these areas add to the experience with the aim of doing just that. It also reflects what we enjoy as organisers and we want to pass that enjoyment and interest on to the guests and artists. The aim is that anyone who comes can create the kind of festival they want using the available parts in the way it suits them. So loads of students come each year and party all night in the Far Out Field and sit around the bonfires, families come and sit in the Walled Garden and go to Einsteins and the kids and teens areas, others watch comedy until 4am, listen to the talks in Talking Shop and watch films in the Cinema Tent. There are 10 entertainment areas, 1500 performers from every arts genre so there should be something for everyone. I think that is why all ages of people come to the festival which I think is part of the charm. Sometimes you look at the crowd and see a group of 22 year olds rock out with a couple in their 60’s it's pretty magical when as organisers we see that sort of joyous connection from the people who come to the festival.
What are the most important lessons you've learned over the past 10 years?
That trust, loyalty and good relationships are the things that get you through.
Is there any particular part of Greenman, or award the festival has won which you're most proud of?
Winning awards are really exciting and it's lovely for all the many people who put their time and effort into making Green Man what it is to get that endorsement. The UK Medium Festival Award was the one they all liked the best because that is the most difficult to get. I am grateful for any award we get but the one I was most delighted with was the UK Grass Roots Festival Award. I think it is more of what Green Man is about.
I have worked at festivals all my working life and have brought up my son in that environment and the people who work with me come from that background as well. We are not promoters who want to run an event, we are festival organisers. It's slightly old school but in many ways so is Green Man. It is contemporary in content but it's organised in the way festivals used to be. So it is all about great music, escape, freedom and having a laugh in an outdoor incredible place. If you have ever been to a corporate branded festival then Green Man is the polar opposite of that, in fact it's out the door and in the next field away from it. Making this choice has not been without its challenges but Green Man has a unique, loveliness about it which people get a lot out of in so many ways and I really love that. I am proud of that and all the many people whose hard work and passion have supported that as well.
With rising ticket prices for festivals and stand alone gigs, sales for Green Man seem to have been quicker each year. What keeps Green Man value for money?
"We are an independent festival so we don’t have the kind of financial targets and program requirements that other festivals do. We can offer things just because we feel that they will add to the event and not just to drive ticket sales and profit. That allows us to take the financial risk of supporting emerging artists or artist who are not as high profile as they once were which is not such a driver for ticket sales as well known acts are. We are not sponsored either so we have the freedom to offer good quality ales and ciders for under £4.00 a pint. Most of our budget goes on artists fees but we still can’t afford massive fees so it's true that some artists we would love to book are way beyond our price range. But there are still a good few who agree to play when they could easily get paid more by another commercial event. Any artist who plays Green Man is doing it out of the love of playing to a discerning music audience and being supportive to the independent music scene.
What underpins all of this is that small collective of artists, foodies and thinkers made up of family and friends who organise Green Man do everything themselves. So we do not have to pay other contracted companies for their services. This is hard work and you have to have people with the required skills but it cuts the costs and enables us to keep it a really value for money event. It's a bit like building your own house instead of getting the builders in, it costs less and keeps it unique.
What do you think the future may bring for festivals?
I really love that current festivals now are just the next evolution of an ancient tradition. Humans do a lot of daft things sometimes but their need to seek a field and get joyously giddy in it is one of their many charms. While festivals sell out there is still opportunities for new events to develop but the festival industry is not doing well at the moment and sadly many events may not have a long term future. When I first started organising events in the 90’s it was incredibly hard and you had to practically give a kidney to the council to get permission to run them. But in 2005 that changed when the licensing law was amended. This has led to a massive increase in events with the result that Britain has a tremendous wealth of festival wonderfulness. But now the festival market has become overcrowded, causing it to be brutally competitive. There is a limited number of people who want to buy a festival ticket and less now that we are in a recession, and the running costs overall have increased due to fuel prices, health and safety legislation and particularly fees for better known acts. It's gone full circle with events being easier to start but far more difficult to run than they used to be. It's been sad to see friends start events and find out the hard way that it's difficult to keep them going and even worse to see service contractors not get paid when events go under. Festivals have a future but it's always going to be a challenging thing to get involved in and more so at the moment.
We have been very lucky as Green Man is one of the few festivals that have not been so effected by the recession. We never relied on sponsorship or funding so now that it's not available it has not effected the stability of the festival as we never had it in the first place. It's also in its 11th year so it's pretty established and many of the lovely people who come to the festival return each year. In the post festival questionnaire the majority said they still didn’t want us to have sponsorship and not to increase ticket prices so we haven’t. We listen and respect the input and ideas of the people who come to the festival and we recognise that we are all in the same position in these financially difficult times. It's important to us that we keep the festival a unique experience, and so it changes each year by the input of the many creatives, artists and thinkers who put their passion and energy into the festival. We have always been committed to supporting new and emerging talent, and are very proud and delighted for the many acts who have gone on to success after playing Green Man and we really want to develop that in the future as much as possible. We also want to develop the charitable arm of the event. Over the years this has grown to a point where it needs a supportive organisation to run it so we are setting up a charity called the Green Man Trust to manage it. Green Man has a life of its own now and I hope that people carry on enjoying it and taking part in it and with their support it carries on for a very long time.
Are there any new things planned for this years festival you can tell us about?
Yes there are loads of new exciting areas such as “Babbling Tongues,” which is a celebration of the spoken word in all its forms. It includes a new comedy area called “Last Laugh,” which is curated by the gorgeous and talented Henry Widdicombe who runs the Machynlleth Comedy Festival where you will be able to see well known and emerging talented comedians from 7pm until 3am. Comedy has been going for a few years at Green Man but it has increased its profile a lot attracting major talents such as Tim Minchin, Robin Ince and Adam Buxton to name a few. We felt that it was time to create a new area to support this and it's going to be fabulous. We also have an area called “Talking Shop,” curated by Richard King the author of “How Soon is Now,” whose 20 years knowledge of the music business is going to bring a lot of inciteful interviews, debates and personalities into the area. Richard is a really clever, charming man and a good friend so it was lovely when he decided to join us. We also have a new arts installation area called “Fortune Falls,” near the waterfall and we are still taking applications for outdoor art works.
Do you have a favourite performance from past Green Man?
Blimey that’s a bit of an ask, there are far too many over the years to have a final favourite. Robert Plant singing “whole lotta love" was incredible and unexpected as he told me that he was only going to sing his current songs. Super Furries, Gruff Rhys were sublime and Bon Iver were superb, you could hear a pin drop when they sang "Skinny Love" But there really are hundreds of performances which meant something to me. There is something about the amphitheatre with the Brecon Beacons and Black Mountain framing the Mountain Stage which creates an exciting shiver down your back vibe. But it's also seeing the guests react to new talent and that sudden electrical connection look that gets on people’s faces when they are entranced by new music. Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling, Alt J, Beth Jeans Houghton, Michael Kiwanuka, Sweet Baboo all had that reaction which is like watching a little miracle.
Green Man Festival Tickets are available now and have stayed at exactly the same price as last year, once again providing fantastic value. Green Man was named the UK’s best medium sized festival and won the UK Grass Roots festival award last year. With it’s winning combination of great bands, excellent food and drink at sensible prices and, most of all the friendliest atmosphere of any festival all set at the spectacular Glanusk Park in the Brecon Beaons, Green Man has something for everyone.
Adult = £145
Student = £125
Teen (13-17yrs) = £75
Child (5-12yrs) = £5
Infant (0-4yrs) = FREE but ticket required
Live In Vehicle = £60
Family Camping Car Park = £5 (all cars require ticket)
General Camping Car Park = £5 (all cars require ticket)
Green Man 2013 Holiday - you must also purchase a festival ticket to take advantage of this offer.
Holiday Ticket = £40
Holiday Car Park = £5 (all cars require ticket)
Holiday Live In Vehicle - £60
Green Man 2013 Festival Deposit - pay an initial deposit of 50% (plus booking fee and postage) now to secure your Green Man 2013 Festival ticket and pay the balance before Tuesday 30th April 2013. Please note that all deposits are non-refundable, and Green Man will be unable to send out your tickets until the full balance is paid. For further information, head over to www.greenman.net.
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
Stereoboard caught up with Green Man Managing Director and Owner Fiona Stewart to find out more about what makes Green Man so special.
