It’s Jamelia today in Greenbelt land
Posted: 02 Nov 2006 @ 00:00
AN UNGAINLY YOUTH surfing on the
upstretched arms of the crowd in front of Jamelia, the beautiful chart-topper
who closed the festival on Monday night; an infant enjoying a first encounter
with African drums; bewigged 20-somethings vamping at a sing-along-a Joseph;
your editor lying on the damp grass and drinking in the wisdom and charm of the
Irish priest-philosopher-author John O’Donohue; teenagers racing each other,
their faces covered with Vaseline and cotton-wool balls. . .
Greenbelt
has now become so diverse that it is impossible to sum it up in a way that
would be recognised by more than a fraction of those who attended. During the
three-and-a-half days at the Cheltenham
racecourse, couples and families tended
to come together only to pore over the programme to decide which of the talks,
concerts, performances or exhibitions they would scatter to next. It was only
late at night or early in the morning that the number of options dropped below
20.
The usual criteria for festival
reports hardly apply. Yes, the numbers coming continue to rise each year,
though they are not in the same league as
Reading or
Notting Hill. But there were none of the other sorts of festival figures: no
arrests for violence or drug-related offences. I can’t say that for certain,
because nobody thought to ask at the closing press conference, but it’s a safe
guess: for several years, the police haven’t bothered to send anyone who might
make arrests.
There were only three other communal
factors.
The weather, which was mostly dry, until
some enthusiastic clown on the main stage on Saturday night started singing
“Send your rain down, God”. He was being metaphorical, but Sunday’s clouds
didn’t know this. The state of the lavatories — since the bulk of
festival-goers still camp, this was a matter of some importance. They were
better than in previous years, though you had to be selective, especially as
the festival went on. And the Sunday-morning eucharist, though even this was
split for the first part. The children got the better deal, with some jolly
songs and a procession with banners, before the earnestness set in.
Otherwise, everyone pursued his or own
spiritual path through the weekend, and some paths were more obviously
spiritual than others. The key point was that the organisers had brought
together high-calibre speakers and performers, so that very few events were
tried and found wanting. That said, there were plenty of smaller venues around
the site where younger or untried performers could cut their teeth — like the
infant with the African drums . . .
The Church Times is an official associate
of the Greenbelt Festival.
Further report
www.greenbelt.org.uk