Friday 9 July 2010

Glastonbury Festival Part 4: The Park



Ah the Ribbon Tower - changing from puce and orange to lilac and blue to shades of crimson and scarlet to...in The Park. It looked like it was indeed made of ribbons - but very heavy duty ones, and it had a real air of carnival to it, providing an eyecatcher/landmark and an attraction, as every time I went past it, there was a queue to go and climb it to see the view from the top. The Park was a very tastefully done area, entered by going under temporary faux classical pillars and arches with a date of eighteen something written on them. It was a lovely way to come home of an evening (well - two or three in the morning) as one just made for the Ribbon Tower, then took the road to the left past the residential Tipi hire area, to the Tipi Field.

The Park had a multitude of lighting effects which included streetlamp size red tulips or similar, lighting up one area, and a glorious gazebo, large enough for around eight sofas set out by hexagonal/octagonal walls. It had as many doors as walls, and outside in parallel were other pleasant places to sit or lie - carved in wood in interesting sculptural shapes - whether a giant armchair or a curling chaise longue. It was lit up in purple and orange, and was full of plants, especially in the centre, which had a small waterfall and changing spotlights, above a large chandelier with many regency style birdcages. Many people had drinks from bars close by, and altogether it was a delicious piece of luxury and civilization to find in a field bordered by dusty tracks! A real sense of occasion attend it as a spellbinding place, despite not being a cafe or having a stage. It needed nothing - it was simply another beautiful space to come and relax in, absorbing the sounds of things going on around it.

When I went round The Park with Liz looking for The Rabbit Hole, we didn't find it, but I was glad ultimately of the detour, because I saw the Tree House Cafe...what a fantastic structure, set inside the trees, and with a fabulous view of the festival site (being at the start of the hill behind the Tipi Field). Made a mental note; must go there...but when? 3am on Sunday night, and it will all be taken down tomorrow...

The sheer number of bars and cafes with LED lighting of every description were unfortunately too numerous to properly describe or remember - and there were too many even to photograph. Even with a good/better camera, one would never have crossed the field in order to see x, meet y or go to bed, if one had stopped to take every vista and interesting detail. But incredibly, rather than complete overkill, it seemed to work, and instead create wonderful variety of visual interest and an ever-changing kaleidoscope of things to see even when nowhere near a stage (actually there were so many small and even tiny stages, that one was never more than a few metres from one, I suppose). Giant red lotuses seemed to light up one bar. In a dodgy cafe (the rest of the Crew insisted we go to!), the view was of a bare geodesic dome chill out zone opposite with dark blue icicle style lights draped over it, a fire in the centre, bordered by the cafe itself's multicoloured LED fairy lights, and with the place over the way and next to the zone having some lights in - green? turquoise? and it all could have been designed to go together, the way the shapes and colours contrasted like an electrified Kandinsky painting... Add that Moon, and you have a thousand views and moments which meant one wandered in endless wonder.

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