Latest news with #Glastonbury
Scottish Sun
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Scottish band reveal how Dolly Parton became the key to their success ahead of Glastonbury gig
'We really do have Dolly to thank for us being there at all." SAVED US FROM A 9-5 Scottish band reveal how Dolly Parton became the key to their success ahead of Glastonbury gig THE Bluebells will play Glastonbury for the first time this summer — and insist it's all down to Dolly Parton. Lead singer Bobby Bluebell — real name Robert Hodgens — and the McCluskey brothers will take to the festival's Acoustic Stage at the end of next month. Advertisement 5 The Bluebells thank Dolly Parton for their success However, Bobby reveals their incredible resurgence wouldn't have been possible if the country and western legend Dolly hadn't priced herself out of doing a TV car advert in the 90's. Her original version of I Will Always Love You was first choice to be used in a Volkswagen commercial. However, after Whitney Houston's cover from the Bodyguard movie topped charts around the world it was deemed too expensive to use. So the Scots indie band's 80s track Young At Heart was chosen instead - before giving the trio their first-ever No1 when the song topped the charts for four weeks in 1993. Advertisement Bobby explains: 'Clare Grogan's sister Kate was working at this advertising agency in London at the time. 'They had already made the Volkswagen advert with Dolly Parton singing her version of I Will Always Love You. 5 Dolly Parton attends Dolly Parton's Threads: My Songs In Symphony World Premiere 'But in 1992 it became this huge hit for Whitney Houston, so the money for the use of Dolly's song suddenly went through the roof. 'The agency was scrambling around as they were just about to launch and they needed a replacement and fast. Advertisement 'Kate then says, 'I think Young At Heart will fit the bill' as it had the same vibe as Dolly's song. "So because Dolly became too expensive and I had known Kate from school before her sister was in Altered Images, The Bluebells got their first No1.' Music icon Dolly Parton appears on The One Show and viewers can't believe her 'real age' Govan-born Bobby had written a piece about Ken and David McCluskey's teenage band for his music fanzine, then joined it in 1981. He recalls: 'I was finding groups to write about and at that time there were only about 10 bands in Glasgow — so they were going to get written about at some point. 'David was probably 14 at the time and I just thought he was an incredible drummer — he was like Keith Moon.' Advertisement But Bobby soon moved to London to live with girlfriend Siobhan Fahey from the trio Bananarama. He says: 'I had a duffle coat and NHS specs, but fortunately for me at that point the geeky look was coming in.' Together Bobby and Siobhan co-wrote Young At Heart as a Bananarama album track. But The Bluebells then reached the top 10 themselves with the track in 1984 before the band split two years later. 5 Dolly Parton attends "Dolly: An Original Musical" fireside chat and press conference at The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Advertisement Bobby went on to be a club DJ, David worked a music tutor with additional-needs adults for charity SenseScotland, while Ken became a college lecturer. However, they were all thrown back together again when Dolly said no and Volkswagen called. Their longevity and continued popularity will now see their debut album Sisters re-released on June 27 — the day before they take to the Glasto stage. But it's not all been a bed of roses for the track that keeps them ticking. 5 Dolly Parton attends the opening of Country Music Hall of Fame (Photo by) Advertisement Session musician Bobby Valentino — who gave the jaunty violin performance on the track — sued for £100,000 worth of royalties in 2002 after only being paid £75 to play on the song. The US musician even gave a violin solo in court to help convince the judge to rule in his favour. Bobby recalls: 'I had a drink in the pub with Valentino afterwards and he said to me, 'I'm sorry Robert, I needed the money and was just chancing my arm really'.' The track has followed them all around the world, even when they played behind the Iron Curtain in the mid-80s. Dad-of-two Bobby says: 'We were travelling to East Berlin and stopped at a service station. Advertisement "Although you can hardly call it a service station. It had about one sandwich and bowls of gruel. 'Suddenly Young At Heart started playing over the sound system and even to this day I'm convinced that it was too much of a coincidence. 'What I actually think happened was that the Stasi were following us and they had put it on, just to remind us that we were being watched by the East German Secret Police.' 5 Bobby Bluebell shared how Dolly Parton helped the band He adds: 'I used to find it strange to hear it played at funerals. But I'm kind of getting used to that now. Advertisement 'I never thought of it as being a funeral song but yeah, I think it does fit quite well.' Dolly herself played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2014 and now The Bluebells will get to follow in her footsteps at Worthy Farm in Somerset. But for someone who is now more likely to be found in a golf clubhouse than in a nightclub, Bobby is just glad that their Glasto slot is an early one. The 65-year-old, who used to play golf with a 12 handicap, says: 'My favourite festival is actually Fringe by the Sea in North Berwick, because it's surrounded by all those lovely golf courses. 'I have been to Glastonbury before with Texas when they were on the main stage and they were brilliant. Advertisement 'But it's not the sort of thing I would normally do. Standing in a field for four days queuing for an autobank or the toilet isn't really my thing. "So I was delighted when I was told we would be on stage at half five. 'That means we can get out of there and be in a hotel by 10pm — perfect.' He adds: 'We really do have Dolly to thank for us being there at all. 'But life is full of all these little Sliding Doors moments that can take you to some incredible places.'
BBC News
13 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Art installation inspired by ME coming to Bristol and Glastonbury
An immersive art installation that invites people to "disappear" inside a mirrored box to understand life with chronic fatigue syndrome, is coming to the West by Bristol artist Alison Larkman, Mirrorbox plays messages from ME and long Covid patients explaining why a particular location is special to them, and why their condition means they cannot be there Larkman, who has ME, said the concept came from "the idea of taking up space, of being seen and heard but also being invisible at the same time".The initiative, titled 'I would be here if I could', has seen the Mirrorbox travel all over the country and it will be in Bristol and Glastonbury in the coming weeks. ME causes extreme tiredness and can be so severe that patients are left bed-bound and unable to complete even simple symptoms include problems with memory and concentration, muscle and joint pain, dizziness and sensitivity to light and her illness is at its worst, Ms Larkman can only stay awake for three-hour windows."Your imagination is huge and you can lay in bed and travel to all sorts of places and think about things whereas you can't do them," she said. "That's one of the questions I would think - 'where would I be if I could?'"For Ms Larkman, the answer is always watching the hustle and bustle of London's Victoria Station from the top of the escalators on the way to visit her sister, but for others it was as simple as being able to see their children on the swings at the park."During this project I have met so many other people trying to manage what is essentially a fluctuating condition and also the shock of realising how bad ME is," she said."You just don't see people who are bed-bound, or who are on oxygen, and because you don't see them, even though I'd had it for years, it's been a real revelation." Some participants were unable to speak to record their messages, so wrote them down or sent them by text, but others were determined to be heard."We extended the project for a month because people wanted to wait for that day when they could send a message," Ms Larkman said."Knowing how important it is for people to have their voice heard in these places, it feels like a real responsibility." People who enter the box are invited to write a postcard to the person who recorded a message they listened will be at the top of Troopers Hill, Bristol, on 1 June, under an oak tree at Ashton Court, Bristol, on 4 June, and at the top of Glastonbury Tor on 18 June.
Irish Times
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘I was being blue-lighted around in a Garda car in the middle of the night': How to stage an Irish music festival
Tens of thousands of music fans will arrive at outdoor festivals around Ireland this summer, hauling bags stuffed with battery packs and wet wipes for a weekend camping in a field they pray stays dry. It can feel like entering a separate society. Hordes of people mill from campsite to stage to food truck; queues form for everything from toilets to patches of grass; flags and art installations dot the site as community hubs. It can be difficult to imagine the space as anything other than the makeshift city in front of you, but just a few days earlier there will have been nothing in its place. Then, almost as soon as the event ends, logistics planning for next year begins – including, if the festival is growing, how to tweak facilities to cater for more people. A small change can have a big effect. At the end of June, for example, the more than 200,000 music fans who'll descend on Worthy Farm, in southwest England, for Glastonbury will be served by the festival's own reservoir. READ MORE The organisers built it to provide up to three million litres of free water each day for festivalgoers to fill their reusable bottles with after banning single-use plastic bottles in 2019. Glastonbury is almost three times the size of its nearest Irish competitor, with more than 100 stages and more than 2,000 acts, so the move made a big difference; before then it had faced a mountain of waste after each three-day event, including 40 tonnes of single-use plastic bottles, or well over 1.5 million of them (alongside almost 45 tonnes of aluminium cans). In the United States, Coachella attracts about 125,000 festivalgoers on each of its two consecutive weekends. (The line-up is the same at each, to increase overall capacity to 250,000 people a year.) This year, fans said, seemingly minor changes to its campsite arrangements left some of them stuck in traffic for up to 12 hours as they queued to get in to the site. The domino effect may be most significant for these gigantic international events, but attention to detail is paramount at any festival. We asked some key people to tell us how it all works. All Together Now All Together Now: Declan McKenna on the main stage. Photograph: Aiesha Wong First-year capacity of 15,000 people 2025 capacity of 30,000 people Core team of about 15 people About 700 people involved in the build and break phases 3,000-3,500 people work on-site during the live event It takes one day to put up a tented stage at ATN and several days for the main stage For All Together Now , which is set to host 30,000 attendees at Curraghmore Estate, in Co Waterford, over the August bank holiday weekend, planning for 2026 will begin in September. Details are reviewed – access routes can be revised, stages and vendors repositioned, and lighting plans refined. This is the sixth edition of ATN, and capacity has doubled since year one. The festival's core team is about 15 people, but that expands significantly as the event approaches. Up to 700 people construct the site during the build and break phase. (Most stay nearby or commute from home rather than setting up camp, but as the festival gets closer some of them move into camper-vans or tents.) For the live event, that number jumps to between 3,000 and 3,500 people, including traders, security, crew and other staff. All Together Now: Fans enjoying the festival at Curraghmore Estate, Co Waterford in 2024. Photograph: Gareth Chaney 'You get to know the land really well – how the water flows, where the sun hits, the best angles for stage placement, how to avoid sound spill and so on – and we make small improvements every year based on what we've learned,' says Helena Burns of Pod Festivals, which also oversees Forbidden Fruit and In the Meadows. With experience, she says, the organisational process has become smoother. 'Through the years we've added in new external permanent roads for better vehicle access for patrons, relocated vendor lines for better servicing, moved a major stage uphill for better ground conditions should we encounter severe weather, and more. 'While the site layout has evolved since the beginning, we haven't needed to make any major structural changes. The ATN site was designed with growth in mind, which has helped us scale up in a natural way.' All Together Now: Kiamos at the festival in 2024 A tented stage can go up in a day; a main stage takes several days. If cranes or plant machinery are required, trackway has to be laid. Tech production load-ins of sound, lighting and visual equipment happen last, taking another day or two. Logistics determine much of the site's layout, but beyond that there is a big focus on aesthetics. 'Logistics definitely play a part in the placement of installations and stages – we have to consider access, power, sight lines and safety, and so much more – but they don't dictate the creative vision,' Burns says. 'If we love an idea, we'll do everything we can to make it work.' 'We collaborate closely with artists, creative partners and sponsors to shape the festival's look and feel. Everything is installed with purpose – from colourful canopies and light installations to sculptures and projections, we're always aiming to create something new and visually exciting.' Beyond the Pale Beyond the Pale First-year capacity under 5,000 2025 capacity of 12,000 Generator-powered but doesn't use fossil fuels Green efforts are part of festival's agenda – last year only six tents were left behind In its first year at the Glendalough Estate, in Co Wicklow, in 2022, Beyond the Pale had a capacity of under 5,000. By 2024 it had reached 10,000, and this June the festival will welcome 12,000 festivalgoers. The acts play to crowds that range from more than 9,000 people at the main stage right down to about 100 people at the event's most intimate stage. Overall, the organisers say, Beyond the Pale is still small enough to maintain its boutique feel. When it comes to putting on each year's event, access is one of the biggest considerations, according to festival producer Kate Farnon. 'The site can be tricky,' she says. 'It's kind of in a valley, so access is sometimes difficult, with different types of vehicles and so on. That's always the first consideration. Last year the site expanded and changed quite a bit. If you're anticipating larger numbers you have to look at site layout and make sure that you can handle the new capacity in infrastructure and egress. 'At this point the festival has the luxury of being able to incorporate more space. It's also designed in a way that the campsite is very close to the main arena. I think that's a big plus for punters. If they need to nip back to get something it's not a big hike. It's quite a compact site, and I think that really impacts how people experience it.' Beyond the Pale festival at Glendalough, Co Wicklow Providing power for thousands of people in a concentrated area is difficult, and festivals tend to require generators. In an effort to be greener, Beyond the Pale powers them with hydrotreated vegetable oil, a biofuel. It also uses as much wind-generated battery power as it can, but that's still an expensive technology. Finding a more sustainable mode of power supply and stepping away from generators are high on the agenda for the coming years, Farnon says. 'There is a real movement towards being more efficient with power, and I think there are some exciting things happening in that area. It's a big area for a festival to move in to, because it's going to make such a massive difference in terms of footprint. For most punters and festivalgoers, it's a shadow over the fun of going to a music festival.' Last year Beyond the Pale had 15 stages. The look of the site is important to sponsors as well as organisers. With Glendalough as a backdrop, the goal is to fit in to the environment. 'I think the biggest limitations are temporary structures,' Farnon says. 'They are what they are. They don't have a huge amount of variation, but going back to the functionality and the health and safety, they have the engineers' sign-off. At times you'll see something new come along.' Forest Fest Forest Fest: The Cult on stage at the Co Laois music festival in 2024. Photograph: Brian Bastick 2025 capacity of 12,000 On-site preparations begin 10 days before the festival Five stages on less than 20 acres of land Construction of festival infrastructure takes about 72 hours It takes about 10 days to prepare Emo Park, in Co Laois, for Forest Fest, where capacity matches Beyond the Pale's 12,000. Safety and security are arranged before staging crews arrive, trucking in the larger structures in the space of two or three days. Light and sound crews follow. The site is less than 20 acres, and its five stages are constructed next to each other to minimise walking for guests – Forest Fest positions itself as an event for a more mature audience. 'The focus was and remains always on the quality of the music and the quality of the product,' says Philip Meagher, the festival's founder. 'We never wanted to go to a large-scale event where that gets diluted. We've insisted that the numbers stay at a very manageable level and that all of the facilities – including parking and sites for campervans and tents and so forth – are very convenient to the venue.' Forest Fest: Dexys on stage at the Co Laois music festival in 2024. Photograph: Fionn Mulvey An older audience, Meagher says, tends to be more discerning. There is less focus on decor and more on functionality. The main logistical difficulty for Forest Fest is accessing the site, a problem that has been made much easier over the last couple of years through the building of access roads. That has aided the organisational process as well as helping attendees with additional needs. 'Thankfully the number of wheelchair users and people with accessibility issues, those numbers have been growing year on year for us,' Meagher says. 'I think the word has gone out that we're a very handy, convenient site and it's on the flat. It's all very manageable. Basically, Emo becomes the venue – the village becomes the venue. All the roads are closed off and the whole community gets behind the event and welcomes people. 'Within the venue footprint is our local national school. That facility is made available for disability-access parking. Wheelchair users are able to drive directly in to the site – they're parking up on tarmac basketball courts and they're literally one minute away from the gate in to the venue.' Forest Fest: Some of the crowd at the Co Laois music festival in 2024. Photograph: Brian Bastick Every outdoor Irish festival has to deal with the looming threat of bad weather, and 2023 was a trial for Forest Fest, when storms delayed the arrival of equipment and some camper van guests had to be moved to a site not intended for use. Since then they have doubled down on contingency plans. 'I was being blue-lighted around in the back of a Garda car to farmers in the middle of the night, looking for brown bales of hay and sand,' Meagher says. 'The local community and farmers were unbelievable the way they supported us that year. Only for that support I don't think we would have been able to keep the gates open. It was a learning curve, but I'd never want to go through it again.' Vantastival SoFFt Productions , an arts organisation and production house, has been operating across a range of events for the past five years, sparked by SoFFt Nights, a series of outdoor, socially distanced gigs that it staged during the pandemic. At the centre of a core team of five are Conor Jacob and Natasha Duffy, who each have a wealth of experience in promotion and production management. SoFFt looks after staging and production for Irish events ranging from Live at the Marquee, in Cork, to concerts at the Iveagh Gardens, in Dublin. Duffy is the business's creative director; Jacob is head of design. When we speak they're focused on Vantastival , a weekend music and camper van festival in Louth in September. Regardless of the size of the event, Jacob explains, the process is similar. 'It's really important to always try and think holistically,' he says. 'Whether it's high stakes, with a lot of gear and a lot of people, or something intimate and small, people do inherently recognise when something feels right and when it doesn't. That has to be respected.' SoFFt's work usually involves three tiers of contributors. Outside of the five central figures, any project involves enlisting the help of freelancers and vendors. Beyond that there is a local crew described as the backbone of the production, who are crucial to the physical set-up. Versatility is vital to making the business function. 'On any one job we could be employing 30 people a day,' Jacob says. SoFFt has developed a reputation for events that cater for attendees with additional needs. It has worked with South Dublin County Council on programmes designed for neurodivergent audiences, and Duffy keeps a close eye on emerging trends in the space – she mentions Coldplay's use of vibrating vests to enhance hearing-impaired fans' concert experience. 'One of the first things we did when we were running SoFFt Nights during Covid was set up two different sensory areas for people who were neurodivergent,' she says. 'We had the sensory cave, where we had a neurodivergent artist build a big soundscape, and we turned it into a decompression zone. 'We spent a lot of time marketing that. The outcome was we had a lot more people with children with autism and ADHD at the events, because they knew they were welcome and that we were dedicating time, space and money to making sure the event was inclusive and accessible.' Though they also facilitate larger events, there is something about smaller, independent festivals that ties in with SoFFt's ethos. Logistically, it becomes more possible to attend to the needs of the individual. 'When you're doing something on a smaller scale you become really invested in the audience experience,' Duffy says. 'You become really interested. When they walk on-site, what are they seeing, feeling and experiencing? What sort of interactive, immersive elements might you have? 'Your design becomes so important because it's all about the vibe. It's all about the other people. It's about creating nice nooks and crannies for people to sit around and talk. With the smaller festivals as well, they're very much about community. By the end of Vantastival everybody has met each other and built up a rapport. That's probably one of the reasons it has maintained a loyal audience.'
Cosmopolitan
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
The ultimate festival packing list: What to take to Glasto, Reading or Leeds
So, you've snagged a ticket to the festival of the year (or maybe three), and you're already dreaming of glitter, tunes and late-night cheesy chips. But before you get lost in the lineup, let's talk about the actual main stage: your packing list. Festivals can be a chaotic blend of freedom, music, questionable hygiene, and core memories – but forget one key item and you'll be spiralling before the first headliner hits the stage. Because nothing kills the buzz faster than soggy socks, dead phone batteries or the realisation you forgot toilet roll. We've been there, done that and learned from our mistakes... So, take note of the following essentials you need to pack for those upcoming festivals (Glastonbury, we're looking @ you). You can thank me later. Want to be in with a chance of winning tickets to Forwards Festival? Enter our competition at Club Cosmo, where two winners will each win a pair of tickets for the festival that includes performers such as Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith, The Last Dinner Party, Barry Can't Swim, Confidence Man, English Teacher, Ezra Collective and many more. SIGN UP FOR CLUB COSMO FOR FREE HERE Aka: Don't leave home without these Aka: Main character energy Aka: If you've got room to spare in your rucksack Now go forth, dance all night, sleep a little, and above all, enjoy! Festival season is officially here! Lia Mappoura (she/her) is the Beauty Writer at Cosmopolitan UK. Covering everything from viral celebrity hair and makeup news to the latest trend predictions, she's an expert in recognising the season's next big beauty look (before it ends up all over your social media feeds). You'll usually find her putting TikTok's recent beauty hacks to the Hype Test, challenging the gender-makeup binary and social stereotypes, or fangirling over the time Kourtney Kardashian viewed her Instagram Story (yes, it's true). Find her also on LinkedIn.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Absolutely gutted': £16,500 Glastonbury packages won't be fulfilled after company goes bust
Glastonbury ticket holders have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after a luxury glamping company went bust. Festival-goers who booked their tickets and accommodation with Yurtel have been told the company can no longer fulfil its orders and has ceased trading with immediate effect. Money: Some had spent more than £16,500 through Yurtel, with hospitality packages starting at £10,000. In an email, Yurtel said it was unable to provide customers with any refunds, advising them to go through a third party to claim back the money once the liquidation process had started. To add insult to injury, customers found out that Yurtel had failed to purchase the tickets for the 25 -29 June festival that they thought had been booked as part of their packages. In a letter to customers, Yurtel's founder Mickey Luke said: "I am deeply sorry that you have received this devastating news and am writing to apologise. "Yurtel is a hospitality business who pride themselves on looking after our customers, delivering a unique product and striving to create a better client experience year on year. Due to a culmination of factors over the past years, we have failed to be able to continue to do so and are heartbroken." The Money blog has contacted Yurtel to see if the business has anything to add. Several people have also reported that they were unable to pay by credit card at the time of booking, with the company instead asking for a bank transfer. This means they are unable to use chargeback to get a refund. You can read more about that here... 'I feel really ripped off' One of those customers was Lydia, who told Money she was "absolutely gutted" after spending thousands. This year's festival was "really important" to her as she was forced to miss out last year despite having tickets due to a health issue that left her needing an operation. "We tried to get Glastonbury tickets through the normal kind of route and couldn't get them," the accountant said. She ended up booking with Yurtel in November, sending over all the funds a month later. "It's super expensive. It was really, really important to us. Last year was gutting with the surgery and the whole situation around that was very traumatic, so it was a very special thing to then get the opportunity to go this year. It's really gutting," she said. "I feel really ripped off and I'm really disappointed in the festival, to be honest. I think that response is just pretty rubbish." More from Money:How roaming fees compare by network Yurtel did not pay for festival tickets, Glastonbury says Glastonbury said Yurtel was one of a small number of campsites local to the festival site - Worthy Farm - with limited access to purchase hospitality tickets for their guests in certain circumstances. But, it had not paid for any tickets for the 2025 festival before going into liquidation, and so no tickets were secured for its guests, it added. Every year, Glastonbury's website says that ticketing firm See Tickets is the only official source for buying tickets for the festival. "As such we have no records of their bookings and are unable to take any responsibility for the services and the facilities they offer," the festival said. "Anyone who has paid Yurtel for a package including Glastonbury 2025 tickets will need to pursue any potential recompense available from them via the liquidation process as outlined in their communication to you. "We are not able to incur the cost or responsibility of their loss or replacement." Instead, the festival has urged Yurtel customers to contact Yurtel@ to confirm their consent for personal data and details of their party to be shared with Glastonbury. "We will then be able to provide details of alternative potential sources for those customers to purchase tickets and accommodation for this year's festival," the festival added. 'Only option' on offer is 'pretty weak' Lydia said she agreed for her details to be passed on to Glastonbury, and the festival has told her the only option is to pay for the tickets again from another provider. "They are not giving us the opportunity to buy the tickets at face value. We would then have to go again and spend another stupidly unreasonable amount of money to be able to go. It's pretty disappointing," she added. "It's pretty weak that the only option they're giving people who've already lost out on huge amounts of money is to go and spend huge amounts more money." It's left her feeling like she won't go to the festival this year - and she's not hopeful about getting her money back. She said: "To be honest, I just don't think I can afford it. "It's already so much money wasted, and I'm not at all optimistic we'll get anything back."
