Warts and all

I’ve put off this write up for a long time, often due to pure unadulterated laziness, and sometimes, just because I didn’t know how to say what I wanted to say.

I endeavour to procrastinate no more, so here it is, in raw and undiluted script.

Anyone that read my ‘essay’ after my first festival, NGG 2007, will know what an incredible and profound impact it had on me.  I still carry that, it became an inbuilt part of me, and to be honest, attending that festival at the time I did, in the way I did and with the people I did has truly helped me embrace who I am right now.  Anyone interested that didn’t read it, can do so here..

http://www.nggonline.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=37.0

At NGG 2008, however, things were a little different…

The friends we attended with last year couldn’t make it this year, having only just seen the birth of their beautiful daughter Elva, they did call to ask for day tickets, to no avail.

Disappointment number two. 

Number one was weeks earlier.

Disappointment number one involved my good friend and amazing musician, Andy.   Rather than repeat myself, the details can be seen here…

http://www.nggonline.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=81.0

As is laid out in text within that discussion, valid points had arisen.  Why provide a phone number if nobody is going to ever answer it?  That makes no sense and is no better than the actions of ‘big companies’.  It bothered me, it still does.

Disappointment number three reared its ugly head when we got off the train and went to board the £1 bus from the station to the camp, which had kindly been provided by NGG to promote public transport.

There had been no booking system in place for this service, it was just offered out there as if space was not a problem.  Turned out, it really was.

The ‘one’ bus provided by NGG was full in no time and set off back to the camp, claiming only ONE journey was planned and he would not be returning.

After waiting at the station for more than an hour, NGG decided to back up their promise of £1 connections by calling in taxis, so we got to the camp eventually, a little worn.

Disappointment numbers 4 and 5 were waiting at the gate.

I mean, if there must be a ‘punters’ entrance, does it have to be called such?  Am I just a ‘punter’?  I’d much rather be called a gatherer, or one who gathers, or one of the gathered, this is a gathering after all.

Then there was the lady with the straight brown hair and the walkie talkie who would become a challenge for me over the weekend.  She never smiled, not once, not even when smiled at.  That too bothered me.  If you’re a part of the team there, and someone smiles at you, please smile back, it really won’t hurt you.

This lady didn’t smile once, not once all weekend and I tried to get one every time I saw her.

Ah well, moving on.

The clarity of the Milky Way in the beautifully clear night sky on the Friday evening still has me in awe.  It was fantastic, like nothing I have ever seen, I only wish I had possession of a camera at the time that could have caught it.

I did take my usual barrage of piccies over the weekend, most of which can be seen in these two galleries, and in themselves they tell the story of the weekend.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37277&l=d0c82&id=694020966
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=37301&l=c5644&id=694020966

It was a blast, weather aside, and was a much needed ‘base touch’.

The weekend went on, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all, little did we know that disappointment number 6 was waiting just around the corner.

The same transport that had been offered to get to the camp was of course offered away from the camp too, and many people took advantage of it.  It would have been easy for the team to learn from the mistakes, or lack of planning, from the journey in, but that unfortunately didn’t happen.

After much malarkey, and having to explain, then re-explain, then explain again to the main gate staff what had happened on the way here with the transport, they eventually ordered more cabs to take people to the station.

Now here’s where it gets well out of order.

The ‘one’ mini bus provided by the camp took it’s load full, all paying one pound each, as promised, to the station.

The group of eight that I was in were all told that we would have to pay any ‘excess’ of an agreed amount between NGG and the cab driver, this was after already paying our pound, by the way.

We refused to pay it.

And rightly so.

...............

I will be returning to NGG this year, there are no two ways about it, and I sincerely hope that if any offer of connections is made again to promote public transport, then it is properly planned and ALL ‘gatherers’ are expected to pay the same amount.

I also hope that if the 'none smiling lady' is there again, she actually learns to enjoy herself, or can at least look like she is when ‘gatherers’ are smiling at her.

Is it really too much to ask?

Well, there it is, warts and all, hope you didn’t find it too long winded a read..

I sincerely hope to see you in a field somewhere, sometime in August. 

Funny innit how everyone's experience is unique. For me NGG 2008 was the best it's been in a long time. Immediately after it I wrote this review:

Very very good and very very green. NGG has definitely got its spirit back. A magical rural site and just about the right amount of people; seriously good quality services and entertainment; lots of fun and creativity balanced with plenty of environmental-awareness stuff to see and be involved in. The Camp Ball on Saturday saw blokes-in-frocks getting their knees and hairy cleavages out with frivolous and hilarious results. A fantastic little festival all round... can't think of anything negative to say about it at all!

The Weirdigan annexe hosted Richard's "Kinotastic Solar Cinema" in the evenings and "Banjo Bill's Acoustic Lounge" into the early hours and beyond. The films were a right mix of funny, surreal, exciting and thought-provoking. The music was sublime, silly and everything inbetween. Bill was a star with apparently boundless energy and enthusiasm. Dancing around and on the benches was a regular occurrence. The Wierdstring Band dipped in and out of Weirdigans between sets at Sunny Jim's and on the Main Stage. Michael's wood-fired pizzas, organic tipples smuggled in from the NGG bar and the usual Weirdigan snacks & brews fuelled it all nicely. Across site other delicious stalls and venues included Nomad, Veggies, Tat-for-Tibet, SAM's Sauna, Andy's Bread Oven and many more.

Security, Welfare, First Aid and the Medical Herbalists were low-key but on the ball, always friendly, always on call, working together to keep everyone safe & well.

Weirdigans 'Best Ever' Awards for: Compost loos; food waste composting; women's urinals; recycling collection; gorgeous raggedy flags; permaculture garden & activities; plumbing; hot tubs...

Huge Thanks to everyone who has worked so hard during this and previous years to make NGG such a lovely lovely place, time and thing. We really appreciate you :-)

So, now waiting with baited breath for 2009 dates...

And, oh yeah, the people who make NGG happen do work very very hard but aren't perfect... so try to have some empathy with frazzled festie organisers when - inevitably - something goes wrong this year

Good review elf.  Where else have you posted it?  Is it on this site somewhere else, or have you posted it elsewhere?

Personally I think it very important to point out what could have gone better, and as I wrote, for me last year it was all on the organisers side.  The eateries, entertainments, amenities and attractions were, of course, all oustanding.

Running a non-profit organistion myself, dealing with hundreds of people, I know how important feedback is, and to me, the not answering of a phone for over two months, and the badly organised connections, noit to mention the never smiling lady, would all be things I would want to know about.  You can't change what you don't acknowledge.

I originally posted that review on the Weirdigans website and wrote a letter saying similar to the NGG crew and organisers. I agree feedback about problems is really important, as long as there's empathy and positivity woven through. As a festival trader I always give feedback to festival organisers afterwards and this was the first entirely postive feedback I'd ever given! As far as NGG organisers go, they're all volunteers doing it for love, with a minimal budget and they have lots of other stuff going on in their lives that has to take priority - jobs, kids etc - so I'm amazed they manage it as well as they do. It's not like commercial festivals where it's someones paid or full-time job to answer the phone, book bands or monitor the forum... so some things are bound to slip through the gaps and then the stress of slippage can wipe smiles off faces...

Hopefully last year's problems get sorted this year and the problems this year don't put anyone (organisers or festie-goers) off from ever doing it again!

Oh yeah - I don't see 'punters' as a negative term btw, and I guess whoever made that sign didn't either. To me it's just a colloquial word for describing someone who goes to a festival, event, market, cafe, stall etc to enjoy what's on offer; to differentiate them from the person or people hosting the event, or working or performing at the event or whatever. That's not to say 'punters' can't get involved on all kinds of levels; or that crew can't enjoy what's on offer... the term's just useful short-hand where a distinction does need to be made, for example at gates. So if you come into Weirdigans cafe and hear us talking about punters, please don't be offended