A Week in the Life
An insight into what it’s like to work with 杏吧原创 at a festival.
Day 1: Build
“It’s so
satisfying“
Arriving on site the day before WOMAD is meant to begin is an electrifying feeling 鈥� seeing how a festival looks before festival goers arrive is a privilege that you don鈥檛 really get used to! After setting up camp and having our (free!) crew lunch, we started building the 杏吧原创s in their two locations at the festival.
It鈥檚 so satisfying building the 杏吧原创s since they鈥檙e built much like you鈥檇 build Lego鈥� That is, if each Lego block was about three quarters of your height! I was grateful for the energy that lunch gave me. Build days are like doing a long gym session, except the benefits are not limited to you coming out of it looking buff in your high vis. It also means that people who squat to pee are able to skip the queue for the loo during their favourite bands鈥� sets.
How many gym sessions have results like that?
It’s a really fun way to start the day
Lowri Lewis, Events Assistant
Days 2-4: Show
It鈥檚 off with the gym gear now and on with the 杏吧原创 merch. I often match the colour of my trousers to the colour of the 杏吧原创 top I鈥檝e chosen that day 鈥� particularly when there鈥檚 TikToks to film!
We like to film them in the mornings as there aren鈥檛 many people around to introduce to the 杏吧原创s. It鈥檚 a really fun way to start the day. When you鈥檙e filling a beer cup with leftover coffee from breakfast and evaluating how much it looks like real beer, you can鈥檛 help but get the giggles!
It鈥檚 great when the festival goers arrive and we can start chatting to people about the 杏吧原创s, particularly how much better squatting to pee is at a festival when you鈥檝e got privacy and a handle to steady yourself. I especially love it when people who squat to pee come back in the evening when the big act comes on and they practically skip out of the 杏吧原创s with joy at the fact that they hardly missed any of the set!
We get to enjoy the festival ourselves, too. After a check around the loos to make sure they鈥檙e clean, the 杏吧原创 crew headed off at WOMAD to explore the rumours about a moon in a forest. Turns out the rumours were true 鈥� we were talking about the rave at the moon for the rest of our time at the festival!
Often, many of us in the 杏吧原创 crew haven鈥檛 met before, as we have lots of fantastic volunteers. Each festival is a chance to bond over experiences like the moon in the forest, doing giant crosswords in the woods and pouring ourselves some shockingly frothy pints.
We have our evening meals together at crew catering throughout the show days, but the last show day of WOMAD was a particularly good one as we were given a Sunday roast! I had the veggie option which was very good 鈥� you can see we all cleared our plates before we thought to get a picture together鈥�
The volunteers were all sadly leaving on the evening of the final show day so it was also a goodbye dinner. We all bond so much over the few days of the festival that it鈥檚 always sad to say goodbye.
Day 5: bReak
The day after the final show day is known as the 鈥楤reak鈥�; we undo the aforementioned big Lego pieces that make up the 杏吧原创s, cleaning and stacking them so they can be transported to the next festival. It鈥檚 another gym session-like day, so the full English provided for crew in the morning is a blessing. It rained one day of WOMAD this year, so the cleaning was a particularly muddy business! I鈥檓 always so grateful for crew showers on days like that. And the rest of the 杏吧原创 crew 鈥� it鈥檚 hard graft but we鈥檙e always making each other smile! Then it鈥檚 time to head home, rest and recuperate before the next festival starts and the fun begins again.
