From performing on the Pyramid Stage to volunteering behind the scenes, Frome residents were out in force at this year’s sun-soaked Glastonbury Festival.
Among the performers was Supergrass drummer and Frome resident Danny Goffey, who played with the band during their headline set on the Pyramid Stage on Friday 27th June.
Singer-songwriter Alex Priddice also took to the stage, delivering a folk and acoustic set during the festival, while local music promoter Leander Morales played an intimate acoustic performance for production crews at the Woodsies backstage bar, The Fox and Badger.
Leander said, “This was a great opportunity to just do what I love doing. Glastonbury Festival itself was as mind-blowing as ever. With hundreds of bands, DJs, artists performing across hundreds of stages. As an artist, I personally love the experience it brings each year. As an event organiser, it gives me the opportunity to find new bands and artists.”
Beyond the performances, many of Frome’s community groups were involved in supporting the festival. Frome Swimming Club volunteered while raising funds for the club. Dominic Granville from the club said, “It’s brilliant and a great way to raise funds while giving something back to the festival community.”
The Pod, which supports young people and adults with additional needs, returned this year as stewards, helping to marshal crowds and keep the event running smoothly.
One particularly notable role was filled by resident Rose Hiron-Grimes, who volunteered with Love to Farm, a group focused on reducing environmental pollution at the festival.
Speaking to Frome Times at the festival, Rose said, “We had a team of 140 stewards supporting the festival in trying to reduce environmental pollution from human urine. We are basically the ‘P patrol.’
“We were here to deter and educate people about why it’s important not to use the hedges as a toilet. There are streams and waterways throughout the whole site that flow into rivers and lakes. If there’s too much human urine in those waterways, it damages the wildlife.”
Other Frome residents contributed to the festival experience in different ways. Laurie Clothier led yoga classes in the Healing Fields, while Tamarin Rogers, who works at E&E Aesthetics in Frome, provided massage therapy to festivalgoers for her 13th consecutive year.
On Sunday 29th June, queues lined the town centre as many Frome residents made the most of the festival’s day-ticket option, gathering to board the annual ‘Glastonbury bus’ for a direct trip to the site.
