The Variety Bazaar

[stuartbert two hats]

40 minutes ago, Penrhos said:

Regardless of what happens - worst case GF moves and becomes VB to GF & VB being alternate years (or any combination of splits).

Logistically it makes sense to run a festival every year and as Mr E has stated wherever it is it'll be the same weekend (the one after summer solstice) it'll still be wet more than dry.

The biggest thing is whatever they create it needs to have the same atmosphere as GF or it'll become another TiTP (and we all know what happend to that when they moved it).

No it doesn't.  It needs to be good.  It's not going to be the same as Glastonbury, the organisers are well aware of this.  It needs to be good, but it's not going to feel like Glastonbury, although it has every chance of being ace.  Especially if they're lucky on the first year and get the sun - because I highly doubt the new site will have as much drainage as Worthy.

[Tartan_Glasto]

1 hour ago, Penrhos said:

Regardless of what happens - worst case GF moves and becomes VB to GF & VB being alternate years (or any combination of splits).

Logistically it makes sense to run a festival every year and as Mr E has stated wherever it is it'll be the same weekend (the one after summer solstice) it'll still be wet more than dry.

The biggest thing is whatever they create it needs to have the same atmosphere as GF or it'll become another TiTP (and we all know what happend to that when they moved it).

To be fair, I think it was a lot more than just the move that killed off TITP. The average age of the ticket holder was getting younger and younger, line up attracted a certain clientele, drug use was rife, security was lacking. Two deaths before the festival even started last year. 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Tartan_Glasto

[st dan]

Personally, I hope they try to make it as different from the current Glastonbury as possible, rather than chase the current feeling and vibe of the festival at Worthy.

There is nothing worse than a poor imitation of an already great brand. If they try to replicate it at VB, it will almost certainly fail .. and miserably. Just throwing Arcadia/Block 9/The Park etc into a random field would be so underwhelming, and lead to obvious comparisons. 

Whereas if it was to be created as being so totally different and that the two couldn't be compared, then I think there is a great chance it could be successful, given Emily's experience and contacts. She knows what people want, and I would be excited to see what she could create with a blank canvas. 

[eFestivals]

9 minutes ago, st dan said:

Personally, I hope they try to make it as different from the current Glastonbury as possible, rather than chase the current feeling and vibe of the festival at Worthy.

There is nothing worse than a poor imitation of an already great brand. If they try to replicate it at VB, it will almost certainly fail .. and miserably. Just throwing Arcadia/Block 9/The Park etc into a random field would be so underwhelming, and lead to obvious comparisons. 

Whereas if it was to be created as being so totally different and that the two couldn't be compared, then I think there is a great chance it could be successful, given Emily's experience and contacts. She knows what people want, and I would be excited to see what she could create with a blank canvas. 

To my mind, a name of Variety Bazaar means less main-stage-big-band focus and more variety.

And if that's what it turns out to be, I reckon that'll be a good move. The days of massive headliners are dying out as the massive headliners shuffle off this mortal coil.

[russycarps]

12 minutes ago, st dan said:

Personally, I hope they try to make it as different from the current Glastonbury as possible, rather than chase the current feeling and vibe of the festival at Worthy.

There is nothing worse than a poor imitation of an already great brand. If they try to replicate it at VB, it will almost certainly fail .. and miserably. Just throwing Arcadia/Block 9/The Park etc into a random field would be so underwhelming, and lead to obvious comparisons. 

Whereas if it was to be created as being so totally different and that the two couldn't be compared, then I think there is a great chance it could be successful, given Emily's experience and contacts. She knows what people want, and I would be excited to see what she could create with a blank canvas. 

exactly right.

problem is, the whole purpose of the festival is to keep the festival team busy in the fallow years (if we take emilys comments at face value) so it will be the same old crew.

Without new blood, I cant see there being that much of a radical departure from the current festival. Add to this the fear of failure, and the urge to "stick with what you know best" will be strong I suspect.

Hopefully that is not the case though, and they are given a blank canvas. Everything down to the font on the signposts should be different imo.

Edited January 23, 2017 by russycarps

[shuttlep]

the more I hear Variety Bazaar, the more I think of an adult magazine from the 70's

[DeanoL]

3 hours ago, russycarps said:

exactly right.

problem is, the whole purpose of the festival is to keep the festival team busy in the fallow years (if we take emilys comments at face value) so it will be the same old crew.

Without new blood, I cant see there being that much of a radical departure from the current festival. Add to this the fear of failure, and the urge to "stick with what you know best" will be strong I suspect.

Hopefully that is not the case though, and they are given a blank canvas. Everything down to the font on the signposts should be different imo.

I guess the one concern I have might be the one people are sort of skirting around here. And that's the festival is more than the sum of its parts. It does a lot of things well but few really stand out.

Yes, it normally has some big names, but then also some that disappoint. Shangri-la is great but doesn't change more and has been increasingly more focused on the dance music, but its dance music offering certainly doesn't stand up to the big dance festivals either. And it's immersive elements are no Punchdrunk. Arcadia do their own shows elsewhere now.

The Theatre and Circus fields are terrific, and I can't think of any other festival that does anything similar. I don't even know of any pure theatre / cabaret festivals that do anything on that scale outside of Glastonbury (are there are?) - but even then, it suffers from repeating so many of the same acts year after year, there's little innovation to it.

It's the same across the site really - that's not meant to be negative, just that part of the appeal of Glastonbury is that it's all in one place. Each individual element is done better elsewhere. 

[Sawdusty surfer]

I think the Boomtown crew could help with VB.

[stuartbert two hats]

54 minutes ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

I think the Boomtown crew could help with VB.

Do you have reason to believe they might? Or do you just think it'd be a good idea?

[Sawdusty surfer]

24 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Do you have reason to believe they might? Or do you just think it'd be a good idea?

a ) possibly (some of them)

b  )  yes

c ) note to self... don't overuse brackets

 

Edited January 23, 2017 by Sawdusty Surfer

[eFestivals]

12 hours ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

I think the Boomtown crew could help with VB.

what you mean is that the shangri-la crew help at boomtown who might help at VB.

[musky]

On 23/01/2017 at 6:48 PM, Sawdusty Surfer said:

I think the Boomtown crew could help with VB.

I was wondering if the Variety Bazaar name might be hinting at a themed festival in the same way that Boomtown is themed.

[Sawdusty surfer]

2 hours ago, musky said:

I was wondering if the Variety Bazaar name might be hinting at a themed festival in the same way that Boomtown is themed.

Compared with Glastonbury, fewer main stages with the festival focusing on more weird stuff, off the wall stuff. Could work well and without the cash sucking Mega Bands would be financially  more viable. The clue is in the name... VB

(Not the first to say this)

Edited January 26, 2017 by Sawdusty Surfer

[Sawdusty surfer]

On 24/01/2017 at 6:55 AM, eFestivals said:

what you mean is that the shangri-la crew help at boomtown who might help at VB.

Many SL crew are also Boomtown crew but the majority of BT crew don't work SL.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Sawdusty Surfer

[eFestivals]

7 hours ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Many SL crew are also Boomtown crew but the majority of BT crew don't work SL.

well, yeah - there's much more to build at boomtown.

[carlosj]

9 hours ago, Sawdusty Surfer said:

Compared with Glastonbury, fewer main stages with the festival focusing on more weird stuff, off the wall stuff. Could work well and without the cash sucking Mega Bands would be financially  more viable. The clue is in the name... VB

(Not the first to say this)

That would be good, not for weirdness' sake, but doing something different instead of playing safe.

[stuartbert two hats]

Meandering opinion piece by Rick Leach, who wrote the multiple Glastonbury memoirs:

http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2017/01/glastonbury-festival-due-end/

P.S. he didn't start going until 2010, so doesn't actually know what he's talking about with pre-fence Glasto, even if some of his points aren't too bad.

[incident]

47 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

P.S. he didn't start going until 2010, so doesn't actually know what he's talking about with pre-fence Glasto, even if some of his points aren't too bad.

Is he the guy who spent his first few festivals shuttling between the Pyramid and Other stages, and was then surprised when on his 3rd or 4th visit he found that the Festival actually extended South of the Railway Track and East of the Main Drag?

Yes, I still resent having paid out for those books having read a (very wrong) recommendation for them.

[stuartbert two hats]

17 minutes ago, incident said:

Is he the guy who spent his first few festivals shuttling between the Pyramid and Other stages, and was then surprised when on his 3rd or 4th visit he found that the Festival actually extended South of the Railway Track and East of the Main Drag?

Yes, I still resent having paid out for those books having read a (very wrong) recommendation for them.

It is. But to be fair, he really did start to appreciate the festival properly by the last book, which I'm rather fond of.

[Gnomicide]

There are people who say you shouldn't look too much into Glastonbury before you go as it will ruin the surprise and excitement when you get there. 

The first of Rick's books (the only one I've read so I can't comment on the others) is proof that this is a crock of shit. When I read it, I found it hugely infuriating. He got there late Thursday and as @incidenthas said, he only visits a couple of stages and even misses stuff on them while he goes to get another coffee. Maddening. 

[Gnomicide]

11 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

It is. But to be fair, he really did start to appreciate the festival properly by the last book, which I'm rather fond of.

Was that about his fourth or fifth visit?

[incident]

12 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

It is. But to be fair, he really did start to appreciate the festival properly by the last book, which I'm rather fond of.

Don't think I made it that far to be fair.

[musky]

1 hour ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Meandering opinion piece by Rick Leach, who wrote the multiple Glastonbury memoirs:

http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2017/01/glastonbury-festival-due-end/

P.S. he didn't start going until 2010, so doesn't actually know what he's talking about with pre-fence Glasto, even if some of his points aren't too bad.

Thanks for the link, but I think the valid points are vastly outweighed by the utter bollocks in there.

I think I'll be giving his memoirs a miss.

[fatyeti24]

3 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

Meandering opinion piece by Rick Leach, who wrote the multiple Glastonbury memoirs:

http://www.getintothis.co.uk/2017/01/glastonbury-festival-due-end/

P.S. he didn't start going until 2010, so doesn't actually know what he's talking about with pre-fence Glasto, even if some of his points aren't too bad.

"Meandering opinion piece" is a beautiful euphemism saying as much in three words as he manages in 1000.

[Bisque]

I'm thinking "meh" to this at the moment.

But I bet when tickets go on sale I'll be scrambling to get one.