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"Be The Media!" at Glastonbury

JimDog* | 25.06.2009 16:07 | Animal Liberation | Culture | Indymedia

Maybe not to everyone's tastes, but this years Glastonbury Festival is in full swing and Indymedia is there to cover the goings on that are relevant to the activist community and to reach out to get people involved and excited about participating in Indymedia collectives around the country. A mobile "Be the media" centre has been provided by the Northern Indymedia collective at the Veggies Catering Campaign pitch in the green futures field and will be running alt-media workshops throughout the weekend in conjunction with IMC Nottinghamshire. Don't hate the media, BE THE MEDIA!

Indymedia at Glastonbury
Indymedia at Glastonbury







Now in their 25th year of campaigning for a vegan lifestyle and reaching out to all comers with free Vegan food days, catering for a wide variety of events and generally filling peoples tums, the Veggies Catering Campaign has kindly given over their campaigning space to Indymedia this year, to provide a "be the media" space and skillshares to anyone with an interest in promoting and participating in Indymedia in the UK.

The Northern IMC collective have brought with them a bike-powered generator, computer equipment, internet connectivity and a whopping great solar panel to ensure that anyone who has news that they need to get out, who hasn't got a voice elsewhere, can stand up and be counted.

The site here is full of campaigners from a wide variety of backgrounds, working for real grassroots, radical change. A lot of focus when people are talking about Glastonbury festival tends to go on the corporate, commercial aspect of it all, but a large amount of space at the festival is given over to campaigns of all kinds.

Most notably this year is an entire field that has been given to the Climate Camp, which is now packed with tents and people discussing ways to use direct action and community outreach to make a real and noticeable difference in the fight against runaway climate chaos. Several members of the London Indymedia Collective are helping to organise the event here and are actively outreaching to people for the big event this year, the annual Climate Camp.

Also of note is that this years Climate Camp is not going to have the satellite broadcast equipment that the Psand folks have provided in previous years, and so the "Be the media" facility that IMC Northern/Notinghamshire have brought to this years festival is a demonstration of the kind of thing people need to start thinking about organising for themselves in connection with their local neighbourhoods and nearest IMC collective.

Anyone who is attending this years' festival who would like to know more about citizen journalism, Indymedia or just want a good GMO free vegan meal, are encouraged to come find us at the Veggies cafe in the Green Futures field over the Old Railway Track.

Over the course of the weekend, there will be more updates and pictures from Glastonbury, Veggies and the Climate Camp field so keep an eye out for them, but for now here are some pictures to show you all what you are missing! Again, anyone with an interest in being the media, come find Indymedia at the Veggies Catering Campaign pitch, just inside the Green Futures field underneath the giant upside-down McDonalds sign!

Read it, write it, do it!!!

JimDog*
- e-mail: imc-northern-contact@lists.indymedia.org
- Homepage: http://leedsbradford.indymedia.org.uk

Additions

Some more snaps of Veggies & Climate Camp

27.06.2009 20:49










Here are a few more shots of Veggies in the Greenfields and Climate Camp. Very interesting article.

Mudlark

Comments

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be the media here too!

25.06.2009 16:25

wish there were more people being the media at no border camp here in calais, if just 1% of the people who go to glastonbury had come here....???!!!

no borders

Totally agree!

25.06.2009 16:38

Definitely we need to work harder to represent activists from the regions in the uk who are attending international events. This means we need more and better dialogue, discussion and participation in our regions, and a way to collaborate with other IMC's around the world.

Please don't see it as a slur on the no borders campaign that we have no presence there (we do but through people who are not as such active in Northern IMC and have been asked to provide coverage, hopefully something will come of this soon), we were specifically asked by the Veggies campaign to provide a facility at their pitch here. If you would like us to cover your campaign, we have the facilities and equipment to do so so please contact us at  imc-northern-contact@lists.indymedia.org and I promise we will do our best to sort something out. We are here to provide a media service to you, whatever your campaign and if possible we will give you a voice (bearing in mind we are all volunteers so it might not always be possible but we will commit to doing our best). I wish your campaign all the best and look forward to collaborating with you all soon! In Solidarity!

JimDog*
mail e-mail: imc-northern-contact@lists.indymedia.org
- Homepage: http://leedsbradford.indymedia.org.uk

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This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Clarification

25.06.2009 17:26

IMC Northern is not yet a recognised Indymedia. A group have people have maybe applied but that application is awaiting approval. IMC Northern is not affiliated with the real Indymedia UK

IMCister

What the hell has a commercial festival got to do with activism?

25.06.2009 17:45

What the hell has an overpriced commercial festival got to do with activism?

Activist

:)

25.06.2009 18:46

Glastonbury isn't really my scene but indymedia being there is important because there is a huge number of people attending. It's those people who have never heard of indymedia who we need to reach out to as well as create a useful medium for ourselves. The people who don't know about all the amazing activism that is going on in the UK and also the important struggles we are fighting for have access to this at Glastonbury. Indymedia can't be everywhere all of the time but if we can get a load of people interested and talking about it then let's do it! That is activism, if more people knew about all the shit that was going on and questioned the mainstream media i think we would be starting off from a much better place.

In Unity, With Strength, Through Action!

nika

re @ Activist

25.06.2009 18:55

it's called reaching out of the activist/vegan/anarcho/whatever ghetto we tend to enclose ourselves in, simple as that. i'm guessing most of the people at the festival never asked the question 'why vegan' or 'why grassroots' or 'why non-hierarchical' and lots more... it might be their first contact with those ideas.
good job to all involved, hope you get a lot of interest from the crowds AND have some fun while at it :)

chopped pork

Ghetto

25.06.2009 19:58

"it's called reaching out of the activist/vegan/anarcho/whatever ghetto we tend to enclose ourselves in, simple as that. i'm guessing most of the people at the festival never asked the question 'why vegan' or 'why grassroots' or 'why non-hierarchical' and lots more... it might be their first contact with those ideas.
good job to all involved, hope you get a lot of interest from the crowds AND have some fun while at it :) "

I'm all for activists breaking out of their ghettos, but surely outreach at festivals like Glastonbury is a large part of why we remain in a hippy/alternative ghetto? I'm not against people doing stalls, etc at festivals by any means, just that things like this are one of the few places where outreach seems to be done? There are already quite a lot of hippy/punk/dreadlocked/alternative types involved within the activist scene aren't there? And yes all sorts of people go to Glastonbury now, but this "outreach" will no doubt mostly be based within the Green Fields part of the site i imagine?

But fair enuff, good luck to all involved, and hopefully a good blag to get folks in!

Anybody and everybody

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Glastonbury is a corporate pile of shite

25.06.2009 20:03

What the fuck's it got to do with activism, on any level?

Concerned of Halton Moor

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Free speech?

25.06.2009 20:10

Oh no. Not here.

Concerned of Halton Moor

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a bit like saying

25.06.2009 22:39

i've helped on stalls promoting various causes in Briggate at the heart of Leeds' shopping district, including antifascism and Palestinian solidarity.

That street is full of Harvey Nichools / Starbucks / Macdonalds / corporate wank.

You gonna tell me i shouldn't have done that? "what the hell has an overpriced corporate shopping street got to do with activism?"?

that's yer logic, "Activist", you twat

To Jimdog et al - keep up the outreach, nice one

s

Not where, but who.

26.06.2009 07:15

Its not that Glastonbury is a pile of poo, which it is. Its who one spends ones time
doing outreach to. Leeds city center is great. Loads of ordinary people there, who
have little exposure to radical views. Glastonbury on the other hand is full of people
who have lots of exposure to these ideas and choose to ignore them.

One really questions the underlying motives of all these people doing outreach
at Glas*. Could it be the pretty cloths, the trendy people, the cool music?

Still, activists need to rest like everyone else. Just a pity that so many choose
the company of spoilt mindless hedonists.

Obvious

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Glastonbury

26.06.2009 16:04

I am not surprised to read that JimDog and Ben are there. It is just the sort of place I would expect them to be.

ftp

What the fuck is Indyedia doing at Glastonbury?!!

26.06.2009 16:47

"Publish your news here"! What news do expect to get at Glastonbury? Are you expecting any riots or protests? Surely this's not what Indymedia is there for. These sort of 'news' would be probably get hidden as non-news in normal circumstances.

unamused imcer

@obvious

26.06.2009 22:00

you been to Glastonbury lately?

i worked there 2007 n 2008.

and am definitely far from convinced the people there have had "sufficient exposure to radical ideas".

yeah sure i found most of em complete arseholes, yeah sure they are overwhelming deeply consumed ina consumerist utopia which that fuckin festival epitomises... but that applies to most of the people on Briggate on a sturday afternoon!... i don't particularly want to die in a self-satisfied smug pile of my own radicalism with 2 or 3 others around me who are also yes so very radical, yes as radical as me, so radical that they kept all their wonderful radical ideas to themselves....

spose i'v got embroiled in this cos i;m sick to fuckin death of armchaircomentators rubbishing other peopel who are bothering to make an effort. nonstop slagging, slag, slag, slaggin off endlessly from these armchair commentators.....

s

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Alternative Glastonbury ?

27.06.2009 11:46

"consumerist utopia which that fuckin festival epitomises"

What's your alternative ? Row upon row of mung bean vendors and lectures on how wheat production is up and tractor production continues to beat all other nations ?

I've been going to Glastonbury festival on and off for more than 25 years. The alt.glastonbury is still there in amongst the 'doing glasto' crowd. The first time I went to Glastonbury it was like a fucking refugee camp. A lot of the people there were sound but there was a huge number of really unsound people pretending to be sound while doing really unsound things. Like flogging cheap smack and use of stolen/cloned mobile phones for doing major deals and carrying guns & bats for robbing people.

Then Glastonbury got worse. Then Glastonbury got necessarily professional.

The last time I went I stayed for a week, got ripped to the tits most of the time (just like back in the day) saw some bands (just like back in the day) had everything I could possibly need onsite (unlike back in the day) didn't get aggro from the fuzz (unlike back in the day) and didn't see any smack dealers / extras from end of days movies begging 50p for an egg sandwich or 'giz a can of brew,mate' (unlike back in the day)

About the only thing which hasn't moved on is the "Glastonbury used to be great" crowd, most of who are wrong, Glastonbury was shit in more ways than it was good.

The vast majority of the fuckers who complain about the festival selling out to the man never went when it was proper chilled Glastonbury, pre brew crew, pre "convoy" and their hangers on, pre the Bristol invasion, pre smack and pre weekend warriors.

But you never get mugged down memory lane, do you ?

Meh

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Alternative Glastonbury ?

27.06.2009 11:46

"consumerist utopia which that fuckin festival epitomises"

What's your alternative ? Row upon row of mung bean vendors and lectures on how wheat production is up and tractor production continues to beat all other nations ?

I've been going to Glastonbury festival on and off for more than 25 years. The alt.glastonbury is still there in amongst the 'doing glasto' crowd. The first time I went to Glastonbury it was like a fucking refugee camp. A lot of the people there were sound but there was a huge number of really unsound people pretending to be sound while doing really unsound things. Like flogging cheap smack and use of stolen/cloned mobile phones for doing major deals and carrying guns & bats for robbing people.

Then Glastonbury got worse. Then Glastonbury got necessarily professional.

The last time I went I stayed for a week, got ripped to the tits most of the time (just like back in the day) saw some bands (just like back in the day) had everything I could possibly need onsite (unlike back in the day) didn't get aggro from the fuzz (unlike back in the day) and didn't see any smack dealers / extras from end of days movies begging 50p for an egg sandwich or 'giz a can of brew,mate' (unlike back in the day)

About the only thing which hasn't moved on is the "Glastonbury used to be great" crowd, most of who are wrong, Glastonbury was shit in more ways than it was good.

The vast majority of the fuckers who complain about the festival selling out to the man never went when it was proper chilled Glastonbury, pre brew crew, pre "convoy" and their hangers on, pre the Bristol invasion, pre smack and pre weekend warriors.

But you never get mugged down memory lane, do you ?

Meh

good luck selling anarchism to the masses with that humourless attitude

27.06.2009 12:47

To all the naysayers on here: good luck selling anarchism to the masses with that humourless attitude.

People just go to Glastonbury to take drugs, see bands and have a good time. Sure it's not perfect, but it's no worse that most other ways people spend their weekends. I've been in the past and had a great time.

A bit of anarchist politics done in a good way goes down a treat there. No use preaching to the converted.

anon

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Lie lie lie liar you lie lie lie lie I think youre funny youre funny ha ha

27.06.2009 14:14

"I've been going to Glastonbury festival on and off for more than 25 years. ... The first time I went to Glastonbury it was like a fucking refugee camp. A lot of the people there were sound but there was a huge number of really unsound people pretending to be sound while doing really unsound things. Like flogging cheap smack and use of stolen/cloned mobile phones"

So the first time you went to glastonbury festival (more than 25yrs ago), people were using cloned mobiles? Interesting - the mobile phone has only been available in the UK for 24years, and the first phone that was able to be cloned was the Nec P3 which was released in 1992.

Please, if you are going to lie at least get your facts straight.


HPAVC.

ex phreaker and cloner

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@ex geeker and loner

27.06.2009 15:18

"So the first time you went to glastonbury festival (more than 25yrs ago), people were using cloned mobiles? "

No, you tool, only a 'tard would read it like that but go ahead, read it however you want.

Thanks for placing in a time line precisely when the cloned phones were doing the rounds. The ones being offered out of the blacked out windows of 7 series BMW's in about 88 must have been nicked. Either that or the smack and crack dealers in the beemers were actually paying their bills and just adding a £2/min markup.


Either way they were there. So was I. You, as demonstrated by your div outburst, were clearly not.

Glastonbury - like all decent fezzies - is a bit like what they say about the 60's . if you can remember it, you weren't *there*

Back in your box, jack.


Meh

something relevant, maybe?

27.06.2009 22:55

yeah, just a joint, oops! point.Doesn't an arm of Clear Channel have a rather large imput to Glastonblackberry. The music and media company that donated hundreds of 1000s of dollars to George Bushs political campaign,the company that has a vice like grip on music throughout the world, check em out.The question for me though is, why are ' activists ' inside giving kudos and credance to a festival promoted by a company with a right-wing, white supremacist capitalist agenda?Put down the dressing up box, stop watering down activisim and realise who the enemy is.(yourself?) Oh yeah meh, drug-taking and activism are totally different things, I can remember, does that mean i wasn't there?

michael

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H/P/A/V/C

28.06.2009 00:06

Poor, Poor meh. Keep digging a hole.

It's not much of an acheivement to have gone to glastnobury for 25years - many here will have done so. No, I wasn't there as you rightly say. I was involved in real activism at the time, I was at other gatherings. Just like now. Do I get a prize?, or does the fact that I remember make me *not there*.

I also sincerely doubt you were anywhere near - apart from the first couple the brew-crew have always been there. The smack dealers have always been there. and since the 80s the aggro-scousers have been there (with all the trouble and thieving they bring). Nobody with sense would ever try to say otherwise. The smack dealers, brew crew (and to a lesser extent) the scousers are still there now. Obviously you were *REALLY* there and don't remember them.


Now go ahead, make up some more lies, D, someone somewhere must believe them.

Still geeker & activist (bettter than liar and loner)

Outreach is outreach - the more the better

10.07.2009 20:09

I don't like Glastonbury either - it has all the atmosphere of a prison camp filled with wealthy trendy kids with disposable barbeques these days, but I don't see how doing outreach there is any different to setting up a pasting table in a city centre, or setting up an IMC centre at some big demo in Edinburgh organised by an NGO.

It's all useful stuff.

Ronny

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