Seven of us donned victoriana steampunk costumes and invited festival-goers to try the Phantomic Hand (make a rubber hand feel like your own), the Psycho-Kinetic Chambre (levitate a ping pong ball using brain waves), and the Optical Inversion Glasses (watch adaptation in action as you learn to adjust to wearing prism goggles... then take them off). As quasi-performers, we were given "Artists" wristbands, meaning that we could pitch our tents in the special "Artists" area. The biggest names performing were obviously not staying in dome tents and using porta-loos, but it was fun to be surrounded by the more "up-and-coming" musicians. Even better, there were much shorter queues for the SHOWERS. I had stocked up on baby wipes and dry-shampoo under the impression that showers would not be possible, but to my great relief and joy there were hot showers for me three times during the six day adventure.
Camping was fun, albeit very different camping from what I'm used to. Although we were among the first to pitch tents in the artists area, waking up the second morning we found tents placed nearly on top of our own as the field filled up. Fortunately, the exhausting days, copious nighttime drinking while staying up to watch bands, and good use of ear plugs meant that I slept soundly at night; in the mornings I would be regaled with tales of what our neighbors got up to (ranging from Chloe crying over a lost mobile phone, potential scary domestic abuse, and men wrestling less than 1 meter from my head). Following a civilized campsite breakfast of fresh coffee and scrambled eggs, we manned the stall from 10am to 8pm every day... which was absolutely K N A C K E R I N G. I don't think I've ever done anything more exhausting. Although we took rolling breaks, the seven of us felt a bit guilty if we left for more than an hour and so we made our lives more difficult than they needed to be. Still, as the biggest and most exciting stall, we were really proud of how word of our illusions was spreading through the festival. We probably saw upwards of 3000 people, ranging from little kids we helped make pipe-cleaner neurons to stoned band members who could barely see straight Before putting on the prism goggles... it is surreal to jump between those two audiences in the space of a deep breath, before launching into the appropriate spiel.
End result was a massive sense of accomplishment and success, my first pair of wellies, the decimation of my vocal cords, and my first exposure to a British music festival. Really happy to have been a part of it. And now I have a set of steampunk clothes in the back of closet... did I mention I did everything I described in a corset?
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| GreenMan2013 |
