Dearest readers, this is over-and-out until next Friday for us at Galtres HQ as we get seriously stuck into building the festival site. The sun is shining and it’s all looking beautiful and tranquil – little do the birds and squirrels know of what is about to happen! We’re all tremendously excited and hope you are too. (By the way the rumours are true: there is going to be a surprise performance over the weekend by an unannounced big name). 6 Music is talking about us as I type and everyone’s buzzing about the festival which awaits us.
Here are some final bits of news to help you prepare for what’s set to be a terrific weekend. (And don’t forget that Sunday is fancy dress day, with spot prizes for the best outfits and wigs!)

THE GALTRES FESTIVAL CHECKLIST!
Nowadays everyone wants to know about Festivals – the glossy Sunday supplements run five page articles about where to go, what to wear. who to see and what to drink – and possibly even what to say – when attending a summer festival – and each and every one of these articles contains the dreaded festival checklist – ‘The Top Ten Things to make your festival complete’ or ‘The Festival Survival Guide ‘

Strangely, whatever the title at the top of the column, the content is always strangely similar – Hunter Wellies, whatever kind of over priced hat is ‘in’ this year, the obligatory gadget to charge your mobile phone either by sunlight, will power or cow dung and a whole heap of stuff you don’t really want and probably don’t really need.

So, after many months of research and field testing ( and hours of plagiaristic research on the internet) we present the:

‘Galtres Festival survival checklist of many more than ten things you’ll need to make it through to Monday morning’

WHAT TO BRING

First things first, we know the weather is going to be glorious – but it can get a bit chilly in the evening and there may be occasional ‘heavy dew’ so start with:

A waterproof jacket.
A jumper or fleece.
2 pairs of lightweight trousers that dry quickly.
A pair of shorts.
A hat.
Lots of warm socks.
Boots, trainers, sandals or flip flops
Money and a cash card – so you can buy loads of lovely beer vouchers
If you’re lucky enough to look young enough, your ID (Passport / ID card / NI card / driving license)
Tent, sleeping bag, blanket, and a pillow
Camera – or just use your phone.
Mobile phone & charger – if you can try to switch it off when you’re not using it and when you’re asleep. Your battery will last longer and you’ll be doing the environment a favour too!
Condoms – you never know you might just get lucky!
Paracetamol or just drink some water before you go to bed.
Sun cream and a hat as you’ll hopefully be in direct sunlight all day.
Tin opener and bottle opener.
Tissues and loo roll – try to buy the recycled type.
Torch – everything looks different at night and that floral tent you bought thinking you’d be the only one with it…seems everyone else had the same idea!
Toiletries and a towel.
Hair brush, hair bands and a mirror.
Lip balm.
Nail clippers/nail file.
Toothbrush and toothpaste and some chewing gum/mints.
Bikini or trunks for the showers.
Wet wipes for when you just can’t be bothered with a shower!
Sunglasses.
Pacamac – not very sexy but you’ll look better wearing that than a bin bag if it rains.
Bin bags – put your clothes in one as you pack so they stay dry during the weekend. Try to buy recycled and re-use the plastic bags you bring your shopping in. If you do need more you can get bin bags and recycling bags from one of the many litter and recycling points around the music festival site. Please bag up all your rubbish and recycling and designate a litter and recycling point in your campsite area.
Wellies – or walking boots!
Small camping stove and pans to cook in – or at least make a cup of tea!
A mug for tea, bowl, plate, spoon, knife & fork – please bring reusable picnic sets rather than the plastic disposable type which are really bad for livestock and banned from the campsites
Washing up liquid (for the above) – try to buy the environmentally friendly type.
Water container – buy a large, empty water container from a camping shop that you can fill from the water points or buy one large bottle of water and re-fill this.
Pot noodles/packet meals for desperate late night munchies
Teabags & coffee, sugar and a packet of your favourite biscuits!
Fancy dress gear for Sunday
A sense of humour, an open mind and an enquiring spirit
WHAT TO LEAVE AT HOME

Alcohol … we’ve already got plenty! – As you’ll have seen on your tickets we can’t let you bring any alcohol into the arena or campsites as we are required under our licence to control the consumption of alcohol, and we have responsibilities to ensure people don’t get out of control or unwell, and to prevent under-age drinking. We can’t do that if people are using their own supply, and we try hard to raise a lot of money for charities and needy organisations through our festival, which is largely funded by the proceeds from the sale of beer, cider and wine. If people drink their own supply we are not able to support our charities. We’ll be selling four pint take-away kegs for you to take to the campsites for a late evening tipple- and the bars are open till 01:45 this year so there’s plenty of time to work through the hundreds of beers, ciders, lagers and wines on offer
Glass containers and bottles – it’s only with the generosity of local farmers that we can use our beautiful site so please don’t bring glass containers or bottles with you – broken glass can severely harm livestock and people too!
The kitchen sink – we are delighted with the range and quality of food suppliers who are joining us this year, so leave the portable range at home and enjoy some of the best festie food on offer!
Sound systems … with all the music and entertainment on offer during the day, the last thing your neighbour in the campsite probably wants to hear is your choice of music at 3am
Pessimism – Galtres is a beautiful little festival which just gets better year on year .. if you come willing to just go with the flow and expecting to enjoy yourself there is a very very good chance you will!
The big one thing you have to do ….

Try and do something, see something, listen to something, eat something, drink something or feel something different! Festivals are great for just ‘window shopping’ cultural experiences – doing stuff you’d not normally do and trying out new experiences.
Be Adventurous – if you’re a beer drinker try a cider, if you’ve never tried vegan food now is your chance – there is an amazing range of food and drink at hand… enjoy!
Listen to jazz, or folk, or blues, or rock – with over 100 artists from across the whole musical spectrum you’ll find something new that you’ll absolutely love
Participate rather than spectate – with theatre, magic, cabaret, comedy, bollywood dancing and drumming workshops – and the Galtres feature film that will be shot on Sunday afternoon – there is an unfeasible amount to do and see so get involved !
…and finally – enjoy yourself – just kick back and dance like no-one is watching and sing like there is no one to hear.

GALTRES FILM FESTIVAL

Roll over Cannes, get to the back of the queue Montreal, Galtres now has its own film festival!

Budding filmmakers at this years Galtres Festival are invited to submit their own short films shot at this years event with the chance of winning a family ticket worth £180+ for the 2012 extravagaza
Thre is also a whole heap of merchandising goodies for the 12 best entries to the competition and their contributions will be featured on the Galtres website, Facebook and YouTube channels.

The rules ( because their have to be rules!):

We’re looking for short (up to five minute) films that capture the essence of our lovely little festival – we’re not looking for multi-camera Glastonbury style music coverage – we’ll leave that to the BBC – we want movies that show the fun, the food, the beer, the cabaret, the arts, the theatre and the general joy that descends on or own little patch of heaven in God’s own county every August Bank Holiday weekend.

You can shoot on anything, from an I-phone to an HD camcorder, and content is definitely more important than technical wizardry, and submissions can be made to the competition on-line and by mail before the closing date of Friday 30th of September – which gives you a whole month after the festival to put together your masterpiece.

An esteemed panel of judges are being recruited to select the 12 best entries, one of which will be showcased across all of the Galtres social media channels each month leading up to the 2012 event, and the producer of the best entry will recieve a family ticket for the 2012 event.

The one condition of entry to the contest is that we ask for access to your original footage for incorporation into the official Galtres 2011 film – any material that we use in this way would be fully credited and there are Galtres goodies up for grabs for any contributor.

For further details please email [email protected]

ITS OK TO BRING FOOD!!

The notes we sent out with the tickets have caused some confusion, for which we apologise. It’s totally fine for you to bring food into the campsites – you’re very welcome to bring and cook your own breakfasts or whatever. It’s just the arena where the restriction applies.

You don’t need to of course – we’ll have fabulous breakfast catering in the campsites – but it’s up to you.

The alcohol restriction applies site-wide – it’s explained on the website, and here it is again:

Sorry, but we don’t let any alcohol into the arena or campsites. There are a number of reasons for this policy:

1. Licensing – we are required under our licence to control the consumption of alcohol, and we have responsibilities to ensure people don’t get out of control or unwell, and to prevent under-age drinking. We can’t do that if people are using their own supply.

2. Litter/environment. – we give everyone a free souvenir glass when they arrive, and they use this throughout the festival weekend and take it home afterwards. It means there are no plastic cups, bottles, cans etc all over the site, and it’s more eco-friendly too – in line with our policy on the environment and conservation.

3. Charity support – we try hard to raise a lot of money for charities and needy organisations through our festival, and this is largely funded by the proceeds from the sale of beer, cider and wine. If people drink their own supply we are not able to support our charities.

4. Quality – We source some really delicious and interesting beers, ciders and wines and enjoyment of these is part of the festival celebration. Prices are pretty reasonable at £3/pint or 175ml fair trade wine. We also supply 4-pint carry-out kegs for the campsites. Our event started out 7 years ago as a beer festival with the aspiration of supporting local independent breweries and cider makers, and we want to stay true to our roots.

GET STUCK IN BECOME A FILM STAR FOR THE DAY

Galtres Festival is far more than simply a gig – whilst we have some amazing headliners, like The Charlatans, The Levellers, British Sea Power & Chris Helme, and over 100 top class bands and entertainers, at its heart the festival is a participative event that comes to life when people get involved … and here’s another chance to do just that !

Last year we had great fun producing ‘Little Zombies’ – the mini feature film we devised, rehearsed and shot in a single day.
With a cast of over 80 young film stars, under the expert tutelage of ClayFish productions, the filming was a high spot for both the cast and the bemused festival goers who were chased around the site by hordes of little alien zombies, thirsty for blood, ice cream and lemonade.

So this year, on the Sunday afternoon of the festival, we’re going to do it all over again ..and this year we’ll need some adults to get involved too!

Schedules will be announced nearer the date on Facebook and the Galtres website, and there will be a sign in sheet in The Arts Barge tent so we can get an idea of numbers and cover all the legal requirements of parental permissions and so on.

We’re not going to release the theme until the day ( because that is half the fun) but we can promise make up, special effects, comedy walks, mad screaming and permission to run wild over the festival site scaring adults to death – and it’s all in the name of art!

For further details please email [email protected]

STILL SOME TICKETS LEFT GET OVER TO www.galtresfestival.org.uk NOW!!!!!
And have a great weekend!
I am looking forward to the Ampleforth Cider already, its bloody beautiful!!!

By Andy on August 22, 2011