Not Stuck In The Mud – Mark O’Brien

Mark O’Brien recently graduated from Oxford University with a degree in English Literature. 

This month, with the help of the Culture Vulture, a well established blogging site, Mark has been  going all around Leeds, Yorkshire, and even further afield, trying to discover some of the local curiosities, the little-known points of interest, the quirky characters and tales that make this region what it is.

Mark joined the Leeds Metropolitan University Festival Volunteers at Leeds Festival last weekend, to get involved with the various projects we run for the student’s. Read his blog post here.

Leeds Festival Reflection

Leeds Festival. Beady Eye summed it up in one of their Tweets, it’s a ‘proper festival’. A proper northern festival. You don’t see people making wicker baskets in the village and you’ll rarely hear someone reciting poetry (and if you do the rhymes will be laced with profanities). There is only one thing on the Leeds Festival goers agenda and that is to have the best time they can possibly have and they won’t let anything get in their way. Not even the weather.

It was raining, in fact, it was pouring it down for most of the festival and do you know what rain is pretty good at? Getting me wet.  After a while you start to long for the sun to come out and you know it’s really bad when you start saying things like, ‘I’d settle for fine rain’ or ‘Sporadic showers would be perfect’. After a while something dawned on me, for the past 21 years I have taken being dry for granted and when I get home I’m going to take a little time out each day just to appreciate how dry I am.

But the Leeds Festival goers are unlike cricketers, they don’t let rain affect play. Everybody just carried on regardless.  It only took a few hours to turn the whole festival into one big mud bath which meant I had to don the wellies. It also prompted a large proportion of the crowds to make it their mission to get as muddy as possible and as you can see from the photo, a lot of them succeeded.

On the Saturday morning the festival bosses decided to wage war against the mud and hay was spread across the arena. Who knew that hay was so good at soaking up mud? The good times didn’t last long though and it took about 10 minutes for the mud to take over again. Nobody cared though. That’s the best thing about Leeds, nobody really cares about anything. It’s just a massive park filled with 70,000 hedonists walking round looking for kicks and luckily for them there are kicks-a-plenty around every corner.

I’ve seen many of great fancy dress costumes but the best one had to be when I saw a man in a banana costume get attacked by a troop of monkeys. I also discovered that I’m quite scared of people in animal masks and, unfortunately for me, there are a whole lot of them around. I’d be walking along looking at the floor, concentrating hard on not falling over in the mud, and then I’d look up and get startled by a wildebeest. I’m definitely going to be having flashbacks whenever I watch an Attenborough documentary from now on.

Oh and there’s music as well. You mustn’t forget about the music. On the Friday I really enjoyed the Little Comets’ set at the Festival Republic stage. Saturday’s highlight came from one of the first bands of the day, Heart-Ships. They are a local band who played the BBC Introducing stage and their energetic set was just what I needed to get me up for the second day. On Sunday I was adamant that I was going to see Madness but after watching their opening song, One Step Beyond, I found myself walking over to catch Mariachi El Bronx. It’s just too hard to resist a bit of mariachi, even Suggs couldn’t keep me away.

After the music had finished each night I ventured out in to the campsites. This is what really sets Leeds festival apart from the other festivals. It’s like a jungle out there, in more ways than one with all those animal masks. The Relentless stage always had a big crowd and so did the campsite DJs but, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really venture there for the music, I went to people watch. Then I’d finish the night off at the silent disco. Hundreds of people with big headphones on dancing away to cheesy tunes, what more could you want?

It was with a heavy heart when I left the last festival of the summer. It might not have the glamour of some other festivals but at the end of the day Leeds Festival is a good laugh. You’re guaranteed a good time and that’s why I can safely say that I’ll be returning next year. As long as they ban those masks.

Matty  Dyas

The End of the Festival Season

So our volunteering at Leeds Festival 2011 has sadly drawn to a close and I have to say I’m a mixture of sad that all the excitement and fun is over but also happy that I get to go home to a lovely shower and a nice warm bed!

We’ve had a fantastic weekend with our volunteers and even though the rain came it certainly didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. From our helpful and friendly HATs teams to our stage crew and film crew to our interns and campsite DJs, an amazing time was had by all.

If you’re feeling a little blue that the experience is over then take a look back over our blog posts this weekend and relive the experience! If you think you’ve got something to add that’s not covered in the blog then feel free to get in touch or leave a comment!

Over the festival season this year we’ve interviewed over 1,000 students who wanted to volunteer and given away over 350 volunteer places at 3 massive festivals.

All our volunteers have had a fantastic time at the festivals and have made lots of new friends who they will be reunited with at our Wrap Party in September, watch this space!

International Volunteering

Patsy Robertshaw-The One Who Made It All Happen

Everyone involved with the Leeds Met Festival Republic partnership knows who Patsy is. She’s the backbone of the whole operation and its thanks to her hard work that all the staff, interns and volunteers are here this weekend.

Patsy is the Partnerships Manager, but this isn’t her only job. At Leeds Met she also works on the marketing team and is a lecturer at the Business School. She is one busy lady!

Leeds Fest isn’t the only festival she has to help coordinate either. There’s also Latitude and Hove which took place earlier on this festival season.

When the Leeds Met Festival Republic partnership was first set up 5 years ago, there were only 30 positions available to students. This year, Patsy organised the variety of volunteer and intern positions available across all the three different festivals, helped interview 1,000 student applicants and gave 350 students a place at a weekend they would never forget.

Patsy loves the project because not only is it a lot of fun but it is also about employability, career development and works on soft skills like confidence and creativity.

Once she arrives at the Festival she definitely has no time to relax. As she is the On-site Operations Manager her day begins at 8am where she looks after the on-shift HATs, visits the stage crew and film crew, speaks with the PR team and if she’s lucky she’ll get a five minute sit down before having to meet the Campsite DJs before they start their shifts at 11pm. Even then she hasn’t finished, at midnight she heads to the video-tech van to approve the films the film crew have made that day. Then it’s back to the arena and into the campsites for her to make sure everything is running smoothly with the Campsite DJs. At 6am, she can finally crawl into the warmth of her sleeping bag, nap for an hour or so and then do it all again then next day. And the best part; a smile never leaves her face when she’s working no matter how tired she is.

Patsy is responsible for the welfare of everyone who comes to the festival through the partnership and you know that no matter how busy she is, if you need to talk to her then she will come and make sure you are alright.

You can easily see how much passion Patsy has for the project and she can give you many reasons why. Seeing students in a different environment and getting to know more about them is one of the main reasons Patsy enjoys her job so much. She likes watching how students progress into the industry from volunteering and internships into paid work for festivals. Plus there is the personal progression that so many of the volunteers make such as confidence and creativity, trying new things and meeting new people. And as a lecturer Patsy understands how important it is for students to put things they learnt in the classroom into real life practice which is why the internships are so successful.

Patsy’s highlight of the festival doesn’t involve seeing the artists perform or any of the late night entertainment, it’s watching everyone involved with the partnership having a good time and when the Leeds Met SU President dropped by because he really appreciated all the hard work that everyone here was doing.

I think I can speak for everyone that’s come along to Leeds Fest with the Leeds Met volunteers when I say ‘Thank you Patsy,’ because if it wasn’t for all of your hard work, dedication and many sleepless nights, none of this would be happening.

Our Ex-Volunteers Now Enjoying Paid Work At Leeds Fest

The Leeds Met Festival Republic partnership is all about helping students enhance their employability and helping them gain the skills that they need to succeed in a range of professions from events management to stage crew to lighting to whatever else might be involved in a festival.

Our volunteer and intern roles allow students to come along to the festival and get a real feel for what the work is like backstage and whether it’s the career for them.

Walking around Leeds Fest this weekend we have seen quite a few familiar faces popping up in various roles working at the festival, familiar why? Familiar because they are some of our old volunteers who are now getting paid work from Festival Republic at Leeds Festival as a direct result of their volunteering.

Over the weekend we’ve seen our ex-volunteers working in various teams across the festival as Licensing, Accreditation, Backstage Runner, Artist Liaison on the Lock Up Stage and stage crew for Colour Sound.

Lucy McCann, one of ex-volunteers and Leeds Met Alumnus is now working as Artist Liaison on the Lock Up Stage and also worked as Artist Liaison at Latitude earlier this year.

Mike Blundell who volunteered with us at Hove Festival earlier this year is now working for Colour Sound at Leeds Festival and has some paid work on the Batman Live  tour.

Even our lighting intern who only started with his team on Monday has been offered work next weekend working at a film festival in London.

It’s amazing how many doors this volunteering project can open for students with a real passion for the industry.

Overall we’ve managed to see around 15 of our ex-volunteers just at Leeds Fest now getting paid work from Festival Republic. It really is great to see how our volunteers can succeed and, with the contacts they make, go on to make a career out of the area they volunteer in.

Adam Castling-The Everything Man

It’s the final day of Leeds Fest and its been great to see how much the hard work of the volunteers, interns and staff has paid off. Tonight’s line up looks amazing and the main stage acts are what I’ve been waiting for since arriving here on Wednesday. That doesn’t mean I’m going to be neglecting you delightful readers though, I’m still going to be posting what’s going on for you all to read.

My first task of the day was to interview Adam Castling. Adam is a Business and Management Graduate from Leeds Met and now works for the university. Just before coming to Leeds Fest, Adam was made the Partnership Marketing Officer. Adam’s job at the university involves him looking after the cultural partnerships the university has as well as the sporting partnerships.

Whilst working at Leeds Fest, Adam takes the role of project manager assistant and HATs manager. Last year, Adam actually came to the festival as a HAT so that he could experience the partnership through the eyes of a volunteer.

Adam was also working hard before the festival this year carrying out the organisation, making sure everything was going to arrive and be set up on time, making arrangements for the campsite and sorting the volunteers’ clothing. Adam even volunteered to drive the video-tech van here so the film crew can carry out all their editing.

Since arriving, Adam has spent his time looking after the HATs, interns and other volunteers. On Thursday Adam had to leave us for a while when he had to go and look after even more of his volunteers who were helping out at the Carnegie Challenge Cup at Wembley and check all the marketing there was up to his standards.

Adam enjoys the partnership purely because of his love of events. He gets a genuine buzz out of watching the events come together and knowing that his contributions has helped make it what it is.

I asked Adam what he thought about the partnership between Leeds Fest and Festival Republic and how it can benefit students. The only way to describe it is that he loves it! The festival industry is difficult to get into and this offers students the experience they need to help with their future employability. Whilst Adam has been here he’s had a chance to catch up with Leeds Met Alumni who now work for Festival Republic because of the volunteering they did whilst still at university.

Adam also thinks the partnership is a great role model for other academic areas to start new partnerships and projects so that students can gain work experience in industries that are of an interest to them.

Bringing it home…

Take a look at the second video of the festival so far… all filmed, produced and edited by our very own volunteer film crew!

Thinking About Applying To Be A Volunteer Next Year?

Wow, it’s Sunday already. This festival has gone so fast, but you know what they say, time flies…

I’ve had a great time and I’ve been speaking to some of the other team members and Im pretty sure they have to. Luckily, you don’t just have to take my word for it because I’ve been doing some vox pops. Here’s what some of the HATs have said about their weekend:

Tom Parsonage:

“Despite the weather I’ve had an awesome weekend. My highlight was watching Pete Doherty’s tribute to the late Amy Whinehouse. Amazing.”

Faye James:

“I think the weekend has been fantastic. The highlight for me was seeing The Streets and Muse as well as working in a brilliant team.”

Siobhan Darlington:

“The weekend has been great. A lively atmosphere, good music and, despite pouring with rain, spirits are high.”

Helen Moxon:

“I’ve had a fantastic weekend. The highlight has been meeting so many new people and the whole festival atmosphere in general.”

Lisa Holman:

“This weekend has been brilliant. Endless rain, treks through the mud and countless plastic ponchos still haven’t put a dampener on things.”

I think I can safely say that I’ve never typed so many superlatives before. I told you it’s been good. Apply to be a Leeds Met volunteer next year and find out for yourself.

Matty Dyas

Centre Stage With Stage Production Manager James

This afternoon I managed to drag Stage Production Manager James Boardman away from his busy schedule to chat to me about what he has been up to since arriving at Leeds Fest.  James is working on the BBC Introducing Stage whilst he’s here and has also worked as the Stage Manager at Latitude Festival this year with the Leeds Met and Festival Republic partnership.

In September, James will be going into his third year at Leeds Met on his Events Management course. Working as Stage Production Manager gives James the chance to see and learn how large-scale events run so smoothly and how important it is to stick to the set schedule.

Whilst James is working, he is in direct contact with the artists performing on his stage and is responsible for making sure the equipment they need for their set is up and running at the right time.

Panic struck for James and his stage team last night when one of the artists were missing an important piece of sound equipment. But thanks to the brilliance of James and the rest of our stage crew it was sorted in 10 minutes and the show went on.

The highlight of Leeds Fest for James was getting to stand stage-side in the Festival Republic tent for Ed Sheeran’s performance.

James likes to volunteer so that he can build up plenty of experience to put on his CV before he graduates. That way he has a competitive edge over all his fellow graduates. Even if the festival scene isn’t ultimately where you want to make a career, James recommends volunteering purely for the experience, the contacts you make and the things you learn here that you can’t in the classroom.

It’s Easy Being Green: 8 Top Tips For Making Sure Your Leeds Festival Is Environmentally Friendly

Today I caught up with Leeds Met member of staff, Mikaela Hulme. At university she is part of the Development and Alumni Team but here at Leeds Festival she is the Sustainabilty Coordinator. She ensures that all the volunteers are being as green as possible and she certainly knows her stuff.

Before joining Leeds Met, Mikaela worked for conservation organisations for five years; from caring for sea turtles in Greece to protecting the mangroves of Thailand. She’s also run various environmental information projects so who better to offer us festival goers some top tips for making sure that we are all as green as possible.

1. Don’t bring things you don’t need

You can start being eco-friendly before you even get to the festival. Limiting the amount of things you bring will really help to reduce the overall environmental impact you have on the festival. The more things you buy, the bigger your carbon footprint because everything you buy comes with it’s very own carbon footprint. (Watch the short video The Story Of Stuff  to find out more).

So before you buy anything, stop and think, ‘Do I really need this?’  and if the answer is yes, think about the items packaging. Using plastic or polystyrene food packaging is not sustainable – they’re not only oil based but polystyrene can’t be efficiently recycled. Also try to buy things that are more durable, it might be a bit more expensive but in the long term you will be able to reuse it so you will probably end up saving money.

And finally, this kind of goes with out saying, but follow Tim Minchin’s words and take your canvas bags to the supermarket.

2. Getting to the festival

The biggest CO2 impact on festivals is simply through the audience travelling to get there, so have a think about your travel arrangements. If you travel alone to the festival by car, you are emitting approximately ten times the amount of CO2 than if you travelled to the festival by bus and three and a half times as much as if you travelled by train.

Use public transport, but if you have to take the car, take as many passengers with you as possible. You could even try car sharing.

3. Put your waste in a compost bin

Leeds Festival estimate that around 70% of the rubbish coming out of the arena is compostable. If it’s all collected it can be turned into compost instead of just being put in a landfill. Everything the food from the traders comes in is biodegradable so once you have finished eating pop your rubbish in the compost bins around the site or hand it a member of the Compost Crew. You will be helping in a big way.

4. Refill your water bottle

This may seem simple but whats the point in spending money on water whilst at the festival. Remember, everything you buy has a carbon footprint.  There are drinking water points throughout the campsites and arena so do your wallet a favour and bring a resuable water bottle with you.

5.  Make money from your rubbish

For the fith year running Leeds Festival are running a deposit scheme on the cups and cup trays. Once you’ve used them, if you take them to a refund tent you will get 10p. You could end up going home from the festival with more money than you came with if you’re on the lookout. But you will have to be eagle-eyed because each year more than 90% of the cups have been returned for recycling. That’s more than 6 tonnes of cardboard which was diverted from landfill. Also, if you hand in a Festival Republic water bottle you’ll get 20p.
Another way you can become a green entreprener is if you bring a bagful of cans to the Recycle Exchanges in the campgrounds, you’ll get  a free can of beer. For every tonne of aluminium cans recycled only 5% of energy is used than to make one from scratch so get them cans recycled and amazingly your recycled can could be back on the shelf as another can within six weeks. Can you believe it?

6. Take your tent home

Don’t just leave all your things once the festival has finished. Not only will you save money but you’ll be helping the environment by not wasting the resources and energy needed to make all that stuff over again.

Tents left standing  go to landfill but if you really don’t want your equipment, pack it up and hand it in at one of the Tent Donation points. You can hand in your:

 • Tents, Sleeping Mats, Sleeping Bags
• Chairs
• General camping bits and pieces
• Wellies
• Clothes
• Unopened food

These will then be passed on to charity and comunity organisations so do your bit and make a difference.

7.  Don’t put disposable barbeques on the grass

Disposable barbeques get incredibly hot during use, and can scorch the ground beyond repair. This can mean that patches of dead, blackened grass and earth can be left behind. It can also make the soil infertile so if your going to use them, raise them off the ground.

8. Bin the butts

If you’re a smoker don’t drop your cigarette butts on the floor. Make a litle effort to find a bin. Every butt you throw on the ground has to be picked up by someone. So before you drop that cig, be a lovely person and think of the person who will later have to pick it up. Do them a favour as well as the environment.

Well there it is, if everybody follows those 8 tips, the festival will be a lot more eco-friendly. For more information you can visit the Leeds Festival website.

I told you it was easy being green.

Matty Dyas

The Backstage Mum – Meet Joyce Connolly

Whilst backstage at the BBC Introducing stage, I got chatting to Joyce Connolly who is one of the Leeds Met staff members who have joined us at the festival for the weekend. At the university Joyce is the Internal Communications Officer but at the festival she is taking the role as Artist Liaison at the BBC Introducing Stage and supervises our Stage Crew. This year is the third time Joyce has volunteered at the festival and loves the atmosphere of it all.

Whilst backstage Joyce meets and greets that artists and helps them settle into their surroundings before going on stage. She makes sure they’re getting fed, watered and have everything they need before performing; she’s like their backstage mum!

Joyce loves being based at the BBC Introducing stage as many of the bands performing have never performed on such a large scale so its great to see them being a given a chance to get heard. And she let me into a little secret- most of the bands bring their parents backstage with them rather than friends and partners.

Joyce is proud of how well the stage crew are doing too. Despite having some equipment problems, they’ve all worked well to resolve the situation quickly and allowed the show to carry on.

The partnership with Leeds Met and Fest Republic actually brought Joyce to her first ever UK festival and she gives it the upmost praise, “You can see how much people progress over the weekend and how they build their confidence.  It’s a great way to give the students a taster into the industry and getting some hands-on experience.”

Whilst at the festival this year, Joyce has also seen past volunteers who now carry out paid work for the festival thanks to their initial volunteering with Leeds Met, proof of how valuable the experience can be.

Backstage With Artist Liaison Katie Dawson

After waking up feeling rather refreshed from a good night’s sleep, I headed over to the BBC Introducing Stage to catch up with Katie, one of our Artist Liaisons. At Leeds Met, Katie studies a HND in Events Management so her role here links in very well with her course.

This is the  first time Katie has worked at Leeds Fest through Leeds Met and so far she is enjoying every second of it. She applied for the role because it is exactly what she wants to do as a career; look after artists at festivals and concerts. Katie’s role involves meeting and greeting the artists on the BBC Introducing stage, showing them around the backstage area and being a point of contact for anything they need. She loves being able to chat to the bands about how they’re feeling about performing and finding out more about them.

Whilst Katie has been working hard, she’s had the chance to hear artists for the first time and is highly recommending The Young Knives, Rae Morris and Save Your Breath as artists to look out for.

Katie recommends the volunteer and internship partnership to everyone, especially those who want to get involved in the music and festival industry. The experience she is gaining is priceless and giving her the opportunity to make contacts with professionals. The sense of achievement she experiences at the end of each day is the biggest highlight of the festival for Katie, that’s proof  of just how much she’s loving her role.

Interview with Heart-Ships on the BBC Introducing Stage

Today we were fortunate enough to go backstage at the BBC Introducing Stage to interview Leeds-based band Heart-Ships after their brilliant set.

Reading/Leeds Festival this year is the first big festival that the band have played having only been together for one year. When asked which they preferred – Reading or Leeds – the band of course said Leeds!

They were very happy with the crowd’s response today and pulled quite a large crowd in by the end of their set.  

All members of their band get involved with the song-writing and say their influences come from artists such as Leonard Cohen for lyrics and Led Zeppelin musically, but of course its hard not to be influenced by all the new bands coming through too.

When asked what their ultimate gig would be the band came up with various ideas including headlining the main stage at Leeds Fest, Glastonbury or Wembley or playing at the side of Mount Everest or Madison Square Garden.

The band were impressed out our volunteers working backstage as stage crew and Artist Liaisons and said they did a great job of looking after them, its nice to see our volunteers making such a good impression!

The guys will be sticking around Leeds Fest now to celebrate after their success this weekend and are looking forward to seeing bands such as Pulp and The National tomorrow.

If you like the sound of these guys you can catch them next on the 4th October at the Brudenell Social Club, Leeds.

Catching Up With the Campsite DJs

Last night was the first opportunity I got to go and see what the Campsite DJs get up to until the early hours of the morning. The Campsite DJ team are managed by Stu Merchant, whose role is to manage all of the DJ stations, ensure everything is running smoothly and there are no problems and to liaise with the zone managers to keep everyone happy. This involves walking between all the different stations once the DJs are playing and, with weather like yesterday’s, it’s a lot harder than you’d think! I joined Stu for the first part of his walk around and I can definitely say I hindered more than I helped. The campsites were slippy, muddy and crowded but being in there with the rest of the festival goers was amazing.

The first campsite we landed at was Red. When we arrived the DJs were already into the swing of things and a small crowd had already gathered and started dancing. Each campsite has more than one DJ from Leeds Met and each of them get their own slot to perform a set of their own choice of music. They’re left to be creative and experiment with their own ideas. Jake, one of the DJs, was telling us how on Thursday night himself and another DJ had performed a dubstep set in the Oxfam Tent to a crowd of around 200 people. This was something they planned by themselves and was also Jake’s first time properly DJing to a crowd. This just shows that as long as you have the passion, you’re always welcome to give it a go at Leeds Fest. As we left the Red DJ station, quite a large crowd had built up to see the DJs.

Next we went onto the Green Campsite to see how the DJs there were getting on there. After barely escaping falling into the mud many times and tripping over the campers guy-ropes, we finally got up the hill to the DJ station. There was a very different feel to this DJ station, rather than the dance music being played at Red, the Blue DJs were getting the crowd going wild with a lot of dubstep and drum’n’bass sounds. The dance moves being thrown by the DJs were easily rivalling those of the campers.

The crowds, the atmosphere and the music they play really gets the DJs going but what’s making them work that little bit harder is knowing that the DJ team who’ve performed and worked hard together are going to get their very own slot on the Piccadilly Party stage on Sunday Night. Let the battle of the DJs commence!

Whilst watching the DJs perform, I was offered my own DJ slot so I could really experience what the DJ’s do. Obviously, I didn’t want to overshadow those guys with my amazing skills so I had to turn it down.

The Campsite DJs are a great way to continue the festival feeling into the early hours of the morning and are definitely worth checking out.

The Researchers

I spent time this afternoon with two of the Leeds Met film crew, the researchers Hollie Richardson and Gwen Youlden.

They’ve got some great interviews lined up with some top bands so we pitched up in the Press Tent to do a bit of background research and devise some questions.

Hollie is enjoying her time here so far, she said: “I’m studying Journalism so it’s really good to finally put the skills I’m learning into practice. Apart from the rain it’s all been really good so far. The people we’ve met and interviewed have been lovely. The film crew are great to work with too and the first film turned out really well.”

Check the blog later tonight to see how the second video went. Mark my words, it’s going to be a good one.

Matty Dyas

Leeds Met Festival Republic Partnership – Student Progression

Met TV alumni and current Leeds Metropolitan students have been working to produce a series of videos based on their experiences volunteering at Leeds Festival 2011.

For each day of the festival the student film crew have been set the task of filming, producing and editing a three minute video that encapsulates all of the projects that are taking place in collaboration with the Festival Republic / Leeds Metropolitan partnership.

Hay Fever

Who knew that hay was so good at soaking up rivers of mud? I’ll admit it does make sense, but I’ve never really contemplated its many attributes until now.
Bright and early this morning, with the sun making a rare appearance I joined some of the HATs to help transform the main arena by spreading HAY around. It was fun and I’m not ashamed to say that I actually felt quite proud when I looked over the area that I had just hayed.
Some of the team members where too good at it though. Suspiciously skilled. I don’t know where or when but I think they’d done this before. They were clearly enjoying it, you could even say they were a bunch of haydonists.

Matty Dyas

Rain – The Enemy Of All Festival Goers

Only at a festival after standing in a torrential downpour for an hour or so do you realise how much you’ve taken being dry for granted. After a while you start to long for the sun to come out and you know it’s really bad when you start saying things like, ‘I’d settle for fine rain’ or ‘Sporadic showers would be perfect’. But, unlike cricketers, we Leeds Met volunteers don’t let rain stop us from doing our job. Everybody just carried on regardless.
The HATs, although slightly damp, were as helpful as ever and at the Information Shed we were giving out free ponchos to the festival goers. We made a lot of people very happy, they thought Christmas had come early.
Even I didn’t let the rain affect me. I risked a soggy phone to keep on tweeting and I’ve been left with a moist notepad. Yep, I’m certainly not afraid of no rain, but I would like it to clear up.
Even sporadic showers would suffice.

Matty Dyas

Fun On Friday-PR Intern Bekki

So this morning when I woke up I may have been tired, the weather was miserable and the arena had turned into a mudbath but nothing was getting my spirits down. It was officially the first day of Leeds Fest and I was so excited to get out and about, chat to people and listen to the music.

Making the most of the weather (if that’s possible) I used the rain clouds as a perfectly good reason to spend the day chatting to staff, interns and writing lovely blogs for you all to read. In between doing this I also managed to put up a gazebo, visit friends at the festival and eat a rather gorgeous pizza (which is my 3rd since arriving on Wednesday-don’t judge!)

Despite the weather, today has been a fantastic day. The whole atmosphere of the festival is amazing. Everyone is happy, smiling and pretty much loving life. My plans for tonight involve buying some warmer clothes from the Oxfam tent, an extra sleeping bag, watching Ed Sheeran and dancing around to 2ManyDJs. Then its into the campsites where i’m going to be spending nightfall with the Campsite DJs and trying (and failing) to mix my own playlist. if your around the campsite DJ arenas then come and look out for me. If not, look out for my blog post on the experience tomorrow morning!

Turn Up the Lights: Catch Up With Our Lighting Intern Steven Balkwill.

In between rain showers this afternoon, I managed to grab a quick 15 minutes with our very busy lighting intern Steven. Steven is currently a student at Leeds Met studying Arts Entertainment Management. Straight away you can see the passion that he has for both his course and his internship by the way he talks about them both.

Steven was an early bird arriving on site getting there on Monday afternoon where he quickly got into the swing of things by helping out the staff putting up the main lights around the campsites. So thank Steve when your walking back to camp late at night and still have the  miracle of sight.

On Wednesday it was Steven’s birthday, the crew he has been working with treated him with cake to mark the occasion. Giving up his birthday to carry out volunteer work with people he barely knows  just proves how dedicated Steven is to his position at the festival.

Steven’s busiest day came on Thursday. With the silent disco tent being delayed in transit and not arriving until Thursday morning, he pitched in to help get it all set up ready for the evenings festival goers. This is were Steven has learnt alot as not only did he see the lighting set up but got to see how an entire entertainment tent is set up so quickly. Maybe he can lend me a hand with my pop up one next time I go camping. Then Thursday night is what Steven describes as being his most epic night so far. He set foot into the Picadilly Circus DJ Area where he was allowed to put on his own light show to fit with the DJs music, Knowing that there were around 2000 people watching his light show sent the adrenaline rushing.

Tonight Steven is hoping to take some time out to watch the bands and after 5 days of solid hard-work I think he deserves to. He is particularly excited to see the Muse set and see what lighting and video images the band have come with and if it can spark any ideas for his next try at stage lighting.

In university, Steven doesn’t get as many opportunities to do technical production so volunteering at the festival gives him extra skills for once he graduates.  His time at the festival so far has already allowed him to gain contacts with people who do this as a career and people he can seek advice from. The festival scene and concert arenas are where Steven hopes to make his career.

 

Bekki Hocking

A Chat With Staff Member Zoe Marlow

My chat with Zoe started off with us both putting up a gazebo for our staff to shelter under in the arena as the weather was, unfortunately, not on our side today! The gazebo was definitely welcomed by staff as they tried to avoid sliding around in the mud and rain!

Zoe works for Leeds Met as the Undergraduate Marketing Manager, which is how she met Patsy. This year is Zoe’s first time volunteering at the festival and has only been to one before.

Zoe’s role at the festival is to assist the partnership coordinators to ensure that everything runs smoothly and everyone is having fun. So far she’s pitched tents, checked out the production areas, helped organise the volunteers into their roles and generally helped keep the whole operation going. You could say she’s the jack of all trades at our campsite.

Her highlights so far have been meeting all the volunteers and getting to spend time with her colleagues outside of the office.

Zoe loves the partnership that Leeds Met have with Festival Republic and thinks that it is by far the best. It’s one that suits all students no matter what course they are studying. There’s so many roles available there’s literally something for everyone.

Zoe really wanted to see Muse tonight but unfortunately has a wedding she has to go home for , I’m not jealous at all that she gets a nice hot shower and warm bed tonight, honest! However she insists on making up for it with The Strokes on Sunday night.

 

Bekki Hocking

A Chat With Staff Member John Conlin.

John showing off his green alumni frame.

When I first met up with John he was stood at the Information Shed, in the pouring down rain, handing out free ponchos to the rather soggy looking festival goers. Even the Leeds Uni cheerleaders were allowed them despite the uni rivalry!

John works at Leeds Met as a Market Researcher which is how Patsy (our partnership manager and the brains behind the project) got him involved in the festival volunteering project. This is John’s first time volunteering at Leeds Fest but it will be the 8th that he’s actually attended. Definitely a seasoned pro at dealing with the rain and mud!

Whilst John is here, his role is to photograph the other volunteers and what is happening around the festival. He’s also been given the special challenge of trying to find any Leeds Met Alumni, either visiting or working, and persuade them to be photographed in the green frame. We just wanna prove how much Leeds Met love Leeds Fest!

Because of John’s vast volunteer management experience, he is also the go-to-guy when the volunteers have any worries and he is out and about to look after their welfare.

John highly praises the volunteer project and how it gives the HATs and unforgettable experience and the interns a great and fun way to get work experience.

Whilst at the festival John is hoping to catch The Vaccines and the Sunday night headliners, Pulp. It might also be worth mentioning that in the past John has camped for six months at a time-Leeds Fest should be a doddle for him!

Bekki Hocking

A Catch Up With Our Sound Intern

Its Friday, the festival officially kicks off today but that doesn’t mean the hard work is stopping. This morning the PR team were up early to go and chat with Mark Bowen, our sound intern. Mark graduated from Leeds Met with a degree in Creative Music and Sound Technology last summer.

This year isn’t the first time Mark has been to the festival as a volunteer as he also worked with the Campsite DJs last year assisting them with their sound. This time around he’s the sound intern for Festival Republic and spent yesterday working on the BBC Introducing Stage but when we caught up with him he was lending a hand on the Festival Republic Stage.

Mark’s internship links in really well with his degree and not only allows him to put his skills into practice but also learn and develop more. After the first day, Mark has already had to learn how to use digital decks after normally using analogue ones. The internship also helps him learn more about both live and outdoor music rather than being indoors which is what he is used to doing.

In the past, Mark has helped set up small gigs in community halls but in no way does that compare to what he’s doing here. With different artists having different sound requirements, it’s important to get it all set up in time before they arrive to perform. It’s a role that requires a lot of hard work and skill and Mark is loving every minute of it.

Doing this internship helps Mark to gain experience and meet professionals who can offer their advice on how to break into the industry. It’s highly recommended for people who want to get into the industry to experience being an intern at the festival. Plus it’s also a lot of fun!

 

Bekki Hocking

Hats off to the HATs-PR Intern Bekki

This evening I joined one of the HATs teams to help out with one of their shifts.

If you’ve been to Leeds Fest before then you will have seen the HATs located around the arena, donned in their ‘information’ sashes, ready to assist the public with any enquiries they have.

The HATs have to know pretty much everything about the festival; where everything is located and who is performing on each stage and when.

One HAT, Emma Fawcus volunteers regularly for Festival Republic through Leeds Met and loves the experience of getting involved with the festival. She has also created her own game to play with her team mates; Festival Bingo! The idea is to spot people in certain fancy dresses and those doing something to get them noticed.

To be a HAT you definitely have to be confident and be willing to talk to people no matter how bizarre their questions might be.

HAT volunteer Amanda is a team leader. She’s incharge of making sure the HATs are doing their jobs and her team is running smoothly. Amanda, like myself, is a PR student at Leeds Met and volunteers because she wants to work in the festival and music industry.

Being a HAT was a great opportunity to get out and about in the festival atmosphere and chatting to campers. My favourite campers of the day have to be the couple who got married earlier today and, still in their wedding attire, have come to Leeds Fest for their honeymoon. Maybe not the 5* resort that most brides hope for but I’m sure it’ll be a honeymoon they’ll never forget.

HAT’ll Do Nicely

Following on from my seamless link earlier. I had my first shift with the HATs or Helpful Arena Team today.
I was working a 5-6pm shift at the Information Shed which is near the Main Stage and I had been put with the A-Team so my hopes were high.
I imagined myself dishing out information with Mr T and maybe cracking a few jokes with the Face. This didn’t happen, although I wasn’t too disappointed because I got to spend time with Chloe Barker and Bethany Butler who showed me the ropes. I even got to don a sash baring the word ‘Information’. I felt like a second-rate beauty queen. Technically I could get done for fraud for wearing that. Of the times people actually asked me for help I just had to pass them on to my team members. In my case the H should stand for Hopeless.
Overall though I did actually enjoy my mini-shift. Meeting and chatting to drunk people is always interesting. Sadly it wasn’t very busy because it’s only Thursday and the Main Stage is still closed off. However I’m confident however that on my next shift I will be able to be not very helpful to many more people.

Matty Dyas

Lights, Camera, Action: A day with the film crew-PR Intern Bekki.

This afternoon I’ve been shadowing the film crew. This was the first time the film crew had gone out into the arena and the village with their camera’s and sound equipment. Before leaving camp, Chris the camera operator showed me how to use one of the smaller Z1 cameras so I could attempt to get my own footage for them. Somehow I don’t think the quality will match up to theirs.

Inside the arena, the crew got some great shots of the finishing touched being added to the main stage aswell as the BBC Introducing stage where some of our volunteers are working. Then it was onto the village where the public were eagerly awaiting the opening of the arena. We decided to take the opportunity to interview the members of the public to see what it is they love about Leeds Fest and which acts they mostly wanted to see. This footage is going to be used in the film the film crew are making to portray the Leeds Fest experience.

Throughout the festival the film crew also have interviews lined up with the band ‘Merkage’ and the staff who have helped make the festival so successful.

Whilst chatting to the crew, you can easily see they all have a passion for what they do at the festival and want to make careers out of it.

Hanging out with the film crew has been a great experience and there is no denying these guys have a tough job on their hands. I’m really looking forward to seeing their final masterpiece.

Quizzy Rascals

At 3pm it was time for the HATs to show off their knowledge by taking part in the quiz, with team names such as Team Casual and Steak Sandwich I wasn’t expecting them to take it that seriously. I was wrong.
It was surprisingly competitive. I even saw some teams cheating. It was clear that winning this quiz meant a lot to them. Peoples street-cred was on the line.
In the end it came down to a nail biting tie-break and the winning team were rewarded not only with a great sense of pride but also a crate of beer (which they can’t actually get until Monday, can’t have them drinking on the job).

Here’s some interesting facts I gathered from the quiz:

The capacity of Leeds Festival is 70,000.

The festival’s aim is to be the most entertaining and well run festival in the land.

It cost £4 for a return shuttle bus to Tesco.

The Crash Tent is a place for people to stay when they don’t have a tent and it’s situated behind the Welfare Tent.

Wow. All this knowledge. All I need now is a way to disseminate it to the paying festival goers. Well, luckily for me I have a shift as a HAT later tonight.

Check back here to see if the information came in useful…

Matty Dyas

The Festival Fun Continues

Emma Fawcus has joined us again to volunteer at Leeds Fest after having such a fantastic time at Latitude just a few weeks ago. Emma is working as a HAT team member which means basically being a friendly helpful face for all festival goers and providing information.

After the first night and a site walk at Leeds Emma has already started to notice some differences compared with Latitude.

The camping area here is a lot bigger than at Latitude and, thankfully, the Arena and Toilets are much closer to us – very handy when you need to dash to the loo at 4am in the pouring rain! Despite the downfalls last night the weather has perked up and the sun has come out to play again, already an improvement on the wet weather at Latitude!

There are a lot of friendly and familiar faces here at Leeds as a lot of the Latitude volunteers have, like Emma, decided to come and volunteer at Leeds as well so its nice for everyone to see each other again. Emma’s team is full of all new people so thereare still lots more opportunities for her to make new friends.

This volunteering experience for Emma is more than just a good time in the summer though as it links in very well with her course, Art Events Performance. The volunteering has helped her with her course by gaining an insight into the different areas and things that take place backstage at festivals. It also allows her to see the other volunteering roles such as campsite DJs and stage crew.

I hope the sun stays out so that Emma can continue enjoying her festival volunteering experience!

Laura Crimmons

Thursday Morning

It was the morning after the night before and I reckon a few of my fellow campers woke up with a bit of a self-inflicted headache. But there’s no rest for the wicked and we started the the day with a quick briefing followed by a tour of the site.
The arena, which was empty yesterday, was now filled with enthusiastic festival goers all eagerly waiting for the arena to open. It’s interesting to see the festival from the point of view of a worker and I found myself tutting at those who had started on the alcohol so early. I felt sensible for a short while.
As the tour neared its end and and we were all orienteered we saw a man dressed as a banana get attacked by a large gang of men dressed as monkeys. It was funny, but again, I felt sensible.
Matty Dyas

Arrival Day at Leeds Fest-PR Intern Bekki

So yesterday was the day all the Leeds Met volunteers arrived on site. After being dropped off at their gate, I started to regret packing the spare 18 t-shirts I brought with me as I soon discovered I had a nice 40 minute walk to the campsite. Not to worry though, the sun was shining and on the trek down I got chatting to some very friendly and enthusiastic volunteers.

The next challenge for me was pitching my tent. Normally I leave the boys to pitch the tent whilst I sit back and sunbathe. Not this time though, it was down to me. I’d love to say it went well but I’d be lying. I am the only person in the world who can struggle with a pop-up tent!

Finally, after all my messing around, we got our wristbands.

I’d arrived at Leeds Fest on my own so I knew it was important to make friends whilst I was here. I was introduced to Matty who is the other half of my PR team, who then introduced me to a big group of HATs. After a few drinks and some rather questionable BBQ food we were off out exploring. Straight through the arena thanks to a quick flash of our staff wristbands and then to the fun-fair with all the early-bird campers.

At 2:30am, I finally crawled into my tent, and thanks to the wind and rain I was prepared for a bad (yet very much needed) nights sleep.

The First Day

It was the first day of the Leeds Met Festival Volunteering 2011 and, I’ll be honest, I was a bit nervous when I arrived. Even though I’m somewhat of a volunteering veteran after serving time back in the glory days of 2010, I didn’t know anyone else who was going to be here.

But soon as I arrived and I pitched my tent with the efficiency and finesse of Ray Mears, my fears were put at bay.

It turns out that the Leeds Met Volunteers are a friendly bunch and after helping a few people put their tents up I was soon sat around in the sunshine enjoying a refreshing beverage with my newly acquired comrades.

Later that evening we sat around the campfire playing games and eating barely cooked BBQ food. What more could you want? And although the rain showers may have soaked our clothing, it certainly didn’t dampen our spirits. An all round great start to the festival.

Matty Dyas

Looking Forward to Leeds!

The bank holiday weekend has come round again and that can only mean one thing, Leeds Festival. Five days of camping, music, fun and if you’re a Leeds Met volunteer a bit of working thrown in for good measure.

This year I’m returning as Media Officer after having a great time as a researcher last year and I cant wait. Not only is it my first festival of the year but I’m also interested to see what this role has install for me. Hopefully lots of blogging, social media, photographs, videos and maybe even podcasts so make sure you watch this space.

I love the atmosphere of the festival. There’s always a buzz and for the whole time there is always something going on, whether it’s backstage at the BBC Introducing Stage or at the camping area.

One of the highlights of last year was meeting loads of new people and I made some great friends so hopefully that will be replicated this year.

Music wise, Mariachi El Bronx are always good to see along with Little Comets and Heart Ships. Oh and not forgetting The Strokes.

Bring on Wednesday…

From Volunteering to Paid Work

Lucy McCan is an alumnus from Leeds Met, who is working this year at Latitude as artist liaison for the lake stage.

She studied events management and throughout her time at Leeds Met has been able to partake in many different work experience and volunteering opportunities that she says have no doubt helped her get to where she is now, having a paid job with Festival Republic.

Some of her previous work experience includes a month in Australia and also Poland, she is also an experienced festival volunteer, and thanks to the Leeds Met/Festival Republic partnership has worked at Latitude, Leeds and Download to name a few.

Her working opportunity came about whilst volunteering one year at Latitude as an artist liaison, she made contacts and kept in touch with her supervisor at the time, and he offered her paid work as a result!

She comments that networking and staying in touch with people is vital, it certainly helped her a lot and is a piece of advice that she would advise.

She also says that whilst at Leeds Met take advantage of all of the opportunities that they offer, she did many work placements during her degree and even spent a year in the workplace, all elements that have contributed to her securing job.

Its great to actually see that the volunteering and work experience that Leeds Met offers can directly lead to a success story!

More Than a Music Festival

This film talks to the curators of the arts that form a large part of the festival. Filmed as part of the University’s partnership with Festival Republic.

Latitude Festival – Student experience

This film focuses on the volunteering opportunites for our students which gives them great industry experience. Filmed as part of the University’s partnership with Festival Republic.

The Inbetweeners

Leeds Met student volunteers filmed and edited their own films of their Latitude Festival experience in one day, live from the festival site in Suffolk. This film focuses on The Inbetweeners, a new area for the 2011 festival dedicated to teenagers above the age of 12. Filmed as part of the University’s partnership with Festival Republic.

Festival Filming!

This afternoon has unfortunately been a wet one. After a promising morning, the heavens opened and I ran to take shelter in the Word Arena where a certain Mr Carl Barat raced through an energetic and infectious set of new and old that had kids having a sing song and made me feel quite old. Kids these days, eh?

Anyway, post-Barat fun saw me run into our lovely film crew who offered some handy tips for prospective Film Crew members as well as an insight into their week here at Latitude…

– Get to know your team and equipment – preparation is vital and meeting up with your team and getting to know what equipment you’ll use is really helpful. Plus, you get to make a lovely new set of friends on the way!

– Get to know the arena and what you’d like to film – Nothing helps more than getting to know your surroundings and making a plan. It’s good to think big even if you have to scale it down eventually. The possibilities are endless!

– Have a back up plan! – One thing you can never rely on is the weather. We’re notorious for grey skies and festivals rarely escape it! So having a back up plan for filming is always a good idea if it’s not as nice as you hoped. Brollies and waterproofing is a must!

They’ve had a really worthwhile learning experience and it goes to show how helpful hands on work can be!

A day in the life of Festival Republic PR intern Leah

On my third day as a PR intern for Festival Republic I began by assisting in the set up of the Word lounge which included creating and distributing posters promoting the series of events being held at the Lounge across the day, such as Q + A’s with ‘I am Kloot’ and ‘They Might Be Giants’. This made sure festival-goeing fans didn’t miss out on the action!

Later on, I was fortunate enough to work with the Absolute radio team. As someone who has always wanted to work in radio I jumped at the chance! The entire team were extremely friendly and accommodating and I also had a great chat with Absolute’s PR guru johnny. As a previous Leeds graduate, he was able to offer me fantastic help and advice on how to break into the industry.

I was then lucky enough to be invited to sit in on an interview with Ed Sheeran (suffolk born singer, that is currently achieving chart success with his debut single ‘the A team’) The interview is due to go on air tomorrow night. He performed this single and another (‘You need me’) live on acoustic guitar. We briefly met and shook hands, he is very friendly and down to earth, not to mention talented!

More top five tips from HAT’s!

Yanning li is studying a PhD in Event Management. She is here as one of our HAT members. She says that volunteering here at Latitude perfect work experience as her course is mainly research based thereore this festival is the perfect case study!

Yanning’s top 5 tips are:

1) Be prepared to work as a team, she has found the sense of togetherness helpful as working in a big group with the other HAT’s has allowed her to learn from them, so make friends!

2) Bring wellies for definite! She unfortunately was too hopeful of the weather and depicted that the sun would stick around all weekend, unfortunately as you are aware that was not the case!

3) Be prepared to work hard, the HATs shifts can be rather tiring, especially as it involves walkin, but most of the time she has been having fun whilst working so the time has flown by!

4) Extra food is always handy! She says that at the food tent is a walk away always useful to have some extra supplies for when in the tent!

5) Try and enjoy the festival atmosphere! Latitude is known for its laid back, happy vibe in comparison to others. It will no doubt rub off on you, so do try to make the most of your time whilst here, as well as when working!

She says that whilst working yesterday sh e was cheered up when a group of festival goers saw the ‘information’ band that the HAT’s wear for costumes and decided to ask Yanning non festival related questions about the history of England! Good to know that everyone here at Latitude is up for a laugh! Sounds like Yanning has been able to gain a lot out of the experience and she would definitely recommend volunteering to others!

Latitude is Costume Crazy

I thought I’d give a little insight into some of the weird and wonderful fancy dress that some of the punters of Latitude have decided to go with…

– Tight Lycra Suits – By far the best of the weekend has to be a collection of blokes running around the idyllic site. Dressed from head-to-toe in lycra playsuits, one of the group needed the help of Ellie Rowlands, one of our HATs on Saturday. Asking ‘have you seen any other people dressed like me?!’, we now hope he managed to find his cheeky brethren and carried on his weird and wonderful weekend!

– Cleaners and Mops – Another of the oddest sights over the weekend took place down at The Lake Stage where Tribes were going down a treat. I glanced over to the middle only to see four mops being bounded around the place. It turns out that those responsible were four blokes dressed as cleaners, it also seems that Tribes quite possibly cleaned up. Fair play.

– A Dinosaur and A Giraffe – Saturday evening saw one of the oddest collaborations you’ll probably see. A dinosaur and a giraffe holding hands and having a quaint little chat. Whatever next…

Leeds Met not only offers unique work experience within our roles, but the chance to see some of the more surreal sights a festival has to offer!

Top Tips From Top Hats

On a typically lovely Latitude morning, the last day of the festival is all set to begin. I’ve been fed and watered by the lovely Orange Food people and on my way into the arena I found two of our very flamboyant HATs who gave us their Top 5 tips for festival volunteers!

1. Bring Waterproof Wellies – Soaking wet feet have never done anybody any help, as Ellie herself found out!

2. Bring a Waterproof Tent – It’s the UK it will rain and the last thing you need is wet stuff. Yours truly found this out as I woke up to a drowned friend of mine needing shelter on Thursday night! Poor thing…

3. Get to know the other volunteers! – It’s a festival and they’re gonna be your buddies for the week and the chances are you’ll have similar reasons for being there! Go embrace!

4. Looking Flamboyantly Different is Fun – Here at Leeds Met we take pride in our crazy costumes, especially as HATs. I’d even say bring some clobber with you for your characters, Latitude loves something that little bit leftfield!

5. Bring some loo roll! – You might get lucky and find some in the loos in the morning but by mid-afternoon don’t be surprised if its all gone! Wet wipes are a man’s and woman’s best friend at a festival, be prepared!

Well it seems, Will and Ellie have taken to their Latitude experience and learned quite a bit in the process, thankfully the Green Tent Co. (check our ‘Going for Green’ article) came to their rescue!

JS

Sunday with Leeds Met at Latitude

Today myself and Jazz, the other PR intern here at Latitude, have decided to do things a little differently.

We’re going to be going around the festival site and catching up with our volunteers who will be giving out top tips for those looking to participate as festival volunteers in the future, as well their reflection on the fantastic we’ve had down here.

Stay tuned for more from us throughout the day.

HATs: Chris and Rachel Getting Along Swimmingly… in the Rain!

We bumped into another team of HATs on our travels today, Chris McSwiney and Rachel Hassan who are really enjoying the atmosphere of being a part of the group of HATs.

Rachel commented on how everybody’s getting along, ‘you go past all the other HATs, they’re really friendly and excited; It’s like a big team!’

Chris continued, ‘meeting all the other HATs has been really good, everyone is really friendly and everyone has mixed together well.’

The HATs are showing the teamwork skills that have made the partnership between Festival Republic and Leeds Met so successful.

They encountered difficulties with the elements though, as Chris points out, ‘the weather is difficult – hot yesterday, wet today – it is a bit like one extreme to the other’ but Rachel finishes, ‘we haven’t had too many problems, its really blissful at Latitude.’

Another PR intern for Festival Republic enjoying the Latitude experience!

Katie johnson is a student at Leeds Met studying Entertainment Management. She has impressively already worked at Download festival, Sonisphere and Hove this summer and she still has Leeds festival after Latitude is over!
She’s certainly in the festival spirit, gaining lots of experience whilst also being able to use these volunteering opportunities as part of her course, Katie is certainly proving her dedication.

Along with afore mentioned Leah Eser, she is also working with Festival Republic as a PR intern and is thoroughly enjoying the experience so far! She says that over the weekend she hasn’t stopped and has been kept very busy, whether it be sitting in on Festival Republic meetings regarding filming or dropping off programmes to Absolute Radio, she is always on the go and getting a taste of the hard work that goes into festival PR.

Whilst working she has been lucky enough to spot a few famous faces such as award winning comedian Miranda Hart and Hugh Stevens of Radio 1. However the PR world isn’t all glamour and celebrities as the girls working with Festival Republic are on call throughout the day.

Katie says ‘I like to be kept busy so I am enjoying my time with Festival Republic, I am very lucky to be working with them, they have been nothing but accommodating and kind. I feel like I have learnt a lot from this experience already. This will definitely be useful to have as work experience is vital and as it is directly related to Entertainment Management, it has made me eager to persevere with my future career’

Well it sounds like Katie is really making the most of her time here at Latitude, and is enjoying the hard work, let’s hope it pays off!

Film Crew Adventures Part 3

Today we caught up with Hollie Bryan, the Producer with the film crew. She told us in a little bit more detail about what she does, ‘I manage the camera and sound team as well as the director and editor, organising the time schedules and content.’

Working in a team you’ve just met can provide some challenges though, ‘its hard organising schedules without preparation beforehand, as we’ve all met for the first time here. Its difficult in the space of a few hours to get everyone together, come up with an idea and plan it but we’ve done really well so far.’

She’s really supportive of the Leeds Met and Festival Republic partnership though as she started as HAT last year and is now part of the film crew. And as she points out, you get to have a fantastic time whilst you are here, ‘it’s a good chance to come to a festival for free, do some work experience and watch some good bands!’

She offers prospective volunteers a valuable tip too, ‘I’d recommend bringing wellies and a waterproof as some people think they can get away with it and soon learn they won’t!’

We hope Hollie and the film crew continue enjoying their experience across the weekend despite the weather.

The Best of Friday at Latitude

As well as having the opportunity to get hands on experience and meet lots of new people, we’re lucky enough to see some top artists thanks to the Leeds Met and Festival Republic.

Friday saw some of music’s top talent hit the Latitude stages and we were there to catch a couple of these acts as they performed on our sun-drenched stages.

‎​First, Paloma Faith played the Obelisk stage to a rapturous crowd. She was, as always, extravagantly dressed in a traditional Native American head-dress, complete with face paint and a striking blue dress, bringing a different type of chic to Latitude!

She sang most of her debut album, ‘Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?’ as well as a few covers to which the audience responded fantastically. Paloma cannot be faulted on her stage presence or her voice. Both are a reflection of her extrovert personality and made for an extremely exciting spectacle!

The Vaccines were the penultimate act on The Word Stage and caused absolute mayhem. Kicking off with ‘Blow It Up’, the teen-filled Latitude crowd went almost worryingly crazy, with teens climbing the poles that keep the tent up! They kicked on with ‘Wreckin’ Bar’ and ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ as well as causing a mass sing-a-long with ‘If You Wanna’ which is slowly becoming one of the hits of this summer’s festival season.

It was then the turn of Obelisk Stage headliners The National who continued to add to their ranks of followers with a very special set on Friday evening. From ‘Slow Show’ to ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ to ‘Terrible Love’, the Brooklyn-based five piece manage to cement themselves as worthy festival headliners with the help of the fantastic St. Vincent’s Annie Clark. It took them a long time to get to here, but no one would bet against them going further.

The chance to see these acts whilst also working at a top UK festival is thanks to this great partnership. Here’s to some more across the weekend!

Leeds Met’s Festival Republic Intern Shows Experience is Key

Leah Eser is a PR student here at Leeds Met so volunteering at Leeds Met was a fantastic opportunity that she couldn’t refuse. As work experience is key when aspiring to a career in Public Relations, the opportunity to further her existing knowledge of PR and to participate in a volunteering role is the perfect way to show she is dedicated about her future career.

She is here as an intern with Festival Republic, and she has been kept on her feet with a wide variety of tasks to assist in the smooth running of the festival.

She says ‘The opportunity to work with Festival Republic and to see and be a part of the process behind such a huge event is a fantastic one. As a PR student I have gained work experience in a variety of industries but this is by far my favourite. There is always something to do and the atmosphere here at Latitude is electric!’

Leah has been working alongside Katie, a second PR intern from Leeds Met who has also been fortunate enough to work with Festival Republic’s on site PR team. The girls have been helping the team with tasks such as merchandise, setting up the press tent and were lucky enough to check out Guillemots’ Sunday Times secret gig.

Leah continues, ‘All the staff here are so friendly and accommodating and we really appreciate the help and advice they are offering us as aspiring PR practitioners interested in the industry. We’re looking forward to what the next few days have in store!’

We wish Leah good luck for the rest of the weekend.

A Hat For All Situations!

Louise Maddox is a senior secretary at Leeds Met and likes nothing more than the opportunity to volunteer. She says that she loves to gain the experience of seeing how the festival is created behind the scenes, whilst still being able to enjoy the friendly Latitude atmosphere.

She has thoroughly enjoyed her shifts so far, and was set to start her 3rd as I spoke to her. She even had her first crisis whilst working in the theatre tent last night, as a man passed out and Louise and her flamboyant HAT partner Nicole were there ready to help! Being the good volunteers that they are, they made sure he had a lot of water as they took him to the first aid tent safe and sound. Let’s hope she encounters less of these over the weekend!

A few of her highlights have been meeting award-winning actor David Bradley in the Theatre tent, who was there watching one of the acts! He has been in many theatre productions and is most famous for his role in the original Robin Hood and the Prince of Thieves. Louise chatted with him and he even said that he hoped she would be able to catch his show on later in the weekend.

A further highlight was meeting a group of ladies on a hen do whilst working, saying how lovely they all were and that she had a lot of fun telling them all of the exciting places on offer here at Latitude, such as ‘the Faraway Forest’ at night time with all its unpredictability and the Magners area that have dj’s and tribute bands playing all through the night – a perfect place for those hens to go and dance the night away.

Whilst unfortunately missing Alabama 3, Louise is hoping to catch more performers when not working in her very flamboyant manner!

Film Crew Adventures Part 2!

This evening we infiltrated the film crew some more to speak to the other camera operator, Penny Bhogal.

She let us in to what her role entails, ‘I work as part of the film crew as a camera operator, help with coming up with ideas and content and ensuring all of the shots are what the director wants and are the best they can possibly be.’

Penny is a perfect example of what Leeds Met volunteering can offer the students of the University, as she explains, ‘The opportunities you get are a fantastic part of being a volunteer. I started as a HAT, then the next year as the Media/PR assistant and now I’m part of the film crew for Latitude and Leeds Festival. Through volunteering with Leeds Met I was put in touch with a film crew that I now work with. The experience I have gained has now meant I’ve been able to get through to my masters in Journalism. It really opens doors.’

She gets to see a lot of Latitude through the lens and here are some of her best bits so far, ‘the lake stage whilst they were setting up the stage was amazing. They were doing the lights and it was really nice to film as they were putting it together. It was exciting to film the festival as it comes to fruition.’

Well, Penny has certainly enjoyed her time so far, and we hope that continues across the weekend!