GLASTONBURY 2014

Glastonbury 2014 – World Cup Tales

Please excuse my tardiness. This blog was composed on Saturday in a leaky tent in Somerset. Sending this from Germany from a cosy hotel near Bergen.
This blog is being written in a cosy tent pummeled by festival rain. Revision – not so cosy anymore as occasional raindrops plopping on iPad screen.
Never mind, can’t complain. My annual sojourn at Glastonbury Festival is underway.
This year, I’m proud to announce that my 13 year old son, Oscar has secured his own ticket because he’s accompanying my storytelling shenanigans with his flute. (He was equally chuffed when he realized that everybody else pays £210 for a ticket.)
Together we tell tales and make music in the Kidzfield. This is the largest free children’s festival in the world. We perform in the Storyteller’s Tent which is hosted by the Glastonbury veteran and Father Christmas look-a-like John Rowe, plus we also get to tread the boards of the BiG Top for a ten minute tale or two.

This year I’ve worked up 32 stories from each of the nations who qualified for FIFA World Cup 2014. I already had some top class tales from about half of the countries but I’ve unearthed a few other gems I’ll add to my repertoire.
The Three Dolls, from Iran; the Young Man Who Married A Spider, from Portugal; the Birdcatcher, from Bosnia-Herzegovina, are just three of my newfound faves.
We always start our show with an uplifting instrumental overture and then I lose the guitar and Oscar blows the flute while I recount Peach Boy (Japan), The Singing Toad (Mexico), In The Earliest Time (USA), The Silver Flute (Spain), and many other tales including the Pied Piper, of course.
When not performing we amble through the fields and like magpies, see what catches our eye. It’s a kaleidoscopic experience of sounds, smells and images … a train carriage embedded halfway up a bombed tower block – giant robotic piranhas trundling over wet grass belching diesel fumes – tennis umpires commenting on the clothing of passers-by – Glastonbury Tor sticking out like a false tooth in the sunset – rivers of people flowing along the lanes – grizzled Glastonians amidst fresh faced first-timers – the acrid smell of urine – the litter (yes, the litter is gobsmacking – I’m always surprised at how so many festivalites love wallowing in their own trash when they let their hair down!)
My favourite food bar is the Philippino Noodle stall and Oscar’s is anywhere that does burgers or pizza.
We both love pop up act Mik Artistik and can’t wait to see Lily Allen tonight.

Yippee! The sun is shining and evaporating the morning’s rain. Hope the ground dries out for tomorrow as have to get off site, return to Dartmoor and then coach to Heathrow. Germany beckons. Hope I don’t get stuck in the infamous Glastonbury mud!
For those who are curious here are Clive PiG’s 32 World Cup Tales:
How The Animals Kept The Lion At Bay – Algeria
The Tree In The Middle Of The River – Cameroon
Elephant Tale – Cote D’Ivoire
Too Much Talk – Ghana
Why Is The Sky So High? – Nigeria
Koobor The Koala – Australia
The Three Dolls – Iran
Peach Boy – Japan
The Strongest Being – South Korea
The Devil’s Barn – Belgium
The Birdcatcher – Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Wonder-Working Lock – Croatia
Colin The Chocolate Kid – England
Quackling -France
The Pied Piper – Germany
Arachne Spider Woman – Greece
The Apple Girl -Italy
The Boy Who Wanted More Cheese -Netherlands
The Young Man Who Married A Spider -Portugal
Baba Yaga – Russia
The Silver Flute -Spain
William Tell -Switzerland
The Bird Sweet Magic – Costa Rica
The Coyote Teodora – Honduras
The Singing Toad – Mexico
In The Earliest Time -USA
The Girl And The Puma – Argentina
Sambalele – Brazil
The Turquoise Ring – Chile
The Crocodile Man – Colombia
Five Eggs – Ecuador
Too Clever – Uruguay