Emily Eavis - Glastonbury's Park life

United Kingdom | | 13 March 2008

Having been brought up surrounded by cows and tractors and then immersed in the colourful craziness of the world's most famous festival weekend once a year, she now finds herself at the forefront.

Since the Millennium she has been involved in seeking out new, breakthrough acts, helping Glastonbury booker Martin Elbourne stay connected with emerging bands and scenes, until last year when father Michael gave her a designated space to work with. The result, The Park.

Despite savage weather wreaking havoc in every area of the site, The Park proved a reasonable success, its highlight being the Africa Express night hosted by Damon Albarn that matched UK and African artists together in a unique, off the cuff experiment.

The spirit of that Saturday night, such a bold and experimental risk in the dark, looks set to mould the future of The Park. On first impressions it appears to inspire innovation, surprise and the will to do things differently. Perhaps the roaring raw flames that bellow skywards from the side of the stage will come to represent its true fire.

Virtual Festivals caught up with Emily under the skeletal bones of the Pyramid Stage to find out what's stoking the fire in her belly ahead of this year's Glastonbury...

VF: It's mid-March already all of a sudden, how are we looking for Glastonbury 2008?
Emily Eavis: "It's coming along well actually. In fact really well. It's nice to be out of our long winter, you know those cold January night that seem like they go on forever and then you come out into spring and you get that real feeling that summer's on its way."

VF: Last time we were here this place was a mud bath, now it looks like nothing's happened here for years. How long does it takes for the farm to recover?
EE: "It's amazing how quickly the ground recovers. By Christmas it's completely back to normal. Just look around, I mean look at the grass. It's amazing."

VF: What are you most looking forward to about this year?
EE: "Jay Z is probably the biggest thing. We're so excited about it, we wanted to do something totally different and he's the king when it comes to hip-hop and he seemed like the only one for us. He's such an amazing performer. I saw him in the Albert Hall and was absolutely blown away, it was such an amazing thing to see. He's going to put on something spectacular at Glastonbury, something that really hasn't been done before featuring lots of guests and other stuff. I can't say much more."

VF: How about the other headliners?
EE: "Then there's Kings Of Leon, of course, who are one of the best live bands ever as far as I'm concerned. They're doing the Friday night and they've really come through the ranks here, starting in 2003 in the new bands tent before playing the Pyramid Stage in 2004, so now they're in their rightful slot. And then there's The Verve who have an amazing heritage and they played here even before Northern Soul was out. And then Leonard Cohen, who confirmed himself yesterday and is going to be breathtaking."

VF: Can you tell us about the Strummerville Stage, which is a new addition?
EE: "I'm not sure exactly what they've got planned music-wise but they'll be having a big campfire where people can gather around. They did it a few years ago before they introduced a music programme and it's just a lovely place to hang out. There are loads of seats dotted round a big fire. Then there's Shangri La, which is replacing Lost Vagueness, and the ideas they're coming up with are just amazing. It's really going to be a lovely area that I think."

VF: How about Shangri La, the new area that's replacing Lost Vagueness? A tough act to follow.. 
EE: "There are many of the same people involved in it and they've all got amazing ideas. There are so many creative minds behind what's going to be going on there and they're coming together brilliantly. With Glastonbury you've always got to move things on."

VF: Burlesque isn't cool any more seems to be the message...
EE: "Burlesque was brilliant in its time but now it's the kind of thing you get at a Barclays Bank Christmas party, so it's all about keeping things moving. Nothing's been decided for definite yet but there are lots of ideas floating round. They have grand plans and it will genuinely have a great vibe."

VF: And, of course, your stage The Park. How did you feel your first year went?
EE: "It was its first year and there were a few teething problems, which really weren't helped by the weather, but generally we were really pleased with how it went. So we're just looking to build on what we achieved and improve it. There will be more going on, for instance we're going to move the Bimble Inn in there from the Tee Pee field, which is a really nice, intimate low-lying marquee, and we've got a couple more venues. One's a sweet charity venue which is a bit like a cruise ship, except it's a tent, and it's going to stop at a different country every day, so we'll have Brazlian music one day and African the next and it will be hosted by DJs who only play records from charity shops."

VF: Sounds great!
EE: "We've also got some really amazing visual stuff planned for The Park. We're keeping the Roman flames that flank the stage and the tower, of course, and the man in the boat up the tree will be back. In fact he's probably still there!"

VF: Other than CSS and Hot Chip are there any acts confirmed you can tell us about?
EE: "The Enemy, Editors, Goldfrapp and The Fratellis will all up there and they'll probably play on stages elsewhere too. We don't want to announce too much before 1 June because that keeps the excitement levels up. But it's going to be a total mix. We've got hip-hop, folk, acoustic, beat boxing. Ok here's something for you. We've got an amazing thing which is being planned, the beatboxer Shlomo. He's doing two hours on the Park Stage on Saturday night and it's going to be the best thing ever. He'll be bringing his outfit the Vocal Orchestra and is going to have loads of guests."