Feature: Behind the scenes at Guilfest

EXCLUSIVE!

FEATURE: Behind the scenes at

Guildford’s biggest event of the year

Summer is coming and with it the greatly anticipated festival season. For many Guildford locals the steady crawl up to Guilfest is filled with tent testing and welly boot buying. For the organisers however, the task of preparing for the festival is far more complicated. From as early as October last year the festival’s chief organisational quartet has been working away, planning three day’s worth of delight for this year’s Guilfest. I wonder how many people think about what it takes to put on a festival of this magnitude. I decided to go and find out. . .

This year up to 21 000 people are expected to turn up per day. Considering the festival costs an adult £110 for the weekend camping you would think Tony Scott and his team at Scott Events would be rolling in the money. They are quite clear on their stance as a ‘not for profit’ organisation, which is believable as simply putting the festival on costs way over a million pounds each year, excluding the percentage charge for renting the site (Stoke Park). Unlike starting up your own business you cannot get a bank loan to begin your own festival, the banks simply would not take the risk. You have to have the capital to begin with and then pray you can make it back. So, for those hopeful future festival organisers out there - be warned - it’s an expensive dream. As far as Guilfest goes this monetary responsibility lies with one man alone.

Ade Goldsmith acts as Tony Scott’s right hand man and when April arrives it’s full on for the team and Ade’s job as Press and media manager really kicks in. Organising all of the public relations for the festival, writing press releases and designing the marketing strategy for the event are just some of his tasks.

‘I have a database of 200 to 300 journalists and I email all of them.’ He must get all the publicity he possibly can before the festival begins, as stories in newspapers act as a vital key to selling tickets. The more people that know about the festival the more likely they are to turn up, especially if they have see an article on a local band from their area that will be performing.

When asked about the ethos Guilfest is centred around Ade said: ‘We try to appeal to people from all walks of life, making it as family friendly as possible with something for everyone.’

Differing from many other music festivals, vast and diverse crowds are welcome at Guilfest, which, in some senses makes the organisation even more taxing. The organisers all have their own music preferences and visions for what they believe should act as the running theme at Guilfest. Creative differences can cause problems at this stage and festivals are increasingly forced into the mercy of health and safety restrictions, put in place by the Council. Maximum capacity laws must be kept to and the hiring of a security guard company is important. The risk of shutdown would be too much for Tony Scott who has built the festival from scratch. Although Guilfest does not veer away from that laid back vibe expected at festivals, the organisation must be ‘above board and solid.’ From booking each band through to the hiring of each of the 1000 staff members who will work over the three days - all must be official.

Amongst his responsibilities, Ade has the duty of booking bands for the dance tent, which he says he is fairly relaxed about until mid to late May. I asked him how he chooses between willing acts? He said:

‘What I like and what will sell tickets.’ Although he personally does not like the focus to be on selling tickets, as the public relations (PR) man, it is a major part of his job. (Even not-for-profit organisations have to at least break even.)

Many problems can occur both in the organisation and at the festival itself. Last year one the headlining acts in the dance tent was two hours late. Ade only had Dub and Electro DJ Rusco’s agent’s phone number and not Rusco himself - a mistake he won’t be making again!

‘I decided to put someone else on and the chanting for Rusco continued as everyone thought it was him.’ Following that Pendulum were an hour late but at least they turned up eventually. There is always the possibility that artists will simply drop out at the last minute, causing the gruelling task of finding a replacement with what little time there is left.

Our famous unpredictable weather conditions can cause a crisis in ticket sales. If it rains throughout the weekend local people are less likely to turn up and if it gets rained off, as Sunrise festival did last year, Tony Scott and the team can kiss goodbye to all their hard work.

Luckily, Guilfest has never yet faced this travesty but the possibility contributes to the stress leading up to the festival.

When it comes to being backstage it is vitally important to be busy or at least look busy at all times to avoid the unattractive title of ‘backstage blagger.’ We tend to imagine people clothed in CREW t-shirts scurrying about backstage with radios and clipboards, darting between a few gigantic security guards who spend their time telling over-enthusiastic fans to GET BACK. In actual fact the ‘blaggers’ who stand around trying to look cool and important are rarely a threat to anything but their own dignity. Backstage crews at Guilfest can either be a mixture of Guilfest employees made up of roadies, light and sound engineers and the stage’s producer, or the bands own entourage of experts. Depending on the stage and how big in the music business the bands are, the amount of back stagers can range from a handful to well over a hundred.

‘There are ridiculous amounts of people backstage for the main stage.’

The major acts booked so far include Chase and Status, N-Dubs, Status Quo and Orbital. For updates and to see the full line-up you can visit the website at: www.guilfest.co.uk.

I leave you with a thought:

When you are trying out your tent, worrying about the possibility it will collapse on you, spare a thought for Tony, Ade and the

others who have to make sure the whole festival doesn’t collapse on them!

Q&A with Ade:

Q: What do you enjoy the most about your work?

A: It involves my own interests. I live for what I do

Q: How did you start out getting into this kind of work?

A: I began working for Tony’s (Scott) marquee company but wasn’t really doing alot. Then sombody said ‘why don’t you go to uni?’ So I went and studied music industry management. When I came back three years later Tony gave me the job of PR manager.

Q: WHat is the hardest part of your job?

A: Proffessional disagreements. WHoever puts the money in has the last say which means you can be prevented from doing what you believe in.

Q: WHo are you most proud to have worked with in the music industry?

A: I wouldn’t really say I was proud of who I’ve worked with. Alot of the biggest artists you talk to, you realise are d***heads.

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