Festival Radio – More than just a gimmick?

For the last 5 years (excluding last year) I’ve worked with some amazing people on Bestival Radio, and really enjoyed it. I always thought of it as a bit of a laugh (because it was) and not really anything more than that.

Most festivals have radio stations these days! Glastonbury, Bestival, Big Chill… the list goes on. I’ve never really thought of it as real radio – being broadcast on an RSL (restricted service license) on 87.7FM normally for only 5 days, with only a 2 mile range. It’s only now that I’m running two (not on my own, as part of a team), that I am really grasping the importance of it to not only the festival and brand, but the festival goer.

It gives the brand an element of cool. It gives the festival an outlet for urgent news / schedule updates / a link to the local community. Finally it gives the punters, sorry, festival goers a chance to still be involved in the festival atmosphere in their tents, keep up to date with news and generally just adds another layer of entertainment to the festival.

Some festival radio stations (Worthy FM at Glastonbury for example) is taken really seriously, they have a whole team dedicated to local news/traffic/weather, and they have the same presenters on daily(ish), but that’s because it’s Glastonbury and they broadcast for like two weeks?! Glastonbury is huge and needs dedicated teams for different departments… Question is, how do you tackle a smaller festival’s radio station?

Watching Bestival grow from a small quaint boutique festival, to the not-so-boutique, kind-of-mainstream festival I’ve also experienced the change in production and staffing styles. Learnt from mentors and peers around me, and am ready to tackle running one myself.

So, this Summer, I’ll be working on Big Chill Radio (as management this year, not just a staffer like last year), and managing the first radio station for the relatively new festival, Green Man.

If you’re coming to either one of these festivals, or in fact if you are going to any festivals with radio stations, TAKE A BLOODY RADIO.