Director, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Music Bob Shennan, outlines the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs plans to provide coverage of .
It started as the Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival, officially itβs now the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, to many itβs simply The Best Festival in the World.
As I write, 900 acres of farmland in the Vale of Avalon is being transformed into a magical playground, with over 1,200 acts set to perform across 100 stages. Itβs an impossibly diverse mix of music, comedy, theatre, circus and art. On the iconic Pyramid Stage alone youβll be able to see everything from Dolly Parton and Kasabian to Robert Plant and the English National Ballet.
Across the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ, our key aim for 2014 is to bring you more of the music you love β offering those of you who canβt be there the next best thing: a chance to tailor-make your own Glastonbury experience.
Last year saw a step-change in our approach to covering the festival, with live and on-demand streaming from 6 different stages, involving over 120 artists across the three days. 19 million of you β around a third of all adults in the UK β watched some of the TV coverage; with record numbers accessing our online and interactive services. We hope to repeat that success this year, with a similar offering that makes it simple for you to enjoy the event whenever you want, wherever you are.
Metallica, whoβll be at the festival for the first time to headline on Saturday night, are renowned for their incredibly powerful, pyrotechnical performances, the likes of which Glastonbury has probably never seen before, and I hope weβll be able to fully do that justice.Β
If metal isnβt your cup of tea however, there will be plenty of alternatives just a few clicks away on your tablets or interactive TVs β and I would encourage everyone to check out the full range of coverage ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Music will be bringing you across our TV, radio and interactive options.
Weβll be broadcasting over 50 hours of radio across Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2 and 6 Music; with around 30 hours of TV coverage on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Two, Three and Four. Iβm also delighted to say The One Show will be returning to Glastonbury, with a special hour long show on Friday 27th June on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ One giving viewers an insight into the festivalβs history and heritage, as well as roaming the site to capture some of its more extraordinary happenings.Β
Broadcasting this amount of live programming from a field in Somerset is obviously demanding, so Iβm grateful to the team of cameramen, vision mixers, directors, vision control engineers, producers and website techs - around 300 ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ staff and freelancers in total β who will be working on site across the weekend to deliver this coverage. Weβre sending the same number of people as last year and, whilst some will inevitably still argue this is too many, I can assure you that every member of staff onsite has a clear and accountable role, working long hours to offer unparalleled coverage for our audiences. We have also worked hard over recent years to identify areas where resources can be shared or tasks more easily undertaken off-site.
To put that number in perspective, I was reading on Glastonburyβs website about the plans this year for Shangri-la - a unique area of the festival which really comes alive after dark. Ten months in the planning and taking a month to build, theyβre promising an βimmersive installation, a vast interactive fictional world brought to life by a creative team of over 1,500 crew performers and artistsβ.Β
Itβs this kind of ambition that ensures Glastonbury continues to be way more than just a music festival. It is a wonderfully unique British experience, which I hope we can bring you a small flavour of, at the end of the month.
Bob Shennan is Director, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Music
- Έι±π²Ή»εΜύ
- Follow the Glastonbury action on twitterΒ
- Watch live performancesΒ Β and onΒ Β from Friday 27 June