Sunday, August 26, 2007

Greenbelt 2007 part 3

The guys at Sanctus 1 were responsible for this year's Sunday Communion and given that a) I think they're generally pretty excellent people and b) they seemed to be coming up with some of the most creative ideas I'd seen for a while; I had planned to break my usual "hey Sunday mornings are quiet, I can sleep" policy and actually make it to the service.

Sadly, still recovering from the migraine of yesterday, a few hours in bed seem like a better choice. However, I believe it went well, and it will always have a special place in my heart as being a Greenbelt first, in organising something that required a call to the Civil Aviation Authority (releasing 1000 helium balloon prayers).

I haven't actually seen the risk assessment, but I like to think it went something like this:

Activity: Releasing 1000 helium balloons
Potential Hazard: Balloons getting into an aeroplane jet engine
Probabilty: low
Severity: errrr quite high, you know, couple of hundred dead, that kind of thing...

Fortunately, through calls to the CAA and the only local airfield, the management of the risk is quite straight forward, but it's one to stick in the memory.

The rest of the festival seems to equally running smoothly. The sun is shining gloriously, there's art around every corner and everywhere you look there are people grinnign and having a fine old time.

It's that general festival vibe that I love. The way people take some time out of the ordinary of life, to come together, sit on some grass, let music drift across them, let themselves be surprised and moved by the unexpected, meet new people, spend time with old friends, generally find those little bits of heaven.

Today's little piece of heaven in our ordinary Fest Ops Mtg, is the ever wonderful Iain Archer.



After hours backstage at mainstage, there's a little private party for K's 40th. Time to toast Dolly's reaching of a landmark.

It's a lovely moment, a breather from the rest of the madness, and the sight of G trying to light her ciggie from a night light and inadvertently turning said cancer stick into a wax soaked candle.

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