Jarvis Cocker, Little Boots and Fatboy Slim are among the stars who have painted themselves blue for a stunning Oxfam photo shoot ahead of the Glastonbury festival.
The fantastic portraits, shot exclusively by legendary photographer Rankin, kick off Oxfam’s climate change campaign across the festival season, and also feature Editors’ Tom Smith, The View, Luke Pritchard from The Kooks, VV Brown and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
The photos launch a campaign that goes far beyond any previous festival appeal. Oxfam is asking thousands of festival-goers across the summer to paint themselves blue as part of a massive visual statement to the UK government to take action on climate change before it’s too late.
Little Boots, who is performing three times at Glastonbury this year, said:
“Doing nothing is not the answer to fighting climate change. Go blue, demand that the prime minister takes the lead in protecting the people of this beautiful planet and kiss goodbye to climate change. If everyone does their bit we can save the planet.”
Glastonbury legend Fatboy Slim, who has performed at the festival for the last 12 years, said:
“I love the idea of people painting their faces blue for climate change at festivals this summer. It’s a fun way to get people engaged in a more serious issue. Even my son Woody will get a blue paintjob for the occasion! I’m sure people will have a great time being inventive about what they should paint. Hopefully it won’t rain or we’ll have fields of blue paint and maybe even blue cows!”
A video of the celebrity photo shoot will debut on the big screens at the Pyramid Stage during the festival, showing how Rankin captured Oxfam’s most ambitious celebrity photo campaign since the famous Make Trade Fair ‘dumping’ pictures in 2005.
The blue faces campaign marks Oxfam’s sixteenth year at Glastonbury. Since 1993 Oxfam has signed up the support of 400,000 people for their campaigns at Glastonbury, raised £2.7 million through volunteers’ stewarding and £522,000 through Oxfam stalls on-site.
This year Mrs Jones (stylist to The Killers, Kylie, Scissor Sisters) will be re-styling Oxfam’s 2 on-site stalls. There will also be a “Be the Band” makeover stand in The Park where fans can dress as the artist they’d most like to be. has 80 campaigners at Glastonbury. Oxfam will have 1950 stewards at Glastonbury, raising a minimum of £200,000 for Oxfam. There will also be 80 campaigners.
More than 70,000 new supporters signed up to Oxfam’s ‘I Count’ campaign in 2007, to stop climate chaos.
The blue faces petition will be presented to the UK government ahead of December’s critical climate change summit in Copenhagen, with Oxfam calling for a global deal that keeps carbon emissions at a safe level, and offers fair support to the millions of people in developing countries already suffering the effects of climate change.
Download high-res versions of all of the images
For more information contact:
Rose Marsh
rmarsh@oxfam.org.uk
07789 075522
01865 472375
Alexander Woollcombe
awoollcombe@oxfam.org.uk
07919 352358
Other celebrity quotes in support of the campaign:
“Cover yourself in blue paint, scream till you’re blue in the face, talk to your MP, talk to your mum, recycle, walk more, sign a petition. Festivals are about reminding yourself what it means to be a human being and there are millions of people out there who are already up against it in the face of climate change. I can’t stand people telling me what to do so if you don’t want to cover yourself in blue paint then don’t- but do something else instead to put an end to this madness now.” - VV Brown
“Most of us are lucky enough to not notice the effects of climate change yet. But it is already becoming real for people in less fortunate places in this world. You can do something like me, paint yourself and stick two fingers up to those standing in the way of change.” - Luke from The Kooks
“Climate change affects us all, and if we, me and you both don’t do something about it now it will affect generations to come. Do something now and demand an end to climate change.” - Kyle Falconer from The View
“This is the choice: either one: world leaders protect us all from climate change and we cheer or two: they don’t, we feel a little bit stupid having hung out in blue paint - but then we get the chance to vent our disgust at the ballot box.” - Sam Duckworth from Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
Tags: climatechange, festivals, glastonbury, Music
