Leeds festival review

Leeds

What to expect:
This is a festival for those who like it a bit edgier, the festival crowd are less demanding, they are there for a good time and drinking and this reflects on the issues we have to deal with at Reading. Our primary responsibilities are looking out for issues in music venues/stages and staffing emergency exits. We do not steward the camping areas of Reading or manage arena entrance.

Review:
This year, Leeds built on its fantastically energetic reputation with a blinder of a weekend.  As a festival with an ambiguous reputation, the usual final night high jinx continued, but we were far removed by that stage, enjoying ourselves at the epic Oxfam End of Festival Party with the usual charitable donations of refreshing beverages and enough food for a small army.  Which was good, because a small army we had.  Campfires, dancing and music lasted well into the daylight.

In the four years that we've stewarded this festival, we've seen a huge transformation in the stewarding experience.  Gone are the days of camping amongst security.  Having our own open space in the backstage compound last year was great, and this year we were moved closest to the manor house, due to our good reputation. Being backstage gives us convenient access to the main arena.  As ever, the Oxfam team continue to bring their own individual quality to the festival: with the improved camping seems to have come a trend of blisteringly hot weather, which made this years unique addition of an Oxfam hot-tub quite welcome after a shift on your feet.

The festival itself brought with it the usual feast of upcoming acts (MGMT, Vampire Weekend - my personal highlight) and established headliners (Metallica, Rage, The Killers).  One steward found enough to his liking to schedule in excess of fifty bands, still managing to work the three eight hour shifts that help us raise Festival Republic's donation to Oxfam.  The beautiful site provides a rural setting for such a frenetic experience.  And when the main acts finish, you can party the night away in the silent disco or find one of the DJs in the camping areas to keep you busy.

At Leeds the majority of stewards work in the arena, but we also run the gates.  Inside the festival work can range from standing in front of the main stage supervising viewing platforms, to handing out headphones at the silent disco.  But whatever job you do, you can guarantee you'll have a great time.

Great care is taken of the stewards at Leeds.  Our intrepid drivers drove the ever dependable Oxfam buggy tirelessly to deliver regular brews to the stewards on shift.  From the well seasoned leadership of Oxfam coordinators John and Paddy, to those of us that end up working on a gate at the wee small hours, the team atmosphere at Leeds is fantastic, and this year was no different.  Roll on Leeds 2009!

Mark and Josh