Sponsored Cycle to Glastonbury_Going Underground
Donation protected
I’m Colm Olwill (Trad Rave, Gramophone Disco). I’m doing a sponsored cycle to Glastonbury tomorrow, Friday the 20th of June. The Gofund me will be running until the Festival begins. It’s to raise money for the underground piano bar, a Glastonbury institution for over 30 years. It’s a beachhead of Irish culture in the UK and in the UK festival scene. Michael Eavis, festival owner, consistently lists it as his favourite venue.
It’s run as a DIY space, and none of the crew or artists are paid. They design, build, decorate, staff and perform in the venue all weekend for the joy of it and for the love of music and art. They are totally wired and expect nothing but it would be lovely if you could support them with their travel/food/drink, etc.
A current list of established and up-and-coming performers that are and have been playing is-
Acid Granny, Sean Fitzgerald(Deadlians), Joplin Parnell, Ben Johnson, Daniel Luke, Jinx Lennon, Mary Wallopers, Andreas de Staic, Hozier, Lisa O’Neill, John Francis Flynn, Punk Podge, David Keenan, Thomas McCarthy, John Constable, Paddy Bloomer, Rarewitch, Hattie Hatstar, The Bohemianauts, Kojaque, Sam Lee, Jools Holland, Billy Bragg, Twin Headed Wolf, Dila Vardar & The Oddbeats, the Gramophone Disco and too many more to list
It’s a midnight court that opens as the festival winds down and goes well into the next day. An acoustic space, dug into the ground, lit with candle chandeliers and paraffin lamps, think an Irish medieval music hall via commedia dell'arte and Flann O’Brien. A two-hour queue leads to a door, where the artists teasing and chatting with the crowd is half the fun. The entrance has been variously hidden over the years, as a drain, a festival exit, a caravan and as an interpretive centre of itself, amongst other things. Last year, Anna Taylor-Joy joined in set dancing at 5 A.M. It’s good craic™.
1,700 was raised last year, and we brought Jinx Lennon over; it took 18 hours from Pembroke ferry in Wales to the red gate at Glastonbury. I’ll do it again in one shot this year or maybe stop for a kip in Bristol. I'll share the odd update on https://www.instagram.com/trad_rave/
Organiser
colm olwill
Organiser