We arrived back from Greenbelt about 8pm yesterday. The sleep which followed was much needed. The festival was hard work but well worth it. Numbers were up, the programme came together remarkably and once I was able to step back I had a wonderful time. Before the festival I’d been thinking that after another year or so it would be time to take a break from working at Greenbelt. That thought has been banished.
One of the things I most love about the festival is seeing so many familiar faces. Over the years a lot of them have become much more than faces to me, but there are still some with whom I have no other connection. It was great to see so many of them surrounded by so many unfamiliar ones. Maybe over the coming festivals more of them will become much more than faces as a few extras did this year.
Musically Over The Rhine, Julie Lee, Bell Jar and many others thrilled us. It was wonderful to see artists we’d decided to take a risk on making so much of the festival and connecting with so many people. It makes me excited for next year. Tom Sine’s seminar on Sunday was about the only one I made it to. But it was more than appropriate.
But most of all it was the communion. Neatly summed up when we shared the eucharist on Sunday morning, bringing together what food we could find (crisps, chocolate, bread, fruit) and what drink we could gather (wine, ribena, water) and sharing it between us. 20 or so, friends close and friends new. And also the time spent talking. Those moments when we forced ourselves to slow down (usually a response to our parched throats or empty stomachs) and shared our stories and our plans.
Roll on next August.