Radio Avalon
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Radio Avalon is the official radio station for the Glastonbury Festival.
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[edit] The Beginning
Radio Avalon was started in 1983 in a tent at the Glastonbury Festival by Norman McLeod, Lawrie Hallett, Alan Brown and Paul Gardener. The crew in these early years came from Wireless Workshop in Brighton and Sheffield Peace Radio. The transmission equipment used was built by the members and the outboard equipment was one of the founders' domestic hi-fi's, reflecting the DIY ethic that characterised much of the Radio Avalon approach for several festivals. At this time, the station's programme was a very free format, with one show flowing into another depending on which crew member was available and who wanted to do a show. These pioneering broadcasts came from a tent near to Goose Hall (a well known Festival landmark)and the signal very occasionally made it as far as Glastonbury Town, a distance of 5 miles. The presenters from midnight to daybreak were known as "The Dead Heads" - they played mainly Grateful Dead records mixed with other late night tracks.
[edit] The Middle
By the start of the nineties the station had become a legal and recognised RSL station, with the equipment being supplied by Phoenix Communications amongst others. The station's format had become more regular, with named presenters doing fixed time-slot shows. Over the years, guest presenters too numerous to mention have huddled inside the Radio Avalon Portacabin, iconically situated near the Worthy Farmhouse at the top of Big Field and their hallowed numbers include BBC Radio 2's Janice Long and a treasured programme from 1995 hosted by John Peel. Following a classic 3 night tenure from The Orb in 1992, the night-time sessions were steered in a more dance and ambient orientated direction by the guiding hand of Clive Craske (who also founded Big Chill FM with Norman McLeod).
The two longest serving presenters to date have been John Moore (1985 to 2005) and Fred Williams (1986 to 2003). Fred sadly died in 2004. There are of course many other people who became regular presenters over this time - not least Tarba, Teacha (our own reggae star), BBC Radio Bristol presenter Kate Salisbury, Mez Tonkin and Dave Benton.
[edit] The Present
Nowadays, Radio Avalon is the official radio station for the Glastonbury Festival. Its broadcasts are an entertaining and informative accompaniment to the main Festival action, adding a new layer of enjoyment to what's happening on the live stages. It broadcasts using a Restricted Service Licence from studios at the Glastonbury Festival for 7 days, starting three days before the official start of the Festival and ending one day afterwards. This gives the roadies, techies and other Festival crew something of their own to listen to as they work to set everything up and also provides an essential traffic information service to the thousands of Festival goers on the roads before and after the Festival itself. It also streams its broadcasts over the internet via the Festival's official website.
[edit] Radio Avalon over time
[edit] 2007
Watch this space as the Festival returns!
[edit] 2006
The Festival took one of its occasional years off so there was no Radio Avalon broadcast for 2006.
[edit] 2005
Broadcasting from two studios, one at the Greenfields area and the other at the top of the hill near the main farmhouse, Radio Avalon was the centre of everyone's attention as torrential rains and flash floods made its broadcasts a vital part of the official Festival information network. Thousands of festivalgoers tuned in for updates on weather conditions, traffic redirection, changes to performance times (as stages dried out) and to learn which campsites were less muddy than others. Once the sun came back out, the Radio Avalon Wireless Stage was a great success, broadcasting live acoustic sets performed by the finalists of the Festival's Best Unsigned Bands competition from small stages set up alongside the broadcast studios.
- Joanne Schofield – Licencee
[edit] 2004
Radio Avalon celebrated 21 years of broadcasting to the Glastonbury Festival in 2004.
The Festival station brought accurate and useful Festival information throughout the day as well as talking to performers and workers alike, profiling every aspect of the Festival. We played the best music from every area and hosted exclusive live performances by some of the biggest artists on-site, from "The Wireless Stage".
As car drivers neared the site they (hopefully) tuned their radio to 87.7 FM, and received all the Festival information they would want (including essential details for drivers on the state of the roads, gates, car parks, camping fields and where to pitch their tents).
In 2004 Radio Avalon hosted a regular hour long show every day showcasing some of the entrants of the Festival's unsigned bands competition. At lunchtimes they delved deep into the archives to celebrate 21 years of festival broadcasting, bringing all the best bits from shows such as "The Pilton Breakfast Show", including a tribute to Station Manager Fred Williams who died in April 2004. There was also regular news and travel updates keeping listeners informed, including regular welfare announcements and Festival advice.
The stations regular shows included :
- Greenfields Breakfast (8am – 10am)
- Teacha's Reggie Show (10pm – Midnight)
- Overnights produced by Glastonbury FM (Midnight - 8am)
Station Managed by David Benton and Mez Tonkin
[edit] 2003
The station built on previous successful years and made the most of a dry festival. Artists that visited the station including Glenn Tilbrook, The Levellers (band) and Mark Chadwick, among others.
The stations regular shows includes :
- Greenfields Breakfast (8am – 10am)
- The Pilton Breakfast Show (12-2pm)
- Teacha's Reggie Show (10pm – Midnight)
Station Managed by Fred Williams
[edit] 2002
Managed by Fred Williams, Radio Avalon returned after a year off with some new personnel and a fresh relationship with the festival. A year off gave impetus to this years broadcasts, with memorable performances from all and what may have been the worlds first aerobics session for the radio, live from the roof of the main studio(portacabin).
Regular shows included;
- Greenfields Breakfast (8am – 10am)
- The Pilton Breakfast Show (12-2pm)
- Teacha's Reggie Show (10pm – Midnight)
