Introduced by Michael Eavis, the event serves as a thank you to Pilton village that lives with the disruption the main festival can bring, with all money raised given in grants to different local organisations.
Managing director of EnTEEtainment Ltd, Dick Tee said, "With the likes of Kasabian headlining in 2005 when it was held at the village hall playing fields, the popularity of the event quickly outgrew its former site, and moved to Worthy Farm in 2007. Drawing on our depth of knowledge of the site and long standing relationship with Glastonbury Festivals, we were brought in to provide the professional production management skills the event now requires."
A local gig for local people from suppliers to the bands themselves, the Pilton Party packed a punch with the high production values synonymous with Glastonbury.
Serious Stages installed the 24m x 9.6m stage, similar to that used for the John Peel stage, within a Mobile Stadiums Big Top, with SWG Events providing the sound and lighting package. WAAP provided marquees, Chew Valley Hire maintained and serviced the Festival long drop toilets and the local Carnival Clubs and charity organisations ran car park and stewarding operations. Rob Kearle and the 'farm staff' acted as the local crew and implemented the installation of site infrastructure such as fencing, pit barrier and signage.
Ahead of their headline slot at Bestival the next day, the Foals wanted to bring a lot of their production into the Pilton Party 'Big Top'. This included lighting effects, a custom floor package and backdrop.
EnTEEtainment's production manager Amy Harmsworth drew on her well tuned artist liaison experience to ensure the band's expectations were managed in line with the capabilities of the 6,000 capacity venue.
Amy said, "One of the particular challenges was accommodating the total of four articulated lorries of production equipment on site. Stage manager Jeff Maynard and SWG Events did a fantastic job to accommodate them and make everything fit on a stage this size."
Whilst the Pilton Party marks the end of the Glastonbury Festival summer season, for EnTEEtainment the shows go on, as Dick and daughter Frankie managed production and artist technical liaison on behalf of the BBC and Festival Republic for Proms in the Park / Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park shows this weekend.
(Jim Evans)
