Portglas Echo – Saturday 25 August 2019

 A SUNNY START FOR GREENFEST

By our local reporter John Curnow

The sun shone on Greenfest on day one of the festival at Tregethlan Manor in the village of Trevow. Some 7,000 people are thought to have turned up during the day and there is plenty for them to do. As well as the music, there are a wide range of family activities including a fun fair, face painting and nature trails. There are also holistic activities from tarot reading to yoga, a comedy tent and participative activities such as group drumming.

Arthur Brookes, chair of the Parish Council, was there with his friend Emily Ferguson. He said, ‘we are rather impressed, the organisers have made a real effort to address the environmental concerns that were raised when the idea of a festival was first mooted. There are people working as volunteers in a range of roles. They are picking up litter and directing traffic. The catering venues are using local produce and recyclable products, and the environmentally-friendly toilet facilities appear to be working well.’

Miss Ferguson added, ‘the fine weather helps, but the festival has got off to a very promising start.’

One of the highlights of day one for many people was the performance by local talent Ellie Poole. She did not disappoint, her rendition of her recent hit ‘Come Home’ left the crowd in silence for a moment before they broke into rapturous applause. Given the way her success is escalating, this may have been one of the last chances to see her perform in Cornwall.

Stall holders were doing great business, local textile artist Karenza Spargo said, ‘this is going better than my wildest dreams. I am going to have to top up my stock tomorrow.’

Luke Davenport of Davenport Enterprises, who organised the event, took time from his busy schedule to say: ‘We are thrilled with how it’s going. We are very excited to have Jim Glasgow performing here tomorrow which I expect will draw even larger crowds. And I have heard from an unimpeachable source that we may be making Greenfest an annual event.’

The source is likely to be Margaret Clemens, owner of Tregethlan Manor. Mrs Clemens preferred not to talk to The Echo but seemed to be enjoying the event when she went on stage to perform the official opening in her elegant cocktail dress and rocking her silver trainers.

There were some niggles, queues for parking being one of them, but the crowd seemed largely happy. Mrs Clemens will be happy too, with family glamping tickets sold out at £385 for a weekend pass.

Ends

Chapter 40