Quakers go to Glastonbury
Friends will have a presence at Glastonbury Festival this year
Friends will be donning their wellies this weekend when, for what is thought to be the first year ever, there will be a Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) presence at Glastonbury Festival.
With volunteers recruited by the Engaging Young Adult Quakers (EYAQ) project, a team of Quakers will be based in a main tent, where they will hold Meeting for Worship during the festival, and a connected smaller tent to ‘provide a space for spiritual listening and deeper conversation’.
Writing on the Quakers in Britain website, Jon Martin, BYM’s ministry and outreach officer, explains why this year young adult Quakers will be attending the festival ‘to provide a place of spiritual sanctuary’. He says: ‘We hope our presence will provide a (relatively!) quiet space where festival-goers can take some time out for spiritual nourishment and also find out more about the Quaker faith and the work we do in the world… Our presence will provide a place of sanctuary, but also call for Sanctuary Everywhere and raise the profile of our Sanctuary work.’
According to Jon Martin, ‘the festival’s reputation for counter-culture, radical politics and spirituality makes it seem like a natural fit [with Quakers]’ and highlights the Quaker connection with the festival’s origins. Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis cited his Quaker uncle as being a great influence on him, and said in 2014 that the festival only succeeded ‘because of the support and influence of the Clarks and the Quaker/Methodist non-conformism here [in Somerset]. It simply would not have succeeded anywhere else in Britain.’
The festival was previously attended by Young Friends General Meeting in the mid-2000s. According to Jon Martin: ‘For me and many other Quakers, a gathering at a festival site is as meaningful a worshipping community as a Local Meeting.’
