Cigarettes and Alcohol

I foolishly volunteered to work the Acoustic Festival of Britain in support of my good friends, the Merfolk. I have worked festivals before eg Glastonbury, but not in retail (Welfare at Glastonbury ie Lost Luggage, Lost Children, Lost Minds, and only in 2 hour shifts). This festival is small,

by the mighty River Trent

and I got to stay in the Merterherm,

which is a warm and pleasant change from camping and having all your stuff nicked from your tent.
Chris chose the sheltered side of the site to erect his and Rosie's emporium

which was fortunate as the main stage was shut after the first night due to danger of it flying over to Staffordshire in the strong winds.

Anyway. Working retail at a festival is very hard work (I am so glad I dont have a proper job like this) involving talking to people; minding other traders stuff (Caroline); learning about the products; charm; talking to children (annoying cheap musical instruments being popular with divorced parents intent on delivering their offspring back to the custodial parent after the weekend); being prepared to put in 13 or 14 hours a day; avoiding showers; accepting meals at random times (there is no Breakfast, Lunch and Supper); waking up to strange people in the Merterhome eg Caroline plus "Rupert"; lugging stuff; executive decisions (should I accept £20 for that £30 item in the absence of anyone else on hand?); if you are the only one at the stall, you stay; being cold and wet; enduring two day old crusty underwear; being aware that there is a lot of cash around that needs to be watched; and you dont get paid.
On the otherhand, I was provided with free booze
(the milk had note to do with me)
and food (including the world's best onion soup), and lovely presents, and enjoyed the whole experience. And the general kindness of people to each other: "yeah go off and watch that. I'll mind the stall" and "you need a lie down? No worries".
As the festival wound down, we packed and Merman was loony enough to drive through the night to his next festival (after another 14 hour day, but hey, someone else loaded the trailer ;-), which was lucky for me as I got dropped off at a station only a County away from home. I think I might have enjoyed it enough to do it again. Maybe I did ought to get a proper job.
Oh, and the bands went by in a blur (and I didnt see many): the Fairports sat down, Tull were worthy and short haired, Melanie confirmed that my dislike for her dirges is very reasonable, Donovan (who?) dull, Peter Tork sadly caught in a Monkees timewarp as were the Animals caught in an Animals timewarp etc. Bosshoss were fun though: mad Berliner C&W.
And the merfolk are getting Merried in two weeks, so Yay! for them