Sid at Glastonbury

Mon Sep 6 02:05:28 BST 2010

The 71 festival was the second, not the first Glastonbury, but was  
the first big one and the one where the pyramid stage was built. In  
the month prior to the festival there was a sort of upstairs/ 
downstairs situation, with Mike Eavis, Arabella Churchill etc in the  
house, and a bunch of hippie workers in the field congregating round  
the visqueen tipi where Sid held court. Everyone was broke and  
tobacco was in such short supply that roll-ups were passed around  
like joints. I'm not sure whether Sid actually did anything other  
than pontificate, but his imposing  presence held people together  
through a month of rain.

Sid's free cafe at the entirely free1971 Glastonbury festival was not  
the only one to make a profit. The other free cafe, The Communal  
Knead, held together by a North American called Mike Barglow, also  
ended up in profit from donations (even though all its takings were  
ripped off half way through the festival). The profits (£35, a huge  
sum) were used to buy an FG van which headed off to Christiana and  
started a cafe which I believe was called the Mad House.

Sid's best stunt at  the 71 festival was when a hot dog salesman set  
up his van right in front of the pyramid stage. Sid sent his minions  
out to hassle for donations, drove off to Bristol and bought hundreds  
of rolls and sausages, and then set up a "free hot dog" stand right  
next to the salesman — who packed up and drove off.

Simon

On 4 Sep 2010, at 00:10, Tony Gosling wrote:

> Mourning the King of the Hippies
> Sid Rawle
> http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Mourning-King-Hippies/ 
> article-2603151-detail/article.html
>
> He was the self-styled "King of the Hippies",
> creator of the infamous "Peace Convoy", and one
> of the most recognisable faces of the New Age
> movement, but now Rainbow Camp founder Sid Rawle has died.
>
> The 64-year-old festival organiser collapsed
> suddenly at the Rainbow Camp in Rodley, Gloucestershire, on Tuesday  
> afternoon.
>
> His convoy's bid to set up at the 11th Stonehenge
> Free Festival in 1985 led to the "Battle of the
> Beanfield", after being refused entry to the
> stones by Wiltshire Police. The convoy later won
> a court battle with police, proving wrongful
> arrest, assault and criminal damage.
>
> Mr Rawle, who grew up on Exmoor, was involved in
> the New Age movement from its earliest days. A
> former resident of "Beatle Island", John Lennon
> and Yoko Ono's retreat off the coast of Ireland,
> he was a leading figure in the free festival
> scene, organising events all over the country and
> present during the early days of Glastonbury Festival.
>
> He moved to the Forest of Dean 20 years ago and
> set up the Forest Fayre and Rainbow 2000 Camps at Westbury-on- Severn.
>
> Forest of Dean district councillor Norman
> Stephens, who knew Mr Rawle for many years, said:
> "Although Sid chose an alternative lifestyle he
> was also a gentleman and a man of peace.
>
> "He had run the Rainbow camps, first at Elton and
> then at Rodley, for a number of years and the
> locals had taken the festivals to their heart.
> There was never any problems. I last spoke to Sid
> on Friday and his death is a real shock. My thoughts are with his  
> family."
>
> Mr Rawle was renowned as the only person to make
> a profit at the first Glastonbury Festival in
> 1971, cooking up a cauldron of fruit and veg discarded from Bristol  
> Market.
>
> The committed campaigner was also a key part of
> the free festivals at Windsor Great Park in the
> early 1970s and was arrested for trying to promote a festival there  
> in 1975.
>
> He founded the Tipi Valley hippy community in
> West Wales in 1976 and was perhaps best-known for
> creating the infamous new age travelling group the Peace Convoy.
>
> He left shortly after the Battle of the Beanfield
> in 1985 – the largest mass civil arrest in
> English history – when police prevented the
> convoy from setting up at the 11th Stonehenge Free Festival.
>
> After a period with the Green Party, Mr Rawle
> returned to setting up festivals including the Rainbow 2000 series  
> of events.
>
> His camps were inspired by the "Vision of
> Albion", which he described as: "A vision of one
> world united in love, a vision of unity in diversity."
>
> His vision has created a legacy in modern culture
> with controversial noughties rock star Pete
> Doherty naming an album with his band
> Babyshambles Down In Albion and his journals The Books Of Albion.
>
> In 1997, the Halifax Building Society used a
> picture of Mr Rawle without his permission in an advertising campaign.
>
> The image used the slogan "Be Part Of Something
> Big, Man" in a speech bubble above his head. Mr
> Rawle tried to sue the company but was
> unsuccessful. Mr Rawle died as he was packing up this year's  
> Rainbow 2000 Camp.
>
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