Greenpeace at Glastonbury 2014

After the success of the Greenpeace Field at Glastonbury 2013, I was invited back to design and curate this 3 acre patch of land at the largest festival on the planet. Through close collaboration with the whole design and build team (of over 100 people!) I was able to create a field design that communicated the story of how Greenpeace is trying to save the Arctic.

Although the “Arctic 30”, a group of 30 Greenpeace Activist arrested for protesting arctic oil drilling, had been released following 2 months in a russian jail, their ship The Arctic Sunrise was still being held in Murmansk. We created a bigger than life replica which doubled up as a playground for climbing, skating and musical performance, not forgetting the viewing deck for sundowners. We were blessed with a visit from the world’s biggest human powered puppet polar bear, Aurora, who roared, sniffed and followed members of the public around. So she took centre stage. The farmer’s market huts were clad in reclaimed old barrels that the festival were scrapping as they had reached the end of their useful life as waste bins. We cut them open, rolled them flat and used them to create a colourful facade to our local food producers’ stalls.

‘The Greenpeace Field in 2014 was a great success, due in part to Tabitha’s coherent, inclusive, sustainable and playful design approach.’
John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK