Wow! What an amazing few weeks of Festival Angels teams at several festivals and events. Upton-upon-Severn Folk Festival, Tunes in  the Dunes, Piece Hall Halifax, Parklife and Download (click the links or see Facebook to look at the pictures). So far in the 2024 season 130 people have become Festival Angels and collectively invested around 1700 hours of time to ensure people have a safe and fun festival experience. 

For each festival in 2024 we are putting together an Impact Report which will measure some of the stories and stats from various festival work over the year:

​Festival Angels and festivals in general were featured on Premier Christian Radio Prayers of Hope - listen here and became part of an interview on GB News Breakfast. 

85 years young Festival Angel Sam Macgovern, who volunteers with the Upton-upon-Severn team, is taking to the skies performing a sponsored loop-the-loop and a series of exhilarating manoeuvres amidst the clouds. This sponsored loop-the-loop is raising money for The Wellspring, part of which is the cafe and base for the Upton Festival Angels. To read more and sponsor Sam visit the JustGiving page here. 

Coming up next for festival teams are:
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• Piece Hall Halifax gigs continue with a team of between 4 and 10 at each event
  
  
• The Church @ Glastonbury Festival will be running an amazing safe / creative / Christian space at the world's most famous festival
  
  
• Festival Angels will be at both TK Maxx presents Bedford and Derby Summer Sessions. We are running Lost Property (alongside a safe space and detached teams) at these events - if you or someone you know is going remind them to pre-register mobiles - festivalangels.org.uk/lostsummer
  
  
• a team will be supporting people with a safe space at Saltaire 1940's weekend
  
  
• Latitude will see us running an AIR (Assistance, Information, Response) Hub on one of the campsites (spaces still available)
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• ​Kendal Calling has 50 Angels signed up to run Safe Hubs and detached
  
  
• Leeds Festival has over 200 Angels already signed up - we have just taken on a second AIR Hub as we have several people on the Waitlist
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• We Are Church at Creamfields are recruiting for the team and stocking up on the Jammie Dodgers that they give away with water in the marquee

Festival Angels works hard to honour and value the amazing people who become our teams at gigs and festivals. Here are some quotes from the Parklife and Download teams:

“Thanks for the opportunity, despite the madness it was an enjoyable experience.”

“I love what I’m doing and I will do this every opportunity I can with Festival Angels” 

"Thank you everyone. What an amazing festival and what lovely people you [Festival Angels] all are."

"An amazing time with Download Festival Angels this year! Was great to meet and work with so many new people and as always great to see returning faces from last year. It's been a great time!"

"Had the best time"

"It was nice seeing you all again, and meeting some new faces. Sharing time and experiences with you all and the public has been great! Thanks to Festival Angels for this great week, you guys are awesome!"

At Download we worked closely with the Download Chaplains and joined with them for a Sunday service held just inside the arena entrance as it opened at midday. 

Follow facebook.com/festivalangels where we post photos and updates from each Festival Angels team. We are also on TikTok @festivalangels and Instagram @festivalangels1

Thank you to each and every Festival Angel - you are awesome! 
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An amazing effort at the Upton Folk Festival over the May Bank Holiday weekend (4th and 5th May). Well done to the team from Upton Baptist Church who saw...

Over 1000 visitors to café
80 jacket potatoes
1 step ladder lent to repair a leaking camper sky light
45 cakes baked
14 folk band perform in the cafe
Dozens of people prayed for
Full house for Folk Service
25 volunteers
12 Angel Morris dancers (see the videos below)
Numerous phones charged
And Festival Angels knitters decorate the post box!

Festival Angels season has arrived. Our first team ran last weekend (26th - 28th April) at the Porthleven Food Festival in Cornwall. 22 Festival Angels had an amazing weekend of supporting festival-goers in a variety of ways including: 100 cups of tea and coffee to security and other staff; 100 conversations about life and faith; 15 large black bin bags of rubbish collected; 50 night-time hot chocolates with marshmallows given out; 50 Jesus Loves Festivals tattoos given; 11 people directly helped and 200 people given information. Well done to the team! 

Our second team is this coming weekend (4th and 5th May) at the Upton-upon-Severn Folk Festival. The Festival Angels will be running a safe space cafe (with community piano) at Upton Baptist Church alongside detached teams who will be out and about across the town centre supporting the 30,000 festival goers. The Festival Angels have also formed a Festival Angels Border Morris Dancing team that will take part in the Sunday lunchtime parade. 

Tunes in the Dunes in Perranporth, Cornwall (17th - 19th May) will see Festival Angels on patrol around the sand dunes, beach, town and festival site. 

Finally for May Challenge Festival in Bingley (25th and 26th May) will see Gareth Gates performing at a free two day festival for the community. Festival Angels are running a safe space and detached teams who will be out and about across the park and town. More people are needed on both Saturday and Sunday - sign up via Bloomerang (if you are not yet registered on Festival Angels Bloomerang do so here)

Festival Angels was mentioned on Premier Christian Radio in an interview with Street Angels founder Paul Blakey. You can listen (you need to create a log in and password) here. 

Congratulations to Rev. Jane Proudfoot, who leads the We Are Church at Creamfields team, who was recently made Archdeacon of Macclesfield - read more here.

Whilst some of the Festival Angels team are almost full we still have spaces at Parklife, Download, Summer Sessions Bedford and Derby, Latitude and Leeds - visit the festivals page to find out more or sign up on Bloomerang. 
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At the evening gigs (Piece Hall, Summer Sessions Bedford and Derby) we won't be giving out Festival Angels t-shirts just hi-vis tabards. This is because an 1 to 2 hours into the shift you will probably be putting a hoodie or sweat-shirt on! If you are doing an evening gig do feel free to bring a Festival Angels t-shirt from previous years or email Paul if you would like one. We do have Festival Angels hoodie, fleece (£25) or sweatshirt (£20) for sale - use this order form. We also have Jesus Loves Festivals tattoos and magnets available at £1 each + £1.30 postage - email Paul.

Festival Angels are at an amazing 60 festivals and events in 2024 as this TikTok shows!

Thank you to each and every Festival Angels volunteer. We are planning to produce an Impact Report this year for all of our festivals so please email [email protected] any quotes, stories or the reason you volunteer for possible inclusion.  

The first Festival Angels team of the 2024 Season were at Porthleven Food Festival over the weekend 26th - 28th April. Alongside food stalls and chef's demonstrations each different stages had music throughout the day. The Festival Angels offered a safe space, along with the popular Jesus Loves Festivals tattoos, and detached teams who were out and about offering support and assistance across Porthleven.