Spotlight: Portobello Farms on Sustainability & Music Festivals
GLAMPING
At Portobello Farm
We recently “sat down” for a digital chat with Portobello Farms - one of Glastonbury Festival’s tent camping partners - to talk all things music festival, accommodation and sustainability.
And while we may be going through a rough patch as a world right now, there’s nothing better than looking forward to coming back together as humans for a celebration - whether at a festival, around the table or outside.
Tell us a little bit about Portobello Farm
Portobello Farm was founded by the creators of Portobello Tents, who supply luxury canvas camps at festivals across the UK. We were lucky enough to find this farm a stone’s throw from Glastonbury Festival with existing beautiful barns and outbuildings to create our very own luxury camping experience!
Guests can expect an eccentric taste of the classic British farmyard aesthetic, without compromising on any of the mod cons you’d expect from one of the country’s leading glamping outfits – Portobello Tents! Guests are greeted in The Orchard by bell boys with wheelbarrows to help unload luggage from their cars and brought to reception to check-in. Within the site we have the Tack Room which has a fully stocked bar and restaurant as well as The Farm Shop where you can buy fantastic clothes and accessories. Additionally, we run 24-hour shuttles which take you directly to Bronze Gate of the Glastonbury site. The whole process from start to finish is all about the experience and attention to detail.
You’ve been around for 5 years now - how has Glastonbury Festival helped define your purpose as an adventurer’s ultimate getaway?
Glastonbury is the ultimate festival and it was our first with Portobello Tents too!
Many of our guests live hectic lives where time is so valuable. They take ‘holiday’ from work to come to the festival, so the idea of taking your own tent, walking through guy ropes to a dirty loo all before waking up sweating on a roll mat isn’t their ideal holiday by a long shot . Not to mention then packing it all down and running back to work… urgh!
Life at The Farm is relaxed and fun with lots on offer to refresh and recharge - our team is on hand 24/7. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast in the Tack Room restaurant before beginning the journey back to work. You can leave the stress and hassle of packing your tent down to us - surely that’s the ultimate festival getaway?! #relaxrefreshrecharge
Looking back on the past years, what is something - aside from the live acts- you are looking forward to the most for the 50th anniversary of the Glastonbury Festival?
Each year, our absolute favourite thing about every festival we attend is meeting our guests, chatting about where they’re heading in the festival, and then the debrief of how great it was, what they saw and found.
A real bonus is when we (the Portobello team) get to wander in with the guests and share the festival experience, make memories, and meet new friends! Glastonbury has so much to offer, aside from the live acts, meaning you’ll finish the weekend with tons of memories that you will cherish forever.
With this year being the 50th anniversary of the festival we’re expecting there to be tons of hidden surprises and secrets hidden throughout the weekend. On top of this due to the fact Glastonbury has hit such an amazing landmark we’re expecting it to attract an even more diverse group of festival-goers, full of stories from far and wide. We can’t wait to spend the weekend with our lovely guests.
There is a very clear tone that you are setting when it comes to the idea of festival accommodations and modern camping, which narrates the idea that people can both have fun and leave no damage behind. What are you hoping to accomplish beyond your brand?
We love that Glastonbury Festival has remained true to its ethos and culture, perpetuating a sense of inclusion, awareness, and philanthropy. With both Portobello Tents and Portobello Farm, we have made various changes to the way we run to be as environmentally friendly as we can - we made a team pledge not to buy or use any single-use plastic water bottles 2 summers ago and will be welcoming everyone to The Farm with their very own zero-plastic branded RAW Bottle to use and take home with them.
All of our toiletry hampers are plastic-free and we are working with Orca Sound Project to upcycle any plastic waste to create new furniture - how cool is that?! Leaving no trace is all about awareness - if we can educate our guests on how they can help us make changes then they will make their own changes too. Hopefully, these changes will last a lot longer than Glastonbury itself and extend into their everyday lives back at home.
How important is the connection you make with people during the duration of their stay? We notice that you are “all-age” inclusive - are there any activities, live shows or events that happen on farm premises?
We love people! Our business is all about our guests, making them feel warm, welcome and comfortable. So much so that they’ll want to share the experience with their friends next time they go to Glastonbury. We have lots of lovely facilities and activities on offer for all ages - from dramatic storytelling and fire shows to more relaxing activities such as massages, yoga and hot tubs.
In terms of the luxury campsite, we have tents to cater to all groups of all different shapes and sizes, whether you’re travelling as a couple, solo, family, or group of friends, there’s a tent to suit all. For more experienced or even little legs, we have a 24hr shuttle to take you to and from the festival and campsite We aim to seamlessly fit around our guests to give them the most wonderful festival experience possible!
What do you do differently, compared to the plethora of “glam camping” businesses that have been popping up in the past couple of years?
The great thing about ‘Glamping’ at Portobello Farm is that we offer everything you could possibly need to make sure our guests have the best experience. With wooden beds, memory foam mattresses, 200 thread count linens, dressing gowns and slippers, towels, flowers and more we ensure our guests are surrounded in luxury from the moment they arrive.
Our sleeping accommodation is seriously comfortable and our VIP Lotus Belles really very special - their unique design means added space to walk around and with two windows and two doors you can get a lovely breeze flowing through as you recharge in the morning sunshine. Luxury camping really is beyond what comes to mind when people think of ‘camping’, I would hate to think camping is what puts most people off experiencing Glastonbury at all. Glamping completely redefines the whole idea of camping and offers a truly magical experience.
What is new on the Portobello Farm agenda for the 2020 edition of the festival?
2020 is Glastonbury Festival’s 50th anniversary and at Portobello Farm we’re working on lots of wonderful things to make our guests stay the best they can be, although it’s all very hush-hush so we can’t reveal too much now! One of our favourite new additions so far is our ‘Hollywood’ style Portobello Farm sign which will sit just below the hot tubs on the top of the hill looking down over the Festival - imagine sitting there with your friends sipping a glass of your favourite tipple in a steaming hot tub looking out over the crowds and into the sunset!
Thank you for supporting OOH! How did you hear about us?
As we mentioned earlier we are doing everything in our power to reduce the impact Portobello Farm has on the environment. With that in mind, we created a guide to help educate our guests on the best ways to have an eco-friendly festival experience. When writing about sustainable festival fashion, we came across OOH and fell in love with your collection, taking a closer look at the brand and the ethos behind it, we just had to share your designs with our guests.
We’re thrilled you were able to take some time out of your day and answer some of our questions. We look forward to one day visiting the Farm and experiencing a piece of the paradise you’ve created. In the meantime, we extend our support all the way from Bali. If there is one thing/advice you’d like to leave our followers with, what would it be?
Be nice to everyone, even if you’re stressed - they’ll reappear somewhere or sometime in your life and will want to help you! #bekind
Thank you for reading, and see you at Glastonbury 2020!
Check our Portobello Farms at https://portobellofarm.co.uk
