Festival Stories Wanted

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Festival Fever, by Lorna Gray

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘festival’?

Portaloos? Mudslides? Headline acts? The Great Unwashed? Good times? Or misery?

Love them or hate them, festival season is upon us.

I got my very own festival fix last month when I found myself surrounded by beautiful scenery, knee-deep in mud and watching one of my favourite bands ever.  I was at Rockness in the Highlands of Scotland, a little worse for wear and watching Debbie Harry strut her stuff on stage after what had been a fantastic weekend.   The traditional Scottish weather could’ve put a damper on the festivities as it poured down the majority of the time but in traditional festival goer fashion, we just got on with it.  At one point, I wore every item of clothing I had with me because I was so cold. I looked more Heather from Eastenders than the festival-chic  Fearne Cotton I was going for, but at least I was warm.

As veteran festival goers, we knew the tricks of the trade to make the weekend go hitch-free. We were stocked up with babywipes, raincoats and cereal bars.  So my friends and I had avoided any sort of festival faux pas but some people aren’t as lucky.  Who can forget the infamous ‘poo girl’ as she was cruelly dubbed after being stuck in one of the stanching Portaloos at Leeds festival last year?  And you don’t have to walk far to see some unfortunate person having a miserable time due to too much booze.

Or are festivals really the place dreams are made of?  Here at Famous Features, we want to hear all about your festival experiences.  Have you ever had a life-changing experience on one of those fields?  Maybe you met the love of your life… or even a rockstar. Or did your festival plans end up as dried up as last night’s leftover takeaway?  Good or bad story, we want to hear about it. Famous Features went down a storm at Glastonbury this year and now, we’d love you to share your festival story in one of the national magazines or newspapers for a great fee.

So get in touch with one of the Famous Features team today by emailing your story to sell-my-story@famousfeatures.co.uk, or call our story hotline: 0845 83 88 55.   If you’re lucky enough to have tickets for any of the upcoming festivals, have fun and don’t forget to look out for Famous Features banners!

New FamousFeatures Journalist – 22.04.10

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Meet our new FamousFeatures staff writer – Lorna Gray

‘First Day Jitters’

Starting a new job can be pretty daunting so I was feeling suitably nervous when I began my first week as staff reporter at Famous Features last Monday. Now I’ve worked a variety of jobs in my time. In my late teens I worked at a garden centre and a chip shop – neither of which agreed my nails but I enjoyed them nonetheless.  So no horror stories there.  Unless you count getting slapped with a bit of haddock or having to dress up as an elf at Christmas…

During university, I worked at a popular high street clothes shop – heaven for me but don’t think my bank balance would agree. Then I entered the wondrous world of journalism. I can safely say – every day is a new learning experience and an adventure in this line of work. So it’s best to keep your wits about you at all times unless you want to look like a prize tool.

And the editors? Trust me – the ladies I’ve worked under mean business (one work experience boy went out at lunch and didn’t come back because he was so scared of one particularly scary news editor).  But I have a feeling this is going to be different. I’ve reached the end of my first week relatively unscathed (apart from the awful impersonations of my Scottish accent!). And I’m not fearful of getting hit by fish or having an embarrassing uniform forced upon me…not yet anyway.

Here at Famous Features, we’d love to hear about things that have happened to you in your workplace.  Have you got any horror stories you’d like to tell? Whether it be an affair with your boss or wars at the water-cooler – we want to hear about it! Tell us and get your story into print!