Green Man Festival creates and unites communities

Whether sat upon the Mountain’s Foot overlooking the Mountain Stage, meandering through The Courtyard, or crammed into the late-night dancefloor Round The Twist, there’s a sense of community where festivalgoers are united in their search for unbridled joy.

For early settlers, the opening day allows a chance to catch up with homegrown artists such as Das Koolies, The Tubs, and Islets, who perform earlier in the day, ahead of a sprinkling of punk and garage rock; ramping up proceedings over the weekend with performances from the likes of METZ, Sheer Mag, and headliners Sleaford Mods. From the likes of John Francis Flynn, to One Leg One Eye, Tinariwen, Explosions in the Sky, and A. Savage, the weekend is all about storytelling – the poetic essence of rhythm, and uncovering the indescribable feelings that accompany the experience of music.

In its most literal sense, poetry is at the forefront of on Friday at the festival , with Green Man Rising winners The Orchestra (For Now) bringing their genre-defiant music to the Mountain Stage warming up for the likes of This Is The Kit and Johnny Flynn. When Mount Kimbie take to the stage shortly after a rapturous set from Arlo Parks, they’re beaming with energy as they perform tracks from recent album, The Sunset Violent. As their set closes, they're joined by close collaborator King Krule, who performs "Blue Straight Lines" and "Empty and Silent" with the band, leather-bound notebook in hand as he waltz across the stage.

Later that afternoon on the Far Out Stage, JJUUJJUU bandleader Phil Pirrone takes to the stage like a preacher hosting a sermon at his golden pulpit. All-encompassing in its psychedelic intensity; the band are firmly about rhythm. Formed from rotating cast of collaborators, it’s inspiring to see such a tight-knit group of people speaking the same language amidst the amorphous drone noises that come out of Pirrone’s mouth.

A the Walled Garden, N’Famady Kayoute infuses Mandingue African rhythms with western jazz, infectious enough to have the crowd in the palm of his hands. Originally from Guinea, Kayoute relocated to Cardiff in 2019, “Aros I fi Yna” – which incorporates both the Welsh language with his native tongue – is one of the weekend's highlights. A trip back to the Far Out Stage completes the rhythmic part of the day, as Ibibio Sound Machine are in the midst of an Afro-fusion disco; in every direction you look, there are smiles on faces.

Across the weekend, there are tales of fighting for justice, trying to lift others up in their struggles, and pushing for a sense of community. Nadine Shah puts yellow roses on stage in tribute to her mother who passed away four years ago. Whilst visibly emotional, she stands in solidarity with others who faced similar situations during lockdown, and celebrates the anniversary of her mother’s death with dignity: “We don’t really talk about 2020 so much now, but this is my story and I know there’s a few thousand of you here now in this audience that have lost a loved one who was given an undignified death in that year. We’re sending them love," she tells the crowd.

Big Thief prove themselves a worthy headliner and so much more. Adrianne Lenker and co somehow manage to conjure the essence of a 150-capacity club show as they enrapture the crowd at the Mountain Stage with tales of vulnerability, love and loss. As they pause “Vampire Empire” for a few minutes after a medical emergency in the crowd, she sweetly reminds everyone to look after themselves, and those around them" “Here’s a reminder to drink water, check on your neighbour, bend your knees, and breathe!” Reeling off songs such as “Simulation Swarm”, “Change”, “Space and Time”, and “Not”; it’s as though we’re witnessing a level of intimacy that feels out of place for a crowd numbering in the thousands. Ironically, Big Thief see things the other way. “I think this is the most amount of people we’ve ever played for,” Buck Meek says, with Lenker adding: "it’s like a movie!"

As South London duo O. approach their performance on Sunday afternoon, there’s a sleepiness in the air; the languidness of the festival has been compounded by an unusual lack of rain. "Ok, there’s two ways we can do this," says Joe Henwood. “It’s midday, so we could do an acoustic jazz set or we can pretend it’s midnight?” Much to their delight (“we don’t actually know how to do acoustic jazz”), the crowd opt for the midnight set, and O. shake away any hints of a hangover from the crowd quite quickly are on their feet and riled up for Lambrini Girls who hit the stage next. Political as ever, vocalist/guitarist Phoebe Lunny gives an impassioned speech about the fascist riots which have been taking place over the UK: “We know our governments do not give a fuck, and it comes down to us to boycott.”

A brief detour into the world of indie comes via Blondshell, who says Green Man “might be the most beautiful festival we’ve ever played at”, and Australia’s Royel Otis, who perform their viral covers of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor”, and “Linger” by The Cranberries. As they themselves note, “it would be weird if we didn’t”. They echo Big Thief by suggesting this is the biggest crowd they’ve played for and then it’s time to head to the Mountain Stage for Mercury Prize-winners Ezra Collective.

Between a cover of “Sweet Like Chocolate” by Shanks & Bigfoot, and “Little Things” by Jorja Smith, Ezra Collective have the crowd screaming, mimicking Reading Festival silent disco scenes at 3am. It’s a headline-worthy performance, from the way they command circle pits of dancing, and how they’re able to keep people on their feet – even those sat atop the Mountain’s Foot.

Recalling a time when they were in sixth form and were booked to play Gwdihw in Cardiff – and having to stay out in Cardiff until they were able to get the first Megabus home – Femi Koleoso reflects on how far the band have come, and how their core message has never changed: “The scale has changed a little bit, but the message is still the same, fam. The message is that of the importance of finding joy in your soul, no matter how hard it might be to find it,” Koleoso preaches. “The thing about joy, is it’s very different to happiness. Happiness is very temporary. Sometimes I'm happy, sometimes I'm sad. That's how happiness works, and that's okay. But the thing about joy is it's consistent. We all have it somewhere in our hearts. It's just sometimes you need to search a little bit deep to find it.”

Taking a moment to discuss how events over the past month affected him, Koleoso stands resilient and adamant that there’s power in community. “What we saw happen to the UK over the last month made me very sad, but at the same time, those moments of horror that we saw, it didn't steal a single ounce of my joy, because though we preach the gospel of division, I know that unity still exists,” he says. “If you don't believe me, just look at the person on your left or right and look how different they look to you. We don’t care because we’re all dancing together.”

As they close their set, Ezra Collective have one final mission: to turn Green Man into “a temple of joy”. Across the board, there are tales of struggle, fighting for community and lifting others up. Throughout the weekend, bands tell the audience told that this is the biggest show they've ever played, or the prettiest festival they’ve been to; there is nothing but sheer joy on their faces as they connect with fans, new and old. It seems that there’s just something about Green Man - a festival that proves itself to be welcome and celebratory of all cultures, classes, genres, and ages.