Keeping Joe Strummers spirit alive at Glastonbury

Tucked away at the top of Glastonbury Festival is the only stage actually dedicated to a rock legend. Strummerville overlooks a sea of tipis and is named in memory of Joe Strummer, The Clashs lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, who died in 2002.

It is run by his widow, Lucinda Tait, who says it "means everything" to her to keep his memory alive in the place he "absolutely loved".

Strummerville is one of the festivals smaller and more intimate stages, which Lucinda says is all about "meeting people, sharing opinions, sharing musical genres and ideas".

There is a circle of sofas safely placed around a camp fire, a nod back to the days when Strummer would come to the festival with his family in the 90s.

Lucinda said: "The area between the two big stages was just purely for trucks, lorries, people that worked at the festival.

"Thats where everybody parked and camped up, and Joe started a campfire there, and it was really for artists or the security or the stewards, it had that kind of vibe.

"He was a big champion of giving people time, space and an opportunity to air their music or their views, or whatever, and thats what the campfire was about.

"It was really about a meeting of minds because the fire does something, it just makes you relax, it makes you talk and think, it opens you up."

Over the years, a friendship formed between the singer and Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, with Strummer attending the festival "through thick and thin".

"We were there right for those really, really wet ones, when the festival was abandoned and the stages were shut down.

"I think Michael had a soft spot for Joe because Joe always championed the festival when everyone was saying, oh, its just a mud bath," Lucinda said.

"I think there was a mutual respect for each other and Joe just felt a connection to this place, keeping his spirit alive means everything," she added.

Despite attending the festival year after year, Strummer only officially played the event once, in 1999 with his band The Mescaleros.

"It was interesting to see him really hyped up before he went on stage.

"And he just so wanted to do it well, and he did. It was amazing.

"But it was interesting to see him nervous, because it meant so much to him," Lucinda said.

The stages set up means it is often the perfect place for Glastonburys legendary secret sets, as well as less well-known bands to play.

"The bands that we have are mainly not on the big, big radar, but we have wonderful people like Olivia Dean, who weve championed for about five or six years," Lucinda said.

Despite its cosy vibe, the whole hill around Strummerville gets packed with people.

On Thursday night the band Fat Dog played, leaving the "whole hill heaving".

"I thought I was going to come down here this morning and it was going to be a level playing field, as I thought the people would have just bounced the ground flat. It was mega," Lucinda said.

And of course, it also draws fans of The Clash.

"We were worried when they moved us up here that no one would come up the hill, no one would find us, but we just made it really special.

"A lot of people just want to talk about Joe, how to let go and 1979 and I was at that gig in Bristol when… and its just lovely.

"Strummerville has introduced young people to Joes music, but also his ethos.

"People come and hang out, and its lovely to see so many young people, its just great."

And what would Strummer think of it all?

"Oh, hed love it. I dont think hed leave the campfire," Lucinda said.

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