How does Festival Signage enhance the Glastonbury Experience?
All of the 210,000 festival-goers pouring into Glastonbury at the moment would be absolutely lost without one thing. No, not alcohol. Nor even their tent. They’d be quite literally lost without the festival signage.
Signage forms a vital component of the festival’s visual landscape. It not only guides everyone efficiently through the sprawling fields, it also highlights important spaces, all whilst providing an invaluable contribution to the overall atmosphere and audience experience. So let’s explore the significance and role of festival signage at Glastonbury Festival, examining its functional purpose and role as an artistic statement.
Navigation Signage
Glastonbury Festival spans a vast expanse of land, encompassing numerous stages, attractions, and camping areas. The volume of people at Glastonbury is larger than the population of York, and amidst this complex and potentially confusing landscape, festival signage serves as a guiding light, ensuring people can find their way around the festival grounds with ease. From towering signposts to vibrant banners, these festival wayfinding signs provide clear directions and vital information, preventing chaos and enhancing the overall festival experience.
Cohesion
As well as giving the audience confidence as they move around, festival signage acts as a visual language that unifies the festival as a whole. By strategically placing signage at key locations, they become focal points and meeting points, drawing attention and communicating a vibe as well as their actual message. A unified approach to bold design, choices of colour and styles of typography ensure that festival-goers experience a cohesive visual journey throughout their Glastonbury adventure.
Information
Stages, bars, food outlets, camp sites, the infamous Glastonbury toilets… they all need naming and highlighting to make the audience aware of their location and their purpose. Bright and strategically placed, this festival signage serves as a beacon, enhancing visibility and drawing people towards them.
Set Design Signage
Glastonbury Festival is known for its different areas and their eclectic mix of atmospheres. The Greenfields and Lost Vagueness as examples, derive their personality through the choices that designers make and which the performers then add to. Decisions are made as to how they want each area to feel – is it a woodsie, quiet, fairy glade, or are they building an area where all of the senses are assaulted and excess and hedonism reign supreme? Festival signage is key to communicating these messages. Dimmable LED lighting on a wooden background on the one hand, full beam neon on the other. Each perfectly encapsulates the message and brings the design to life.
Bringing Artistry to Light
Beyond their functional purpose, the festival signs at Glastonbury Festival are artistic installations in their own right. Renowned artists and designers are tasked with creating signs that reflect the festival’s spirit of creativity and innovation with designs often incorporating intricate patterns, fantastic fonts and striking imagery. Whether it be neon lights, LED illuminated signage or lightboxes, these signs become beacons, crafted to amplify the visual spectacle of Glastonbury as well as acting as a guide and information point.
As with any festival, but even more so with Glastonbury, signage plays a multi-faceted role, combining functionality with design. An absolute necessity to navigation, but equally important for the creative role that it plays, reflecting the dynamic spirit of Glastonbury and contributing to its unique visual tapestry.
If you’d like any help with your festival signage then feel free to ask us for help.
