Postcards from the farm, since 1980.

0:00Miguel Hello and welcome to GlastoCast, the unofficial Glastonbury Festival podcast. Yes, we are back already with a new episode. Glastonbury 2024 is only a few days away and we're working hard to bring you all the content we can before the gates open. Are you done packing? Are you excited? Are you nervous? Have you highlighted your Clash Finder? Have you been doing offerings to the weather gods, praying for no rain? For now, just relax because we have a very special episode for you. We are so glad that Hester from Festival Postcards found some time to speak with Jessi despite her crazy schedule this— the week before the festival starts. I just love the service they provide at the festival. Since my year 1 at Glastonbury, I sent so many postcards to friends to get them to film and come back with me the year after. I have sent postcards abroad to my family, and I have received so many postcards myself. Sadly, I wasn't able to join the interview, but it was just great to hear the chat that Jessi had with Hester, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

1:19Jessi Hey everyone, it's Jessi here. Uh, I'm just jumping in for a quick interview with somebody that I wanted to speak to for quite a while. Um, firstly, I just want to apologize for my voice. I'm very husky. I got back from Download Festival, uh, just last night, uh, but still wanted to squeeze this in. Um, and Miguel is unfortunately unable to join, so you've just got me. But joining me, uh, is the very fabulous Hester, who runs Festival Postcards.

1:50Hester Hello! Hi, Jessi!

1:51Jessi Lovely to meet you. Do you want to just do a little, I don't know, 5-second introduction? Maybe not 5 seconds, you know what I mean, a little one-sentence introduction of of yourself to me?

1:59Hester Absolutely. I definitely can't do it in 5 seconds. Um, I am Hester and I own and run Festival Postcards, which, um, is the postal service at Glastonbury Festival.

2:11Jessi Amazing. So anyone who has been to Glastonbury has probably at bare minimum walked past, uh, one of your stalls there, but probably has sent one of these postcards as well. But I kind of want to go back to the beginning a little bit. How long have you been doing it? How long has it been a part of the festival?

2:28Hester Well, I am 42, 43, and it's been going, uh, one year older than me, so about 44 years.

2:38Jessi Amazing. I didn't, I didn't want you to have to, you know, age yourself, but that's me.

2:41Hester No, it's fine. It's how I always work it out, which is silly really because I actually started in 1980, so it's quite easy, the maths really. Um, but yeah, so my parents started it back in 1980. Well, that was the first year they went, and then '81 I think is— might know that we do have a postcard from 1980, and then 1981 is when kind of brilliant event.

3:01Jessi So that's amazing. It literally was from the beginning then. I didn't know that, and I should have known that, but I didn't. That's fabulous. So literally from the birth of the festival, almost, maybe bar a year or two.

3:11Hester Well, the festival starts in 1970, um, and so, but, um, but if you kind of look at the history of it, it kind of really kicked off late '70s, early '80s.

3:21Jessi Yeah, of course. Like, those first couple of editions, I know people sometimes wonder because it was not quite the same as it was, but perfect. That's so, so lovely. And how long were your parents doing it before you kind of took on the mantle?

3:32Hester I took over— I mean, it was definitely a gradual takeover, but 2005 was when we, you know, it was really a lot more my responsibility than theirs. But, you know, my dad, he came last year, he's 80 this year, so he's, um, you know, he's a real veteran. And my mum gave up, uh, the muddy one in 2016. She swore never go again, which, bless her, that's absolutely amazing.

3:57Jessi Well, I mean, understandable. Like, 2016 was, was a nightmare.

4:01Hester Yeah.

4:01Jessi Um, I was going to ask you if you went as a punter before the postcards, but I guess not. So were you going as like a, you know, as a, as a child going along while your parents were still running it and things like that, running around?

4:12Hester Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, my mum kind of has these— she kind of refers to them as like flashbacks, as if, you know, something on the wall. of, um, us as small children in the mud in the early days, which was not, um, yeah, not, not, not great for Mum. Well, I don't know, actually, I think she, she does look back on it with really fond memories. But yeah, I mean, obviously being a teenager there was just the absolute best, you know, from kind of 13 to 19. It's just mind-blowingly amazing.

4:44Jessi Brilliant. So was your dad— well, your parents, I say, not just your dad, sorry— but were either of them were they post-men, post-people, or were they— were they designers?

4:54Hester I love the idea that they were. No, my dad's an artist, so, um, and he does a lot of print work. And in that kind of time, he was— he had printing presses and he was really passionate about it. And so they, you know, they were hippies, I guess, and they wanted to take us to festivals as kids. You know, they definitely did see it as a you know, a really safe space, a place, um, for kind of community and peaceful thinking and peaceful protest. And it was really important to them that they took us to festivals as children. So my dad thought it would be good to print a few postcards. I don't know why he thought postcards. And he made this really beautiful tray, which if you look at my Instagram, there's actually some pictures of it. And it's, uh, it's kind of like an old-fashioned kind of cinema ice cream tray kind of vibe. around his neck, and he sold postcards for— I think they were 20p each. And my, um, yeah, and they, they had a queue, which is bizarre, selling postcards. And, you know, my mum is the entrepreneur of the family. Oh, hang on, this is interesting. Um, they were really beautiful, really simple, lovely, gorgeous designs. Um, and it was by— if you know the side of us well, There is this tree which is kind of on the corner of the side of us going up to the Pyramid Stage, and it's this really gnarly, slightly ugly, higgledy-piggledy tree. And that's, that's where they started selling them. And they were in that spot for, I think, about 5 years until Mike Leaver said, um, so Stanley, I am— I think you should start paying to be here. Um, and, uh, that agreed. And, um, yeah, they got their first pitch then. So yeah, kind of late '80s, I guess. But yeah, mid to late '80s.

6:43Jessi I love that. And then, you know, you get Michael Eavis going, actually, come on, let's make this official, you know, let's make this a thing.

6:48Hester Yeah.

6:50Jessi Wonderful. And so was it— so it's always your dad's designs. And I know obviously now you get quite a lot of, you know, you, you have artists that submit to you and then you have like competitions and things. But let's talk a little bit about the designs over the years. Maybe with your dad's designs to start. You say he's an artist. Are we talking pen and ink, or are we talking, uh, watercolor? What's—

7:09Hester what's—

7:09Jessi what were his designs really?

7:10Hester He, he paints with a lot of acrylics now, but, uh, yeah, a lot of print work and sculpture, you know. I mean, he's a— he's an artist through and through. So, um, yeah, so kind of lots of different work. But yeah, back then it was linocut printing postcards.

7:24Jessi Love that.

7:25Hester Okay. Of a child is him cutting these little linocuts. And it was the middle of the night. And yeah, he would sketch them out and the designs were really simple. Like, there's no way I would get away with the designs now that he did then. You know, then, you know, kind of scratch a pyramid and write Glasto on it. And that was kind of, that was kind of it. But they do have a really beautiful feel to them because they've been hand-printed and they are, yeah, they're very special to us as a family, these, the original cards.

7:56Miguel Yeah.

7:57Hester And then he moved over to kind of discovered Photoshop in the '90s. And, uh, and the cards go through this wonderful era of kind of lots of fractal designs, kind of hippies. And my dad kind of got quite into Photoshop, so lots of kind of obscure faces and filters. Um, but it's great because it's also very much of, of the time.

8:18Jessi Mm.

8:18Hester My first postcard was in 2005, so I'm a designer as well. Yeah, I think it was 2005, and it was incredibly simple. And I remember my dad kind of being like, you sure? You sure? And yeah, oh, this is gonna sell really well. And, and it did. And so over the years, it was always my dad would design one. So we do— between me and Dad, we do 4.

8:39Jessi Mm-hmm.

8:39Hester I would do one, Dad would do 3. And over the years, the balance has changed. So now he does one and I do 3. Uh, but what we've started to do Is, you know, my dad, you know, doesn't necessarily have the time to kind of put towards doing a card so much anymore because he doesn't go to the festival as much anymore. I think he feels a bit more distanced from it. So I've actually started stealing his artwork from around, around the house in his studio. I go around taking pictures and he's like, what are you doing? I'm like, oh, this year's card, this year's card. And the card we've done together this year, I am so happy about. Um, he's really— I, I did one and I sent it to him about a month ago and he didn't reply, which is Dad's very polite way of saying, okay dear, maybe not quite that one. Um, but the one this year, he replied straight away just saying it's absolutely fantastic. And it's called Eddie Goes Back to Glastonbury. Um, my granddad was Eddie and he never went to Glastonbury. I mean, he would have just thought the whole thing is utterly bizarre and also wonderful and very Stan and Helen. And a few years ago, oh, I want to say 2018, um, no, we didn't have a festival in 2018. There's one card which is called, um, Eddie Goes to Glastonbury, and it's a really old-fashioned picture of my granddad. And I don't know why Dad chose it as a card design, but, um, but it is, and we actually loved it. So a lot of our family work with me at Glastonbury. And so everyone loved that Eddie somehow went to Glastonbury on a postcard. Anyway, this year is even more bizarre, and no one would know it was my granddad. There's only a tiny hint of him, which is a necktie. And this year Eddie goes back to Glastonbury.

10:24Jessi That's beautiful. I love that you found a way to take him the first time, and now you've, um, yeah, worked on something with your dad that's, you know, An evolution of that. That's fabulous.

10:34Hester And it's just— I love that tiny card in a massive collection. Um, and then we do a— I do a competition every year. So it started as a photo competition in 2010 where people would send in their photos of Glastonbury on their phone or cameras, and I would print some, and we donate 10p for the sale of each postcard to Amnesty International.

10:59Jessi Mm-hmm.

10:59Hester And it ran beautifully for many years with these photos. But after about 10 years, I really had seen every picture of Glastonbury possible.

11:07Jessi Yeah.

11:07Hester Uh, I have seen every sunset, every angle, every tent, every picture of the Pyramid Stage. And I thought, I think we need to develop this. So I opened it up to artists and poetry illustrations, and it's just been— it is so— it's like the best part of of my job is receiving these bits of work, and it really opens up to people. Last year, one of the winners, she had done a linocut and she'd been on a course, and it was the first thing she'd ever done, and it was just beautiful and I loved it. And I, I, um, I paired it with a poem that just meant so much to people last year, which I've actually printed again this year, which is— I'm very rare where I reprint a postcard, but it was, it was quite stunning. So we've reprinted that one. And then I've got this, um, uh, painting from this Japanese, um, man, um, who's also performing at Glastonbury, which I did not know when I chose it. And he's in the Theatre and Circus bit, and he's called Akira. And he— I can't quite describe it. Everyone should see, sort of get his Instagram. He, um, He paints and does cutout artwork whilst DJing. It is absolutely bonkers, perfectly Glastonbury. Anyway, he sent through this amazing painting. It's got loads of energy. Um, it's gorgeous illustration, um, we have. And then the last one is this felted— hand-felted piece, which I actually thought when I first saw it must have been a Photoshop. Um, you know, filter or something. How do you know? She actually hand-felted this picture of Glastonbury, and it's just got loads of texture and it's really fab. So, uh, yeah, so worked with some brilliant people doing that for the competition this year. And then I'm also— I also always collaborate with Kate Chidley. Lots of people will know her. She's got 2 stalls on site, uh, one near the Pyramid Stage, um, near me and then another one up in the Avalon Field also fairly newly. And she does the beautiful paintings at Glastonbury, and we've done a postcard together probably for about 5 or 6 years now.

13:21Jessi I love that. I'm literally looking at my Kate Chidley on my wall right now.

13:24Hester Oh, that's fantastic. Okay, it's amazing as well. We love doing this together. Um, we're very proud of ourselves this year because we actually managed to get it done a few weeks ago. And then I've got one last collaboration which I must talk about. Um, which is really exciting, and I've not spoken to any— no one knows about this yet.

13:41Jessi Exclusive.

13:42Hester Exclusive. Um, and it's with a charity called Art House Unlimited, and it's a very special charity which I have been following for years, and they are an enterprise of working with people with severe neuro— and physical disability, um, and they create artwork with them. And this artwork is then made into beautiful quality products, uh, and, and sold. And the money goes back into the charity and goes back into supporting these people. But the artwork is really stunning, and it's full of happiness and joy. And when I spoke to the lady who runs it, and we kind discussed the idea of us doing something together. She talked about a time when she needed to take just a little bit of step back from work, and she realized that what we all needed was more joy. And she— and that's exactly how I was feeling at the time of talking about it, in this kind of this feeling of joy. And when you experience it and what it means, it's not happiness, it's something different. And it feels so true to Glastonbury. that Glastonbury is so full of joy.

14:58Jessi Mm.

14:58Hester And it's something that's really, it's kind of deeper than happiness. We can all kind of, you know, feel happy and see the sun shining today or something. Joy is something deeper. And so these 3 bits of artwork, these 3 postcards we've printed are really about joy. And it's come all from the artists and it really is there to celebrate them. And yeah, so, and money goes to charity for those cards as well, to their charity. So yeah, really happy.

15:27Jessi That charity was Art House, just to be clear?

15:29Hester Yeah, yeah, it's Art House Unlimited.

15:30Jessi Amazing. I'm gonna have to look them up. Well, I mean, the designs— well, you took us through whistle-stop tour there, but it sounds wonderful. I mean, I, I almost interrupted you, but the, the DJ that is painting while DJing, like, I, I'm immediately gonna go and find out when and where that is. Well, you said Theatre and Circus, but when? This sounds absolutely amazing. Thank you. Um, I'm really, really looking forward to it. I'm Genuinely sitting here looking around, I have got— I've got postcards from you everywhere. I always send like 2, uh, and then I always buy a couple extra, and then they just feature around my house. So I can see 3 from my position here in the lounge, but I've got many more upstairs in the bedroom. And one of the ones that was my favorite, and I sent to people— I think it was one of the COVID years you, you did some— but it was the Wish We Were Here one. And it's just the picture of the port— the, you know, the Long Drop. Sorry, I was like, that's just a classic. I sent that to about 5 friends that year, so that was a good one.

16:24Hester That was a competition winner, that photo from, um, from many years ago.

16:29Jessi Yeah, it was classic. Yeah, anyone who knows Glastonbury will recognize that picture instantly, but to other people they'll be like, what's this green doors? I don't understand. Wonderful. Okay, I was going to ask you, obviously from even more years than I expected at the festival, as obviously you came as a, a child as well and teenager, etc., but then also Running, running the postcards. Are there any— and, and this is a big question, you might have more than one— but are there any particular stories? Maybe we'll start with a story that relates to you and your experience at Glastonbury, and then maybe if you've got one that's about a customer, or, you know, just— I can imagine you, people tell you who they're going to be sending their postcards to, and there might be a really nice story there as well. But let's start with, you know, is there a moment that stands out to you or a story you want to tell me about your experience at Glastonbury?

17:16Hester Oh, I think this is something I get asked quite a lot, and I think it's, it's quite hard because I don't think my experience is really any different and certainly not better than anyone else's. I think that, you know, I'm crying at Blur, you know, we, we— if you were there, you, you— we all cried. Um, singing Happy Birthday with Michael Eavis and Stevie Wonder.

17:41Jessi Mm-hmm.

17:41Hester Um, when we were kids, we did used to have a friend who was the piano tuner on the Pyramid Stage, and we used to kind of, I don't know, get wristbands, sneak backstage. Um, I once was on the Pyramid Stage, uh, for the Spin Doctors when I was about 14.

17:58Jessi Amazing.

17:59Hester That was, you know, epic. And yeah, kind of, I don't know, just fooling around as a teenager and being silly. And I saw Ash play their first gig at the NME stage, like 2 o'clock on the Friday. And I remember just feeling that that was like the whole Britpop era was just the absolute best thing, like just absolute— it was my heart and soul to be, to be at Glastonbury in that, in that time. And so yeah, to be seeing Ash and Blur and Oasis. Yeah, so but again, I don't know, there's, there's so much like when we were really young I mean, definitely far too young. We used to go to find all the raves at the different gates, and there'd be like— you'd hear there was gonna be a rave at Gate 3, um, and you would, yeah, you would go up there and it would be, you know, real traveler raves back then. And, um, really, you know, not somewhere where a 12 or 13-year-old should be going. Maybe I was older, I'm not sure. But yeah, I think it's it's the same as everyone else, but it— maybe it's knowing when you're part of like an era and having that feeling of this is, this is quite a poignant time. Um, I mean, I was quite an emo kid, you know, I kind of was very much cherishing the moment and things like that. So yeah, sneaking around backstage trying to find, um, Liam Gallagher.

19:28Miguel Yeah.

19:28Hester I found Noel Gallagher. Liam was really rude. Oh, I saw, um, Yeah, yeah, just those days were—

19:35Jessi No, that's wonderful. I like— I can't imagine. I only started going to Glastonbury when I was, I think, 18. I might have been 17, but, you know, yeah, basically an adult. Um, and you see all the kids and I go, God, I wish my parents had the— had the idea to take me here. Or, you know, and being, being able to have that, you know, dad's working there, mum's working there, and you can run off and, you know, with all your friends that probably had parents doing the same thing, you know. I bet it was wonderful. So I love that.

20:00Hester Yeah, I'm taking my 2. I take my children, and, um, I mean, it's so much work to take children there. Like, the effort, the extra effort involved is, is quite, um, mental, but it just is brilliant for them. And they really do, you know, they look forward to that as much as, you know, going on summer holiday, you know. It's, it's a real thing for them as well. I'm going to sell postcards with Mummy, and that's really lovely because I remember doing that with my mum.

20:27Jessi Yeah, I was gonna say, I think your parents had it right. You said right at the beginning that they were like, we think it's really important to take, to take you to festivals. Um, and, and I agree, you know, I, I think— I don't have any kids myself, but I have friends who do. And, you know, if I ever do, it's— you see people online on, on Twitter and various forums talking about the fact they have to take their kids out of school. And some schools are very funny about it, and others they can find a way around and all this kind of thing. But yeah, it's one week essentially, or less than, you know. And experience of like multiculturalism, just seeing everybody different light, sound, colors, if we're talking about really, really young kids. And those kind of experiences, just— it's just impossible to find anywhere else. So yeah, completely.

21:10Hester Yeah, my 6-year-old's suddenly into poetry.

21:12Miguel It—

21:13Hester this may last— this phase may last a week, it may last a year or a lifetime, I don't know. But next week I get to go and show her like the best poets, you know? Like, how incredible is that? And teach her about you know, the poetry comes from men and women and people of different sizes and ages, and, and it'll be in a tent, and she might like it and she might not. But like, isn't that better than primary school next week? You know, it's, it's just, you know, I think I always prepare myself for a fight every year at school. And of course they're just lovely and great and tell us to have a good time. Um, you know, it, it does feel incredibly important that we all somehow experience— my dad has always said everyone has to go to India and Glastonbury in their life. And you just— everyone has to do those 2 things because it's important somehow.

22:01Jessi I'm gonna steal that. India and Glastonbury. I'm gonna steal that. Your dad is a very, very wise person.

22:06Hester He is, I think.

22:07Jessi But, you know, back to your 6-year-old, like, the fact that they're interested in poetry at 6 is amazing. But also, a teacher in a classroom can maybe start that spark, but as you say, they will get to go and experience poetry that a teacher just isn't going to be able to It's not the same, is it, to actually go and experience it? That's fantastic. Yeah, love that. And any stories— not to just quickly whip on from that, but, um, is there any that stick out about somebody that might have been sending a very special postcard that you spoke to or anything like that?

22:36Hester Yeah, we've had such beautiful ones, um, and I think one that always does stick out is people sending cards, and it happens more often than we think, to people that have died.

22:49Jessi Mm-hmm.

22:50Hester Um, and I think it's something, um, really beautiful about being able to send a message to someone and write it down. And you know when you have that feeling where you just, oh, I just wish I could tell them about this, and you can't send them a text, or— but there, there is this feeling of you write it down and you put it in the box and you kind of send that message on. Um, And I really like that. And I've been, you know, very lucky to kind of— a couple of customers to share that with us, so that's what they're doing. Um, yeah, so I— yeah, those ones are really beautiful. I can imagine. Um, which is, um, fun. Again, I think same, you know, all right lads, you know, we're having a good time here. Yeah, I think I don't get too involved in what people write, um, because it's It's, it's kind of so private to them. It was— what's interesting, what's changed over the years is people never would tell their grandma or their mum that they were at Glastonbury. You know, it was like you would, you just say that you were at your mate's house for the weekend, um, because it was just had such a reputation back in the '90s. Whereas now loads of our postcards get sent to grandma. And it's meant the style of our cards has changed. Every card I have to be like, would you send that to Grandma? Apart from the really rude ones I have, but they're so rude that you definitely wouldn't send them to Grandma. Um, but yeah, it's, uh, that, that's kind of really changed over the years, who they get sent to.

24:25Jessi Yeah, that's interesting. Like, I think I was the same. I don't remember. It's sort of pulling up a memory, and I'm pretty sure it's very hazy, but I'm pretty sure my first Glastonbury I was writing one to my best friend, and I think in my head I remember mentally going, right, well, I'm not going to send one to Mum, am I?

24:41Hester Yeah, yeah.

24:43Jessi Whereas now I'd be like, look, Mum, I'm at Glasto.

24:47Hester Um, yeah, look, I, I can still know how to write.

24:49Jessi Um, yeah, it's day 3 and my, my hand still works. That's great.

24:54Hester Yeah.

24:54Jessi Um, no, I, I, I was wondering when you were saying about, um, you know, I asked you about sort of special ones that I It is. Again, it, it was what came to mind. I was like, I'm sure people do that. And I again haven't had— luckily, obviously it hasn't been something that I've had to do. But it does feel there's something wonderful, that analog feeling of writing down that and going back to that moment of joy you were talking about. Uh, Glastonbury really does ignite things that is not just happiness, it is joy. And then being able to, you know, have that memory of going, I'd really want to share that with this person, and then having this vehicle for doing that is, is, is lovely. So yeah, I was, I was wondering if you were going to say that, but yeah, that's, that's wonderful to hear and, and lovely that they share that with you as well. Um, I hope you have some tissues at the shop ready to go if you need.

25:42Hester We have, we have been, we have cried a few times. It's usually Saturday. If you come to our stall on a Saturday, any one of our stalls, just be gentle with everyone. Everyone works really hard all week and then they all go out Friday night. Every year I say it, guys, Don't go crazy tonight, and everyone does. And then Saturday there's usually a few tits.

26:02Jessi Maybe bring them some chips if you do. So I've just got a couple more questions for you, um, and they're mainly about this year or something like that. But, um, what are you most excited about for this year? You know, beyond the amazing designs that you've got, maybe it's a lineup thing, maybe it's something different, or, you know, maybe— I won't put words in your mouth. What are you most excited about for this year then, Hester?

26:27Hester Oh, you're just getting there, Jessi.

26:29Miguel Yeah.

26:30Hester I'm at that stage now where Sunday night, this Sunday coming, um, so we set up the Sunday before and getting to that point, you know, I'm, I'm so— I get so nervous. Um, I put so much into it, you know, creatively, financially, physically. And so Sunday we When we arrive on site, we drive in a convoy of vans, me and, um, a large portion of the crew, and we, we go in and we settle our vans into each pitch. And then the boys just get on with it. They get on with setting everything up, putting signs up, lights up, racks up, and they just work at this incredible speed. And so that on Monday I can start putting postcards out.

27:19Jessi Mm-hmm.

27:20Hester And there's this lovely moment when the boys are all off at another stall getting it done, and I'm on my own. Well, I won't be, I'll be with my 3-year-old at this stage, and I'll just start putting cards out. And it's when I get to see the designs go onto the shelf. Mm-hmm. And it's this feeling of weeks of hard work and then sitting and having a cider, because that's what you do, isn't it? Um, but when the festival actually starts, I would love to see IDLES this year. Um, I went to college with them, and, um, a million years ago, um, and there's something— love— I mean, I just think they're incredible anyway. But then also just seeing them on stage, let alone seeing them at Glastonbury, uh, but I know that when it comes to it, I'm usually running around somewhere doing something to do with stamps and postcards, and, and it doesn't always happen, but they're on my wish list.

28:14Jessi Well, I hope you managed to squeeze at least 20 minutes to go and run and see them. But bless you. And I can imagine the stress, um, especially— yes, year-round you're thinking of designs and getting it all prepared, and then it just builds up and builds up. I'm not sure— I'm hoping this podcast will come out in the next couple of days, but for anyone listening, we are on the Monday before the Monday before Glastonbury. So Hester's talking about she's going on this Sunday, which is 6 and a half days away. And I know it's not the same in any way, but I am going on Friday, um, so a couple of days beforehand, because as anyone who listens to this knows, my boyfriend works for the 5 days before the festival starts. And I am lucky to be a lady of leisure when I get there. I'm currently in panic mode because nothing— the van is not packed. I am frantically trying to do washing, um, and think about what on earth I need to bring. Obviously the weather is very changeable at the moment, so— and that's just me as a sort of semi-regular person, um, I find as the years go on, my pre-Glastonbury preparation anxiety gets stronger and stronger. Maybe I don't want to use the word anxiety because I know that's a medical term and I don't want to call it that, but let's, you know, heightened emotions, let's say. But I, I can't imagine what it's like when obviously this is your— you've prepared for this for months and it is, as you say, your creativity, your creativity, your, yeah, finances of course as well. It's something you've done for years. You've got all the family there, all the crew. So thank you for giving me you know, half an hour of your time and your busy week yesterday. I really, really appreciate it.

29:45Hester It's nice. It's nice to kind of do a deep dive into the festival like this beforehand to remind, remind us all why we're doing it. It's really nice.

29:54Jessi Yeah, it's lovely. And you've obviously—

29:56Hester you've—

29:56Jessi some of the stories you've told have been wonderful, so I really, really love that. And I might come and— if I see you, walk past you on a Tuesday or something and you seem to be sat having a cider, I'll come and say hello.

30:06Hester Um, please do, please do. I'll be going out the cars, but whatever I'm doing, come and say hello.

30:11Jessi Will do, will do. We'll just finish on— do you want to just summarize for me? Um, we did a mini intro at the beginning, but if someone who has never been to Glastonbury before and is like, yeah, okay, we get it, you sell postcards, do you want to give like an idea of where a couple of the stalls are? Um, yeah, and, and, and, and what goes on there?

30:28Hester So we have 4 stalls on site. We have one which is between the Meeting Point and the Pyramid Stage. Which is kind of in the Carhenge area. If you then go up the main track opposite the Green Fields, there's a road going down to Avalon. We've got another stall there. And then if you continue up to the Green Fields, uh, near Croissant Neuf, we have our Green Fields stall there, which is, uh, solar panel powered. If you then go up into the park, we've got our pop-up bike stall, which is called Dory. Um, the bike was named after our friend's mother, whose bike it was. So we've got those 4 locations on site. So when you come into our stall, you will see hundreds, thousands of different postcards, different designs, some Glastonbury, some not, some artist collaborations over the years, some pop culture ones, some silly, sweary, David Shripley extreme ones. You can choose a card, come to the counter, You can buy your postage, so a Royal Mail stamp to go with your postcard. You then write your card on our table outside, and then you pop it in our post box. And twice a day, we leave the site on a bicycle, and we take all the post up to Pilton where we meet the postman. We give him the post, and then it goes off around the country and around the world. We have international postage as well. And this year I have not done any price increases. It didn't feel quite right to push the price of a postcard when people are worried about the price of a pint of milk. So I am asking that if you can, please buy an extra postcard to take home. Um, but don't worry if you can't. Um, I just want everyone to be able to enjoy the experience of sending a postcard.

32:20Jessi And you should do like I do and send a couple and keep a couple because I've now got a whole collection going and it's wonderful.

32:26Hester Well, it's really fab.

32:28Jessi And what about the stamps? I feel like that was the only thing I was going to jump in, but that's the favorite bit for me. Um, you always have stamps that have the, the year on, you know, festival postcards.

32:37Hester Yeah, reminded me, I must locate those. Um, we, uh, yeah, so every year we have a rubber stamp which says, post it from Glastonbury with the year. So it looks a little bit like an old and franking stamp, um, and everyone loves— and one year I forgot to order them, um, and there was outrage, Jessi, outrage. I managed to get them on site by something like a Thursday, um, but I have no answer. I didn't realize how important they were to people. And yeah, I mean, we have done it since, I think since the '80s, um, so every year I do have to buy these rubber stamps, which are very important to wherever you are. Um, I do love them as well.

33:16Jessi Well, it's that thing, it's, you know, people— everybody loves collecting things and, you know, having a— it's a souvenir, isn't it? So, you know, when you go somewhere, you get a pin or something like that, and the stamp is there. They have those museums that squish coins, or like you can stamp in a book and things like that. And that's the bit that makes it official. It's like, I was in the field when I bought this thing, when I bought this postcard. I stamped it and it was posted from here. I didn't get home and then go, oh, I forgot, and write it there, you know. So that's, that's the legitimising bit, isn't it?

33:49Hester So yeah, it's really nice. Now, the biggest— my biggest message to everyone, please don't forget to write the address on your postcard. Um, it's, uh, often forgotten.

34:00Jessi I was going to ask you about that because I see you post about this every year. So if you're planning on doing it, firstly write the address in your phone or on a bit of paper before you come. So you know what it is. But yeah, how many have you had that just have a name on?

34:12Hester We don't really know because we can't look at every single postcard.

34:17Jessi Oh, of course.

34:18Hester I mean, Tim, who works on my stall, he does quite happily sit there and he sorts through them all, and he's very worried. And, you know, someone forgets to put a stamp on, or they haven't put the right international postage on or something. He's, he's our, he's our postmaster there, but we, we can't do every single one. And so we don't know. But what I do know is when somebody says to me that their postcard didn't get somewhere, um, which makes me feel really sad because it's, you know, it's quite rare really that a postcard doesn't arrive with all— with everything on it that it should have. Um, yeah, so as much as we try and tell people, um, it is quite difficult. I have drawn the little lines this year on the back of the postcard, hoping that that encourages people.

35:00Jessi Yes, bring the address with you or know it off by heart and don't forget to write it down.

35:05Hester The good thing is now we honestly thought text messaging was going to kill our business. You know, it was a real thing. It was, it was even a discussion with the organizers. How is this going to work beyond tech? You know, when text messaging takes off and we're busier than ever. And I think it is because people do want that analog feel and you can look up the address now. You know, you can text your friend and say, what's your address? Everyone loves being asked for their address, don't they? Because it means you're going to get some.

35:30Jessi Very true, very true. Brilliant. Well, thank you so much, Jessi. Honestly, it's been wonderful, um, everything I hoped it would be and more. Um, and I will hope to see you on Monday or Tuesday, but if not, I will definitely be popping by a stall. I know you'll be running around and you have 4 stalls, but if I see you, I will definitely say hi. And I can't wait to get my postcards for this year.

35:50Hester Thank you.