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A look back at this years Grassroots Festival

We asked Bedouin Soundclash and Neil Halstead to tell us their musical secrets

Melissa Goguelin met the Fun Lovin' Criminals

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Local talent at this years Grassroots Festival

Local talent for this years Grassroots will come in the form of The Lloyd Yates Band, acoustic country and folk artist Frankie Davies and 15 year-old Isaac Evans.

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What’s green about the Grassroots Festival?

Industry Green, 10/10 and ‘A Greener Festival’
Grassroots are currently working towards ‘Industry Green’ - the accreditation scheme developed by Julie’s Bicycle, an organisation that provides a framework recommending an inclusive approach to emissions reductions and environmental planning for the creative industries. They have also signed up to ‘10/10’ a programme that helps festivals reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In addition Grassroots application for ‘A Greener festival’ award has been submitted with results of this national competition due towards the end of year. More information on Julies Bicycle, Industry Green and 10/10 can be found at http://www.juliesbicycle.com/

Greening Manager
Emphasis on the day of the festival has been enhanced this year, for the first time the team has appointed a ‘Greening Manager’ who’s remit includes monitoring the greening initiatives and ensuring that relevant data is captured and evaluated for future use.

Me:momentum
In conjunction with local telecoms provider me:mo, Grassroots are asking festival goers to choose an eco method of transport to get to this year's event. In support of Global Cool's sustainable transport campaign, they have created a competition to find the most imaginative form of eco travel. Entrants are invited to capture their Grassroots adventure on their phone in photos or film, upload it and be in the chance to win some fabulous prizes.

Durrell
Durrell will be on hand to discuss carbon offsetting opportunities and to highlight their role within the Brazilian rainforest. Last year’s Grassroots Festival contributed £3,750.00 to this scheme which in turn allowed Durrell to plant 1250 trees in Brazil.

The National Trust for Jersey
National Trust rangers will be encouraging festival-goers to join in their dedicated Bug Safaris and help build a Bug City, again focusing on environmental impacts.

Recycled scrims!
PA scrims from last year’s events will make an appearance this year in the form of funky shopping bags and also deckchairs which have been designed and created by local business Jersey Oak.

Graffiti Wall
A fantastic feature, new for 2010, is local designer James Carter’s ‘graffiti wall.’ James will be creating an amazing piece of eco themed artwork using specially sourced environmentally friendly paints. James, and his team of four artists, will be working on the piece throughout the day and festival -goers will be able to watch art in progress as the piece develops.

Jersey Water
Reusable water bottles will be available to purchase for just £1 and can be refilled throughout the day at the ‘Jersey Water Station’ free of charge.

Jersey Pottery
Jersey Pottery and Grassroots have not only developed an exclusive food experience for the festival ‘Global Street Food,’ but all of the healthy and delicious food has been packaged with a conscience Jersey Pottery have specifically selected packaging suppliers who pursue sustainable practices, from using recycled materials to produce packaging to reducing the amount of energy they use and waste they create making them.

Green Police
Green Police are a key part of all Allez – oop events. The Green Police provide a friendly service guiding people to recycling centres, handing out Boodi ashtrays to smokers, running the bucket scheme and are generally on hand to answer any greening questions and encourage people to participate in a light hearted manner. The Green Police have been proven to encourage people to think in a greener manner, while adding to a ‘one community’ feeling at events.

Bucket scheme
Attendees are invited to pick up a bucket from the Green Police tent, pick up 15 cans from the ground, hand the bucket back in and receive a free drinks voucher. The cans are then given directly to Durrell for their ‘Cans for Corridors’ recycling project.

Boodi ashtrays
These pocket ashtrays made of recycled cardboard are handed out to all smokers at Allez-oop events, free of charge.

Organic merchandise
Allez – oop work with local company Interlude Clothing to source & create festival merchandise. Each shirt is made of organic cotton, from responsibly farmed cotton and Allez-oop specifically request that each shirt was not wrapped in plastic to minimise waste.

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Grassroots turns businesses Eco Active

We're often reminded about how we can help the environment.

Now the Grassroots Festival - which brands itself as an eco event - is encouraging businesses in the Channel Islands to join a scheme aimed at reducing energy usage.

Linzi Wilson one of the festival organisers says "Reducing your energy and that might be from changing the types of lightbulbs you have, reducing water usage, transport, so empowering your staff to cycle or walk to work or get the bus, procurement, which is basically what you buy for your business so it might just be that you buy office stationery, but then again there's things you can do in terms of buying recycled paper and envelopes instead of regular ones."

When companies come on board the Eco-Active scheme, there are three different levels which measure their green credentials. First of all, they register, that's where they assess their energy usage and make a pledge to reduce it. Secondly, they become a member - that's where they set specific goals to reduce their energy, and thirdly they can become a leader like the Grassroots Festival and that's where they're internationally recognised for their green credentials.

So with it being easy to join the scheme, the Grassroots Festival are hoping more people will sign up to become Eco-Active.

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Jersey Water to provide re-usable water bottles at Grassroots

At this Year's Grass Roots Festival, Venue Hosts Jersey Water and Festival Organisers Allez-Oop, have teamed up to provide festival goers with tap water for the duration of the festival - for just a £1.00.

Anyone attending the festival is being invited to purchase a specially designed, reusable water bottle - all proceeds from the sale of which will go to Charity - which they can refill as they need over the course of the day.

Manned by volunteer staff from Jersey Water, the 'Jersey Water Station' will be open for the duration of the event and will provide treated mains water to festival goers.

Commenting on the initiative, Festival Organiser Linzi Wilson, said:

"We are delighted to be able to work with Jersey Water to provide drinking water to people at the Festival. We are actively encouraging festival-goers to think about the environment and the impact they have on it. Waste from bottled water in terms of carbon emissions from its production and transportation, as well as disposal problems, are equally relevant in Jersey as anywhere else. We have therefore decided not to sell bottled water on site, to minimise the environmental impact of the Festival through waste."

Managing Director & Engineer Howard Snowden, added:

"We want to support the overall themes of the Festival, which tie in with ours - of responsible use and reducing waste. Eco-Active have also just launched their 'Time for Tap' campaign and, whilst we do emphasise that the decision to drink mineral or tap water is a matter of personal choice, we are pleased to be able to support Grass Roots in this way.

"Additionally, we are working as a Company to provide this service at the Festival and all proceeds from the sale of the water bottles will go to the International Charity 'Water Aid' which seeks to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities".

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Grassroots Beach Clean.

The Grassroots festival is taking place in Jersey at the end of the month and this year organisers want to expand their eco ethos even further.

The festival's already all about the music and looking after the environment and now organisers are encouraging festival goers and businesses they work with to think green throughout the year.

As part of that they're asking Channel Islanders to adopt part of a beach and and commit to cleaning it four times a year. The idea is for everyone to do a bit to achieve a lot because while our beaches are in good condition, you can still find litter lying around.

Linzi Wilson from the Grassroots festival said: "It's any area that suits you really. Whether it's just in front of near where you live or it's a beach that you come to all the time with your kids. And you come down once every spring, summer, autumn and winter and just pick up the little bits of rubbish that you find. Then you fill in an online survey, which tells us the sort of rubbish that you've found so we can get that information back and start to collate it."

The organisers are determined to make this project work because it's a cause that's close to their hearts. Linzi added: "We're all surfers and we're all really passionate about the beach so it's something that we really care about. We really want to have a bit more of a long terms impact on the festival rather than just doing a green festival on one day. This is a way of us giving back throughout the year and empowering people to get involved and have a bit of pride for their local beaches.

Surfers, swimmers and marine life would reap the benefits of a successful beach clean too. Because when the tide comes in any litter can get washed away in to the sea, which will not only pollute but can be harmful to the fish too. So there's incentive for many of us to get out there and make Jersey's beaches even better than they already are.

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Jack Johnson support act to appear at Grassroots Festival.

The final act to appear at this year’s Grassroots Festival has today been confirmed as singer and guitarist Neil Halstead. Newquay based Halstead is one of only ten artists signed to Jack Johnson’s Brushfire record label and is currently supporting the singer songwriter on all his UK tour dates.


Described by Time Out magazine as "One of Britain's greatest songwriters” and renowned for creating songs that are very personal to himself, Halstead’s music is welcoming, warm, clever and thoughtful. NME magazine said of his lyrics “the kind of honest, heartfelt love songs men are too scared or too cool to write these days”

Commenting on the final act in the 2010 Grassroots line up Linzi Wilson of organizers Allez-oop promotions says “We're so pleased to announce Neil as our last artist. We've been big fans for a while now, his music fits perfectly into the summer festival vibe, and we can't wait to see him play live at Grassroots.”

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Favourite returns for this year's event.

2010's Grassroots also sees the return of Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee, a hit with last years Grassroots crowds he'll be Mc'ing and will also be performing his’ Flutebox set’ with a special guest.


Expressing his excitement on this return visit to Jersey Lee said “I'm boosted to be performing again at my favourite UK festival in front of one of the most 'up for it' crowds I’ve experienced. I'm really honored that I've been asked to introduce some of the acts this time too. It's another stellar line-up so I'm looking forward to some more music, surf and sun."

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A new phenomenon in festival food for Grassroots.

Jersey Pottery and Grassroots have joined forces this summer to present a totally new concept in festival catering. ‘Jersey Pottery - Grassroots Global Street Food’ will launch at the boutique summer festival taking place on Saturday 31st July at Val de la Mare Reservoir.

Having listened carefully to festival goers at previous events and inspired by the hugely popular ‘Harvest at Jimmy’s’, which successfully blends great music with top quality food, Jersey Pottery and the Grassroots teams have created an exciting and innovative new element to the music festival experience in Jersey.

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Leading expert in music and entertainment helps puts Jersey firmly on the international festival map.

Allez-oop Promotions, organiser of Grassroots, have a new team member, Ian Bushell, who has been brought onboard to ensure all Allez-oop events are run to the highest professional standard and are able to compete with the very best music events all over the world.

Leading expert in his field, Bushell has been working in the music and entertainment industry for over 20 years and is widely recognised as a leader in his field. Featured in Event Magazine’s 2007 ‘Event 100 Live’ top 100 influential players in the experiential marketing industry he has created some of the worlds biggest and most successful multi-media entertainment platforms of the last 10 years.


Commenting on the alliance with Allez-oop the team behine Grassroots, Bushell said "I'm excited to be working with the Allez-oop team, assisting them to develop their festival platforms. There is huge potential in their innovative, sustainable and thoughtful approach to the festival sector and I look forward to helping them realise their ambitious vision."

Delighted with Ian’s contribution so far, Jeff Wilson, comments: “Ian has put together events of the highest calibre all over the world. For us, to have someone with his level of expertise look at our approach and recognise a massive potential in our events was a huge confidence boost and it confirmed our belief that we are moving in the right direction.

Wilson continues: “Working with Bushell has already added tangible benefits for Allez–oop Promotions, our event partners, sponsors and our ticket buyers. We are extremely proud to have generated interest in our event platforms, business objectives and plans from a person with his experience. We look forward to working with Ian to realise the full potential of Allez–oop Promotions."

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Tickets Now on Sale for Grassroots.

Tickets for this year’s Grassroots festival are now on sale. Described as a boutique music festival with soul; the event takes place at Val de la Mare Reservoir between 12 noon and 11pm on Saturday 31st July.

2010 marks the third Grassroots event in Jersey and the line up once gain has a truly international flavour.

Adult tickets cost £44 and children up to the age of twelve are just £5, under four’s go free!

Tickets are on sale at www.grassroots-jersey.com where loyalty offers for previous festival goers are available.

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UK first for Grassroots.

Another exciting act to be announced is Rhombus a New Zealand dub band.

Direct from Aotearoa, New Zealand; Wellington's respected dub'n'bass outfit Rhombus hits the UK for the first time to play exclusively at Grassroots.



Jersey audiences will see them in their Rhombus in Dub three-piece format; a fresh configuration made up of Rhombus beatmakers Thomas Voyce, Simon Rycroft and Koa Williams.

Commenting on their forthcoming appearance the trio said “Of all the places and spaces we had imagined in the UK to play our first ever Rhombus in Dub show, the beautiful Island of Jersey was definitely not one of those places & spaces! Getting invited out of the blue from Grassroots 2010 Festival in Jersey to perform at an all round forward thinking festival, is just the perfect way for us kick start our journey into the UK!”

The trio has had the luxury of performing to sell-out crowds across New Zealand, Australia, and Japan.


Alongside Rhombus Islanders can also expect music from Tom Frager and Gwayav who combine a mix of reggae, pop and soul jazz and Natty is also back by popular demand.

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Fun Lovin' Criminals to Headline Grassroots.

The headline act for this year's Grassroots Festival is American based band the Fun Lovin' Criminals.

Formed in 1993 the band is probably best known for their hit Scooby Snacks, which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino.


Along with the headliner Bedouin Soundclash and platinum selling Jose Gonzalez will also be playing.

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Young local talent to take to the stage.

Local talent for this years Grassroots will come in the form of The Lloyd Yates Band, acoustic country and folk artist Frankie Davies and 14-year-old Isaac Evans.

Frankie Davies and Isaac Evans talk to Melissa Goguelin

Along with the programme of music which will run from 12pm - 11pm islanders will be able to celebrate all that's good and green about Jersey within the specially designed Eco Village.