Put That Down In Front...So Long Festival Flags

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If, like me, you experienced the Glastonbury Festival on television this year (in my case, it was Michael Jackson's fault), then you probably found it quite a frustrating experience. While the line up was its usual eclectic self and the sun – for once – shone brightly, something was missing.

It's taken me a while to come up with what, but this week, when Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn complained about flags at festivals, it suddenly struck me: I couldn't see anything.

For those who haven't read Benn's comments, the organiser of the Reading and Leeds festivals criticised those who brought flags to festivals, describing them as a “nightmare”. Benn, who also acts as a co-organiser for Glastonbury, added: “The people behind them - not immediately behind them, but 20 or 30 rows behind them - can't see.”

And he's right. I was considerably more than 20 rows from the front at Glastonbury – in fact, I was about 200 miles away – but as Bruce Springsteen headlined the Pyramid Stage on the second day, I still found myself struggling to see past a nuclear disarmament flag fluttering on the end of a 15ft pole. It was like the Spanish Armada had arrived to overthrow the Queen again – or, in this case, the Boss – armed only with giant, annoying flags.

I have to be honest, I don't understand the appeal of taking a flag to festivals; it's tiring enough spending all day in a field already without the added nuisance of having to carry a wopping giant stick. And those who argue that their beloved flag helps them find their way back to their tent in the dark are, quite frankly, barking up the wrong flagpole. Surely, if that was the case, then they would leave it standing next to their tent and not in the eye line of 80,000 people.

Of course, there's probably a more shrewd reason behind Benn's anti-flag stance, which will see festivalgoers at Reading and Leeds this weekend have their offending item confiscated. All of the major festivals which have been blighted by the same problem have one thing in common: lucrative TV rights. No broadcaster is going to keep funding a festival if the only on-screen spectacle is a pizza company advertising its 17” Margherita special on the end of a flag pole.

But the problem remains the same: flags at festival have gone too far. Like Melvin Benn said, they are “very long and tall”, and for those not at the event, just an added reason to bemoan not being there in person.