When you begin work as a volunteer in the Ashbourne Festival office you are given lots of useful information, such as where the kitchen is, how to fill the kettle with water, how to switch it on and how to do the washing up. But nobody tells you about some of the risks associated with the position of ‘office junior’s assistant’. On your first day not a single person warns you about the frequent occurrence of mint tea bag avalanches when the cupboard door is opened or that the room downstairs, which you have to walk through to get to the kitchen, sometimes has life drawing classes,with the potential for an extremely embarrassing entrance. Or that the slightest accidental touch of a cable with a restless foot under a desk will crash the whole computer system, threaten the very existence of the Festival forever, and provoke curses from your colleagues.
But despite these minor setbacks it was rewarding to see how the skilful use of mobiles, mice and marker pens, together with the enthusiasm and cooperation of local people, led to the marvellous series of events which was the 2015 festival.
The organisation of the 2016 festival is proceeding well and I am told that it promises to be one of the best ever. You can smell the excitement in the office- or is it just another mint tea brewing?
