History
For those of you who don’t already know, Croissant Neuf is one of the most original, innovative and creative constants on the festival scene!
Originally starting out as a skiffle band in East Anglia, playing pubs, folk festivals and village halls the Croissant Neuf of today was just a dream. All six founder members had a keen interest in performance: music, theatre and circus and 1986 saw the first Croissant Neuf tent being used as a café/venue at shows around the region. The café originally specialised in selling croissants and coffee and it quickly assumed its distinctive name. Perhaps significantly the original Croissant Neuf collective hosted the Oak Fair, a music festival in Suffolk, and appeared that year for the first time at Glastonbury Festival. It has become an ever present feature, which has gradually transformed into the 1000 capacity music venue you see at the centre of the Green Fields.
In the late eighties the collective toured the steam fair circuit, fusing together circus performance and live music. During this time Sally Howells and Andy Hopes three children were born. Soon after, the troupe dispersed. As a result of this, Sally and Andy made the decision to continue with Croissant Neuf alone and the late eighties saw them buy their first new tent; the predecessor to what you see today.
After this change the focus switched to circus shows, using all-human acts they re-created the essence of the traditional Victorian style performance. This heralded a new era in the ever evolving story of the show. The original Croissant Neuf family often worked together even after the split, most notably running summer circus skills workshops in Kent and occasionally they would all perform street theatre shows together.
Already keen environmentalists they made the conscious decision to buy solar panels and wind turbines instead of diesel generators. They continued to expand the show for the next couple of years working with a variety of performers and circus acts.
In the early nineties Andy and Sally had written an environmentally themed show which they toured across the country. This resulted in a chance meeting with the directors of The Green Show, the biggest eco-expo of its time, Croissant Neuf, along with Steve Wade (Wind and Sun) and life long friend Des Kay, (Save the World Club), conceived the idea of a travelling Environmental Show.
Croissant Neuf consequently gave birth to the Green Roadshow a travelling environmental education centre, with the circus big top at its focal point. All electrical appliances were run entirely using power from the sun and the wind, from the big top lights and PA to the hair dryers and laptops in the living vans. This brought together the cream of the crop in renewable technology, conservation, battery powered transport, sustainable living and woodland management. With this as the basic tenet all the shows had an eco theme. The hire of Croissant Neuf, as a traditional circus, began to ebb away and the Roadshow took off. Whilst touring as The Green Roadshow, Croissant Neuf continued to appear as a renewably powered venue at Glastonbury and at other festivals such as the Big Green Gathering.
Music was the original raison d’être for its being and the balance began to shift in its favour once again. At the turn of the millennium a massive solar generating unit was built to create enough power to drive a 10kilowatt P.A system, a feat of modern technological engineering representative of its grandiose name; The Solar System. Initially they hired in all the speaker equipment but within a couple of years they’d created the first fully functioning solar rig of its kind that could deliver perfect sound for anything from solo artists through to a 40 person gospel choir. With the growth of the P.A came the growth of the tent, increasing in size from a 60 foot circus tent into the 1000 capacity music venue you see at festivals today.
The Green Roadshow continued to tour the country but more and more gigs appeared in the calendar for the Solar Venue.
In 2007 the family made the decision to host an entirely independent event, to celebrate Croissant Neufs 21st birthday. The idea of an environmentally responsible family festival: powered sustainably, on a beautiful site and leaving nothing behind it but the echoes of music, footprints and memories had been developing over the years but the opportunity had never fully arisen. After 15 years of running the Alternative Technology Field at Glastonbury Festival and utilising their existing knowledge, the organisers felt sufficiently experienced to stage an event. Despite their broad experience this was a significant challenge, owing to modern licensing laws and the logistical implications that are bought to bare when running an event. No amount of experience can prepare you for what its like to stage a festival, all aspects have to be taken into consideration, from security to fire access to having clean water.. The rigors of modern licensing laws meant a great deal of time needed to be taken over the application. Working with officers from Monmouth District Council the organisers’ ability instilled faith within them and winter 2006 saw a successful license application go through. With the 20 year old Luke on board as a Director along with Sally and Andy, Croissant Neuf once more ventured into the realm of hosting festivals.
The Croissant Neuf Summer Party 2007 was the pinnacle of a 21 year sojourn in entertainment. All those involved had come full circle and then some. The beautiful setting, superb mix of eclectic entertainment, along with a wealth of activities and workshops ensured the weekend was a huge achievement, although, as is often the case for the first year of a new venture, the festival was not an immediate financial success. However, more than enough positives were drawn from the experience to warrant doing the festival for a second and third time, and this year’s event promises to be even better than before.