#titp2013

“REALLY hot fruit,” is what the front-man of Edinburgh indie pop quartet Indigo Velvet might say if you asked him to describe his band in three words...

Initially, I was intimidated by the pace of work and having to navigate the arena which, on all my previous visits to T, I was able to wander aimlessly. Understandably, the arena is huge so that it can hold all the stages, foods and attractions for the T audience to enjoy but it seemed even bigger to me than usual! However, after a speedy tour around the site in a golf buggy, I soon got my bearings and was able to navigate it pretty easily after a couple of days. There were advantages to working so close to (and sometimes in) the arena as well. On show days I was able to pop out and grab some lunch from Healthy T and was lucky enough to see some of my favourite artists: Kendrick Lamar, Earth, Wind and Fire and Snoop Dogg. Being able to be part of the crowd at points was completely surreal, knowing that I had a tiny part to play in helping it all come together.

My main responsibilities revolved around social media; collecting and managing content for Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. I was able to take loads of photos and made videos to try and capture the atmosphere of the festival. Despite being hard work due to the fact I had to run around to gather the footage, I got to go and chat to T in the Parkers a bit and, as a result, no two days were the same. During an interview with one particular girl for a video, she started talking about her experiences at T in the Park and I realised that regardless of the amount of pretty, sunny pictures I managed to get, they would never adequately communicate the tremendous love that the audience feels for the festival.

On my way home I was having a chat with my mum about how my perceptions have changed from before to after working at T. I was trying to tell her that now when I see T getting a bad time on social media because people are complaining that the festival is too corporate or that not enough attention is paid to the audience's demands it annoys me because this couldn't be further from what I experienced. Every person I worked with or encountered during my week on site cared so much about the festival and ensuring that every person had the best and safest time possible. I found it refreshing that after 20 years, when it could be easy to be complacent about its success, everyone still seemed passionate about making it the best T yet and, out of all the ones I have attended, it was.