My first piece as editor of This Festival Feeling

My first article as editor

Check it out guys! Here is a snapshot of my first published article as editor of This Festival Feeling – not only did I conduct the interview, come up with the questions and write up the final piece, but I also had the opportunity to edit the piece, format it and deal with pictures for the site. It was great to see both sides to the job and I was really pleased with the interview. If you would like to read the piece in full, click the picture above.

I am now officially the editor of the website and will oversee all writings and work, edit pieces and upload them to the website. I will still have the opportunity to write but will have the power to come up with strong editorial ideas and to lead the team. It is a great opportunity and I am really looking forward to the year ahead of leading a team on this project. It will help to give me the experience of an editor position with the focus on something I love – festivals. It is also an opportunity to have access to festivals in a way that I haven’t previously. I have a feeling 2014 is going to be a good year.

We are looking for other members of the editorial team – if you love to write and are looking for some extra work experience and a way of getting your writing published in exchange for free tickets to festivals – drop me a line below and I’ll point you in the right direction.

I’d also love any feedback on my article, again, leave any comments below – I look forward to reading them.

 

Life of a journalist and its varied tales…

This week has been a particularly extreme example of how very varied a career in journalism can be. Of course, for those who choose a speciality such as sport, law or feature work, the writing can seem repetitive over time, but the bonus of being thrown in the deep end without formal training and working in a short-staffed office is that you really get a chance to experience as many different writing styles as there are out there.

I am a great example of such a case and despite working on a paper that covers a relatively small part of Norfolk, there is a remarkable amount of very exciting news that needs covering! This week alone I have interviewed the star of West End musical – Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story ahead of its showing at the local theatre as part of the 25th anniversary tour and was given a backstage tour by Glen Joseph himself. I then wrote a piece about drug and alcohol abuse figures which involved me talking to action teams, the hospital, police, support groups and Norfolk County Council. I also interviewed a woman about her father’s Jobseeker’s Allowance being cut off and spoke to the Department of Work and Pensions and spoke to a woman who was celebrating her 103rd birthday.

I interviewed a published writer about his book, the tale of his father’s travels and the secret life he led during World War II followed by his work spying on the Russians during the Cold War.I also wrote about Bus Awards, flood alerts, power cuts, schools, charity work and local bands and theatre productions.

All that and more is what I have been working on in the space of one week – just think of all the amazing stories you could be working on at a national paper! If that doesn’t interest more people in journalism then perhaps the fact that in my second job, as editor of This Festival Feeling, I had the opportunity to interview Charlie Hedges, the youngest breakfast DJ in the UK, from KISS FM will interest people in the potential for a writing career and where it might take you.

 

Promotion: It’s official!

Finally, after a few weeks of waiting for final confirmation, it’s happened!

I have been asked to be the new Editor and lead the new editorial team for This Festival Feeling, a website for which I have already been submitting work for over the past year. (see Festivals Page)

I was first inspired to start contributing to the website at the suggestion of my boyfriend who thought it might be a good way of expanding my writing, getting more experience, and of course, getting some free festival tickets!

It worked in our favour in every possible way – I really enjoyed contributing articles each month to the website and it was great to write in a more informal way in comparison to my entertainment section for the newspaper. We also managed to get press tickets to Hideout Festival in Croatia and I had the opportunity to write both a preview and review of the festival.

It was an amazing experience, and one I would thoroughly recommend to any aspiring writers or journalists out there who love music and festivals and want to gain extra experience and a reference for future jobs. You are welcome to contribute as many articles as you want – I gave far more than was required of me because I enjoyed writing them – but with a minimum of one per month (this increases depending on the number of festivals you are covering).

Now, within the space of a year, I have been asked to become the editor of the website and lead a new team in the running of the website for the next year. It is a great privilege and although unpaid, it will more than make up for that in festival tickets, experience and on my CV.

I couldn’t believe it when I was asked, I never expected to be considered for the editor or deputy editor’s role, but I am absolutely thrilled to pieces. I can’t believe what luck this is and how incredibly good it will look on my CV to future employers.

Plus it will offer me a new range of experience in entertainment writing and a chance to work as an editor, so I will see both the editing and reporting side of journalism.

I’m so pleased to finally be able to share this news and I hope that my followers will also become avid readers of the site and my work. If any of you writers are interested in contributing to the website, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will see what work we have available for you.

Part 1: A busy summer touring round as many festivals as possible – Wyndstock and Hideout Festival

Now that the summer is clearly drawing to a close, I’ve spent the last week huddled under an umbrella with soggy feet in my sad-looking ballet pumps, shivering despite wearing several layers and the token pashmina has come out of storage. I find myself reminiscing and feeling pretty happy with the way I spent my summer, after a short holiday in Croatia for a music festival, forgoing my usual two-week break abroad, I spent the rest of the summer touring around music festivals across the UK and for once getting to make the most of the beautiful, if late, summer we have had in the UK.

After discovering music festivals last year when I went to Manchester’s Parklife Weekender with my university friends, they ignited something in me that although already aware of, had never really unleashed before now. My love of music, dancing and meeting all types of new people from across the country was perfectly suited to the lifestyle and I had no choice but to further indulge when I went along to Glade Festival and Zoo Project Festival – all attracting very different crowds, from the chavvier types to the laid back hippies, I had a fantastic time at all and quickly decided that 2013 would be my festival summer.

Thankfully, my friends, family and jobs all helped to make this happen and despite going to five festivals this summer, I actually only paid for one set of tickets – top blagger, I know.

It all started at Wyndstock, a new addition to the scene which is marketed as the anti-festival. Set up by Victor Wynd as a party for his friends and like-minded individuals to enjoy a Midsummer Ball in the beautiful setting of Houghton Hall, in my home town, the event is for the more upmarket festival-goer. There was dancing, feasting, fireworks, literature talks, petting of prize bulls, a “fox hunt”, falconry, puppet theatre, lawn games, tours of the stately home, jazz, storytelling and stargazing amongst many more amazing activities. My favourite was the swing-dancing lessons and competition, which my boyfriend won and was very proud about. I love anything vintage-inspired and Gatsby-esque and this was an amazing opportunity to get very glammed up and go to a banquet of lobster and venison before partying the night away with some amazing people.

Before the hunt, meeting the horses and hounds..

Glammed up for the banquet and a night of dancing..

Meeting the host for the evening, Victor Wynd himself…

Our swing-dancing teachers shared dinner with us..

Mark winning the swing-dancing competition..

All in all, a very fun festival with amazing benefits such as being a small and intimate affair, and very posh toilets and showers!

Then we boarded a plane to the Island of Pag in Croatia for Hideout Festival which was very much a festival for the beautiful people – everyone had amazing bodies and the perfect tan. But I wasn’t bothered about all of that, we had a team of friends with us and more meeting us out there for one thing only – to dance until the sun came up every day. 

There were a lot of amazing DJs coming along to play the festival and I was very excited to see a whole range of them including Julio Bashmore, Chase and Status, Skream and Benga, David Rodigan, Rudimental, Seth Troxler, Andy C, Pendulum, Redlight, B-Traits and many, many more… Here are some of my snaps:

Sunset on the first day in Croatia.. such a beautiful country!

Packed out stages…

The King’s Lynn crew ready to rave until dawn..

David Rodigan – one of my favourite sets of the whole week!

Raving is even more fun when you do it with some of your best friends…

Chase and Status were pretty intense…

Boat party with Midland, MK and Julio Bashmore playing… so nice to get away from the festival for a short time..

And sadly, ending with Rudimental, who only gave a rubbish DJ set rather than a full show – such a disappointment!

I wrote about my experiences at Hideout Festival in a preview and review for This Festival Feeling in exchange for press tickets.

Check out my next posts for the rest of my experiences…

Networking: Making new friends at the #EABloggerParty

On Friday night I headed to the beautiful city of Norwich in the rain with two photographer friends and a fellow blogger to the first East Anglia Bloggers Party, organised by the fabulous and lovely Gemma Seager – the woman behind Retrochick.

(From left, Mike Chivers of Rebel Heart Photography, myself, Victoria Arndt of Faerie Wishes and Emily Nichols, another photographer)

Gemma had organised the cocktail party as a chance for bloggers and creative types to meet in person instead of just online and it was a great way of developing a community between Norfolk writers.

Here I am hobnobbing with some of the fabulous writers I met at the party (pics courtesy of Rebel Heart Photography) over some gorgeous 241 cocktails – my favourite was the Freak Friday, although I rather enjoyed a raspberry Bellini as well!

 

It was a really lovely party, Gemma had gone to so much effort in organising goody bags, a raffle and tights competition, and I meet some lovely women. It was refreshing to go into a room of women with such a wonderful atmosphere, everyone just wanted to make friends and hear about your work. Talking about what I do also made me realise the value of all my work by seeing it through other people’s eyes. It is very easy to forget or underestimate yourself when you don’t take a step back to put all your work into perspective.

It was also fantastic to finally meet the woman behind Retro Chick – one of my favourite blogs and Gemma is such an inspiration for turning her passion for writing and all things vintage into a career – when she couldn’t find the job she wanted, she created it.

I’m really looking forward to the next gathering and keeping in contact with the bloggers I met.

For the tights competition, we had to choose a pair to take home and wear, then getting a picture of ourselves and posting them on our blogs to stand a chance of winning a hamper. Here’s my offering – and I love the tights I ended up with – gorgeous lace print!

The tights are by Pamela Mann – http://www.tightsplease.co.uk/brands/pamela-mann/

Networking: I’m off to a party this weekend

Have been invited to this event on Friday and I’m really looking forward to it. Am car-sharing with a group of fellow-Lynners who are a mixture of bloggers, photographers and event organisers so it’s a good group made up of talented individuals. I’m excited to meet the organiser of the event, a fellow blogger who calls herself Retro Chick, and anyone else who might be going along. I had better choose a fabulous outfit to wear and use the opportunity to meet as many people as possible! Will blog all about it when I am home.

A clean page and a fresh start

Hello, and welcome to my new project.

My name is Lucy, and this is what I look like…

I’m 23 years old and come from King’s Lynn, in Norfolk, where I am living after completing my degree. I work as a trainee reporter at the local paper (read more about this in my About section) and this blog will serve as both a log for the work I do, a diary for my training to help me monitor my progress. And of course, as a lifestyle blog and diary for the many fun things that I do such as going to festivals and gigs, theatre, restaurants and all the other wonderful things there are to do in Norfolk and beyond.

I don’t want to pin down the just one thing that this blog will focus on because that would be boring, I prefer to write about everything that happens to me, my friends and family as it happens.

I hope that you will enjoy reading and following my blog, if you would like to see some of my entertainment and newswriting for The Lynn News, visit the Journalism page or for my festival reviews and articles, visit the Festivals page.