THE site of this year’s Green Man Festival is already filling up with thousands of festival-goers, who have been taking advantage of the organisers’ ’settlement’ ticket offer.
As many as 3,000 revellers were expected to arrive at the site early ahead of this weekend’s rave-up, which sees stars like two-time Mercury Prize winner PJ Harvey taking to one of the stages during the three-night fest.
The ’settlement’ offer allows early birds to pitch their tents at the Glan Usk estate venue in the weekdays leading up to the festival proper.
It enables them to take advantage of the festival venue’s facilities before the full-scale music festival gets going.
Some trade stands are already in place and fun activities have been put on for families with young children.
However, according to the festival’s owner Fiona Stewart, the aim is to encourage those arriving early to get out and enjoy the area’s tourist venues and spend money, boosting the local economy.
"It’s our way of paying back the local community, getting people who come to the Green Man to visit the surrounding countryside and tourist attractions.
"I don’t think that people realise that these few days before the festival add a huge amount to the local economy.
"In addition to the 3,000 who’ll be coming before the festival, there are about 1,500 staff on site - this means we’re adding about 4,500 to the local population even before the crowds of 15,000 we’re expecting for the event itself."
She said the festival organisers had deliberately avoided having too many on-site attractions because it would stop the early arrivals exploring nearby venues.
"Towns like Crickhowell and Abergavenny are lovely to visit and the Brecon Beacons are beautiful. We want people to get off the site and visit these places, so we’ve not added too many competing events during the week. The settlement tickets are a way for people coming from a long way turn their festival trip into a full week’s holiday in this lovely part of Wales."
All tickets for the the Green Man Festival have been sold.