A Day in the Festival Life of a Green Room and Venue Manager

Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes at The Bath Festival?  While the festival would have been happening, we’re sharing a series of articles from our festival team and partners to give you some insight into what goes on to make the festival happen! Below is a day in festival life from Green Room and Venue Manager, Miranda Matthews. If you are able to help the festival continue by donating please click here.

The Green Room, based at the Assembly Rooms, is the beating heart of the Festival during its 10 day run. It’s where our authors and musicians gather before their events to prepare, have a bit of quiet time, socialise and be fed and watered – the trick is identifying which they want! My job as Green Room and Venue Manager, along with a number of dedicated volunteers, is to make sure every contributor is looked after and has an enjoyable time from the minute they arrive in Bath until we put them in a taxi back to the train station.

I work closely with the brilliant team at the Assembly Rooms. Nothing is ever too much trouble and they approach our various requests with good humour and efficiency – banana for Nicholas Parsons, check, remove the carpet from the Ballroom to help with acoustics, check, take delivery of a priceless piano, check, toasted cheese sandwich for Pam Ayres, check.

Above image: Miranda taking a photo in the Green Room

The Bath Festivals team works hard to make sure the Green Room is as comfortable and welcoming as it can be with squashy sofas, cushions, plants and, of course, bookshelves. Even the most established authors are delighted to see their books out on display.

Above image: The Green Room during set up.

Days are long but varied and interesting when the Festival is in full swing. I liaise with the programmers, the front of house, volunteers and event managers to ensure they all have the information they need in order for things to run smoothly. I’ve had to calm down an author who found himself on a train to Bristol by mistake (he arrived with seconds to spare), organise lunch for Prue Leith, introduce Marian Keyes to Lisa McGee, the writer of Derry Girls and suggest an Italian restaurant for Jeffrey Archer.

Above image: Marian Keys and Lisa McGee in the Green Room (you can just see Miranda in the background)

The best bit is when authors tell you they love coming to the Bath Festival because it’s so friendly and they feel really looked after. It’s then you know you’ve done a good job!

Miranda Matthews, Green Room and Venue Manager

We need you help so we can continue to bring the best of music and books to Bath through The Bath Festival and Bath Children’s Literature Festival, as well as our all year-round creative learning outreach programme. Please donate to our #BackBathFestivals crowdfunder campaign.