Levelling the Field
You probably already know the Rum Shack is THE place to party til sunrise. What you may not know (or see) is that we are more than music. Leaders are born and future stars shine – backstage AND on stage.
Levelling The Field reimagines Glastonbury Festival as a beacon of change in the festival industry, shining a spotlight on d/Deaf and Disabled backstage talent. Where the stage managers are d/Deaf, our artists use wheelchairs, and marginalised communities are given the biggest voice.
Why? Because an accessible festival means a better, more inclusive festival… for every one of us.
Powered by The Common & Lyrix Organix, and hosted at the iconic Rum Shack, Levelling The Field (LTF) is the second edition of our groundbreaking festival trainee programme and roster database for the d/Deaf and Disabled community facing barriers to their backstage career in festivals.
Levelling The Field offers paid career development opportunities, live festival experience (stage management, artist liaison, event production), wrap-around pastoral care, 1:1 mentoring, BSL training and much more – to four d/Deaf and Disabled trainees.
By centring the voice of d/Deaf and Disabled backstage talent throughout, LTF also aims to boldly shine a mirror back on Glastonbury Festival with the goal of levelling up accessibility across the festival, and the sector as a whole.
It is accompanied by a series of talks and micro-initiatives, including a Temple Uprising talk on Friday afternoon in The Common.
In addition, in 2025 the programme expands to Glastonbury Festival’s iconic West Holts stage with a research partnership exploring accessibility and festival production, alongside career development opportunities for alumni from Levelling The Field 2024.
LTF is delivered by youth development experts Lyrix Organix, hosted by The Common Glastonbury – based at the venue Rum Shack. This round is funded and supported by Glastonbury Festival’s EDI programme. We have a dedicated team of festival producers, youth workers, mental health experts and mentors at The Common who support the delivery of Levelling The Field.
*applications are now closed for Glastonbury 2025 but follow @lyrixorganix for our regular call outs to new editions of Levelling The Field.