The Co-op have confirmed which festivals will feature one of their huge pop-up food stores this summer.
The onsite Co-ops have become a firm favourite of festival-goers since they first appeared back in 2018. The stores stock a massive range of food, drink and festival essentials, much bigger than what was previously available in the campsites, and typically for a much more affordable price – and we normally find a vast selection of meal deals too!
TheFestivals now has the official list of which festivals they’ll be at this summer:
- Download
- Isle of Wight
- Glastonbury
- Latitude
- Kendal Calling
- Belladrum
- Creamfields North
- Leeds
- Reading
A spokesperson for the Co-op told us: “We are excited to be back in the fields again for a full season of festivals!”
We’ve also had confirmation which stores will and won’t be selling alcohol alongside their range of food and essentials – and the good news is, it’s most of them. While we have no information on this year’s prices, we do know that back at Download Festival 2018, the Co-op’s alcohol was priced well below the festival’s bars at around £7 for a 70cl bottle of Rosé (of course, at Download you weren’t supposed to take it from the campsites into the arena!)
However, contractual obligations determine which festivals they can sell alcohol at, and just like in 2019, the Co-op won’t be selling alcohol at Glastonbury, Creamfields North or Belladrum – though a wide range of soft drinks, mixers and ice will still be available at these events.
The Co-op will be selling alcohol at all of the other festivals listed above – that means Download, Isle of Wight, Latitude, Kendal Calling, Leeds and Reading.
Co-op stores first appeared at festivals in 2018, when their 6,000 square foot (massive) pop-up stores came to the campsites of Download, Latitude, Leeds and Reading. For the first time, a wide range of food, water, beer, wine, toiletries, medicines and other essentials were available onsite. This means attendees can travel lighter, making it easier to use public transport or at least reducing the number of trips back and forth from the car park – and it means there’s no longer any reason to worry about forgetting your sun cream or your cereal bars!
In 2018, the Co-op brought some of the UK’s first reverse plastic vending machines to festivals last summer, allowing fans to claim a refund credit for each plastic bottle returned for recycling. They said customers were often found partying in the aisles at 2 am with the in-store DJ.
In March 2019, it was revealed the Co-op would be coming to Glastonbury that summer. The huge store was located on the edge of Oxylers campsite, near the Other Stage, was open from 7 am to 3 am, and was constantly restocked throughout the festival.
The Co-op said its partnership with Glastonbury Festival was “founded in a shared ethos of co-operation, community support, ethical values and campaigning to make meaningful change” and they also committed to open a permanent village shop in nearby Pilton.
At the time, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis said: “When I was a small boy there were three shops in this village. My earliest memories of going to the shop were to buy one penny packets of sherbet! Since then, one by one, the shops have closed and for several years we’ve had no shops at all.
“But now, thankfully we’ve managed to persuade the Co-op people to make a pledge and commit to trying to provide our marvellous village with a model village shop. We’re SO lucky and my enthusiasm is shared right across the village!”
Just over a year later in July 2020, the Somerset County Gazette reported Michael Eavis had opened Pilton’s new permanent Co-op store, which runs entirely on renewable energy. He said: “It’s such a terrific thing to get these two most important parts of village life back again.
“Thanks so much for all of those who put in the spadework to make this happen bang in the middle of this wonderful village of ours.”
“We managed to resurrect the Post Office in the building and, thanks to the Co-op, it will remain there for the good of the village for years to come.”
Pilton had been without a Post Office since 2011 until the new Co-op store was opened following the partnership with Glastonbury Festival.
In February 2021, Worthy Farm Reserve Cheddar, made using milk from the dairy herd that live on Glastonbury’s site, was launched. It remains exclusively available at Co-op stores and buying some is one way you could win tickets to Glastonbury 2022.
Image credits:
Co-op / TheFestivals
Disclosures: TheFestivals is funded through advertising and sometimes earns a commission on purchases made through links on this website, including in this article: None