Wiltshire


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-2.jpg" alt="Shindig Festival " class="wp-image-36225" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-2.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-2-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-2-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Ever wondered how the clever people behind a festival pull it all together? Well, it’s safe to say there’s nothing<a href="https://shindigfestival.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> Shindig</a> co-founder Rebekah (Bex) Luther doesn’t know. This creative genius has spent her adult life working everywhere from Glastonbury to festivals abroad, and even found love with husband Jeff on the scene. In 2014 she and Jeff co-founded Shindig, which is set for a warm welcome when it comes to Wiltshire’s Charlton Park from May 22-25. And with a line-up that included Gilles Peterson, Ibibio Sound Machine and Asian Dub Foundation, it looks set to be big. In celebration, Muddy popped backstage with Bex to talk living out her creative fantasies, and averting décor disaster&#8230;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-talk-us-through-your-background"><strong>Talk us through your background&#8230;</strong></h2>



<p>I’ve worked in the festival industry since I was 18, and my husband Jeff and I co-founded Shindig in 2014. I run the creative build behind the festival, which encompasses everything from designing huge archways to the lighting, signs and the stage set-ups. It’s all about thinking out the box and creating something visually beautiful. People want to be transported out of reality when they go to a festival, they want to be somewhere magical.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-3.jpg" alt="Shindig Festival" class="wp-image-36226" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-3.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-3-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-3-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-3-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-must-be-a-huge-undertaking"><strong>It must be a huge undertaking&#8230;</strong></h2>



<p>We work with a team of 30 brilliant creatives, including set designer Danny Sweetland and Tobias Newbigin, an incredible traditional sign writer who paints everything by hand. We have lorry bodies stashed full of kit, including props, timber structures, bunting, hundreds of festival flags and canopies. Once the summer festivals are finished, we get to work fixing and, then from November it’s all about designing new stages, venue planning and ensuring my crew of 30 are prepped for when we go onsite the following year.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-best-thing-about-your-job"><strong>What’s the best thing about your job?</strong></h2>



<p>As a conceptual artist I can have crazy ideas, and I get to work with amazing people who turn those ideas into reality. We make everything from giant carnival lights to signs and archways that are foot high. Last year, we had a DJ playing from a booth that looked like a living room. It had windows that opened and closed, and a window box. We’ve even built the exterior of a pub.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-1.jpg" alt="Shindig Festival" class="wp-image-36224" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-1.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-1-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-talk-us-through-some-of-your-favourite-creations"><strong>Talk us through some of your favourite creations&#8230;</strong></h2>



<p>For the Nautilus stage, we essentially made an entire boat, complete with giant octopus legs and figureheads. Last year, we hung 40 mirror balls from the king poles in the Shimmy nightclub, and a giant 1metre ball over the DJ booth. We had two lit up cut outs of dancing ladies either side of the stage, and 350metres of tassel bunting in gold and silver. The whole effect looked gloriously shiny.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ever-had-any-near-disasters"><strong>Ever had any near disasters?</strong></h2>



<p>We once made a giant DJ mirror ball, which looked fantastic, but it involved attaching 480 mirrored tiles to a frame and they wouldn’t stick. We had to open the stage the next morning, and we were up all night trying to find a solution. We finally sorted it, but it was up to the wire. Problem solving is a big part of the job.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-4-1000x667.jpg" alt="Shindig Festival" class="wp-image-36227" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-4-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-4-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-Festival-4.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-theme-for-shindig-2025"><strong>What&#8217;s the theme for Shindig 2025</strong>?</h2>



<p>This year it’s ‘love is the answer,’ so you can expect peace, harmony and a lot of love-inspired signs. Our stages will be peaceful, playful and fun, with birds, temples and hundreds of hearts.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-you-feel-about-bringing-shindig-to-charlton-park"><strong>How do you feel about bringing Shindig to Charlton Park?</strong></h2>



<p>I’m really excited. Dillington Estate, our previous venue, was beautiful, but it’s great to experience a new place. <a href="https://charltonpark.estate/estate">Charlton Park</a> is also less hilly, which makes our job easier. We work from 7am until well into the evening and do around 35,000 steps a day, so it’ll be good to have a nice flat site.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="750" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-line-up-poster-750x1000.jpg" alt="Shindig Festival" class="wp-image-36223" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-line-up-poster-750x1000.jpg 750w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-line-up-poster-600x800.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-line-up-poster-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-line-up-poster-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wilts/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2025/04/Shindig-line-up-poster.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" /></figure>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-acts-are-you-most-excited-about-seeing"><strong>Which acts are you most excited about seeing?</strong></h2>



<p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/moonchildsanelly/?hl=en">Moonchild Sanelly</a> is my highlight, and I love <a href="https://ibibiosoundmachine.com/">Ibibio Sound Machine</a>. We also have <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tallulahrendall/?hl=en">Tallulah Rendall</a> coming to do her sound healing in the healing area. I also teach yoga and somatic movement, and I run the healing area as well as the creative build. </p>



<p class="has-text-align-left"><strong>Weekend tickets for Shindig Festival are on sale now, from £215. See <u><a href="https://shindigfestival.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a></u>  for more info. <br></strong></p>


Festival fever: Muddy meets Shindig co-founder Bex Luther

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