Radio Avalon

Radio Avalon was a pirate radio station set up at the Glastonbury Festival near Glastonbury, England in 1983. It later became a legally recognised station.

The idea of launching a radio station at the Glastonbury Festival was coined at the festival in 1982 by Lawrie Hallett and Norman McLeod. Radio Avalon was launched the next year (1983) operating from a tent and a red VW camper van. Norman McLeod and Lawrie Hallett were joined by Alan Brown, Paul Garner and others. The crew in these early years came from Wireless Workshop in Brighton, Phoenix Communications in London and Sheffield Peace Radio. The transmission equipment used was built by the members and much of the outboard equipment came from the founders' domestic hi-fi, reflecting the DIY ethic that characterised much of the Radio Avalon approach for several years. At this time, the station's programme was a very free format, with one show flowing into another depending on which crew member was available and who wanted to do a show. For several years, these pioneering broadcasts came from a tent near to Goose Hall and the signal very occasionally made it as far as Glastonbury town, a distance of 5 miles away. The presenters from midnight to daybreak were known as "The Dead Heads"—they played mainly Grateful Dead records mixed with other late night tracks. By the mid-1980s the team was joined by a number of volunteers from Ireland and in particular from Bray Local Broadcasting. A regular feature of these early broadcasts were various outside broadcasts from backstage and or from the top of Glastonbury Tor, looking down across the festival site just visible several miles away.

Radio Avalon remained a pirate radio station for the first 7 years of its life. It was always the aim of its members that it would become a legal broadcaster and following changes to government legislation in 1988 and again in 1991, Radio Avalon applied for and was awarded a Restricted Service Licence (RSL).

By 1992, the station had become a legal and recognised RSL station. The station had a loose format, with named presenters doing regular shows. Over the years, many guest presenters have huddled inside the Radio Avalon cabin, situated near the farmhouse at the top of Big Ground; such names include BBC Radio 2's Janice Long, Radiohead and a programme in 1995 hosted by John Peel. After a classic three night tenure from The Orb in 1992, the night-time sessions were steered in a more dance and ambient orientated direction.

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