Wallsend artist "overwhelmed and buzzing" to be part of Glastonbury lineup for the first time

A Wallsend performer and entertainer has been announced as part of the lineup for the world famous Glastonbury Festival - and it will be her first time as such a well known event.

“I’ve never even been to a big festival, never mind Glastonbury!” explains Ellerose The Unicorn, who will be making appearances at the Worthy Farm event at the end of June.

“The biggest festival I’ve done is Medicine Festival which isn’t very big, it’s a bit hippie, people walking around naked, that sort of stuff” she continues. “So I don’t know what normal festivals are like with their single use cutlery!”

Ellerose was a teacher in London before the Coronavirus pandemic, which she took as an opportunity to change her life.

“I came back in Lockdown and live back in Wallsend now.

“I was a teacher and children’s entertainer, then lockdown happened and that’s when I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, ADHD and autism.

Then I had a spiritual awakening” she explains. “Went on this retreat, did the works, the full cliched experience. Being agnostic one night, went to bed not really believing in that stuff then waking up and being like ‘oh my god!’ so now I’m on this weird witchy path.”

And now, having found a new chapter of her life, Ellerose is heading to one of the world’s largest festivals. “It’s going to be nice to get back into the musical thea thing but I think the Healing Fields is kind of where my current crew is!”

“Now I’m coming out of my shell, take two of adulting and doing my own thing.

“I tried to be a cookie cutter performer keeping to what other people wanted and I realised that I actually have to be me!”

Thanks to work which is now available on streaming services such as Spotify and recommendation from artists at previous festivals, the Tyneside native was able to get slots at Glastonbury.

She will be performing in the Theatre and Circus Fields on the Friday and Sunday of the festival with her main goal to be able to thrive in the collaborative and friendly realm of Glastonbury away from the big stages.

“I had no idea when I was applying for Galstonbury that it was such a big thing!

I suddenly felt really comfortable when thinking about the Theatre and Circus area and thinking ‘this is me’

“I didn’t realise Glastonbury was something I could even do yet!

“The main thing i want to do is make friends and connections. This year I’m going to scout out the festival to see where I may be able to perform next year.

“I’m kind of just overwhelmed and buzzing that I was picked. I’m not with the hippies down there yet, I’m not in the crew.”

But her hopes for the future aren’t restricted to the larger events in the UK: “I’d like to do mreo self help cabaret gigs, mental health-wise, that is what I offered to Glastonbury too.

“That’s something I’d like to still do, go to schools and universities and talk with them about how the brain works and how emotions work and that sort of thing.

Anyone lucky enough to be heading to Glastonbury Festival this year can catch Ellerose in the Theatre and Circus Fields in the early afternoon of Friday and Saturday. This is to the east of the site behind the West Holts stage and near the famous Carhenge.

Over on the Pyramid Stage, this year’s festival will see headline sets from Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Sza.