> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.ilesanglo-normandes.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # VEF 50: "No corporate sponsorship, just passionate people" – the enduring DIY spirit of Earth Fair - URL: https://www.ilesanglo-normandes.com/vef-50-no-corporate-sponsorship-just-passionate-people-the-enduring-diy-spirit-of-earth-fair/ - Published: 2026-08-27T10:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-27T11:33:31.000Z - Description: "It became really apparent to me that you can't just be passive." - Author: îles - Tags: VEF 50 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/2026/08/CNkTpQW0.jpg) ## Born in Guernsey the same year as the Earth Fair, multidisciplinary artist ****Andy Smith** reflects on a shared fiftieth – hanging out with Massive Attack and his journey from passivity to action ### Stuff subconsciously soaked in. My first Earth Fair, I would have been probably 13 or 14, so that was 1989 or '90\. I would have cycled there from Torteval, a big commitment! There was still only one stage inside the castle then. I remember a band playing a cover of Led Zeppelin. I think stuff subconsciously soaked in; all the banners, Free Tibet, Save the Whales, my brother was a member of Greenpeace, so I was just slowly becoming more politically aware. ### Give people a voice. Martin Purvis was an amazing tutor. He knew I was interested in music, and he had this amazing way of teaching. He wouldn't preach about it, he would just push music in my general direction, turn me onto all this weird, Seventies jazz. Being a teenager in the late nineties, with hip-hop and bands at that time – Public Enemy, De la Soul and Jungle Brothers – they were pushing a strong political agenda. I learned how politics and music and art are all intertwined, and how they're a great way to give people a voice. After uni, I ended up moving back to Guernsey. I was working in the Art School and started to pull together the art collective we had. I started organising a climate awareness exhibition, which I never delivered. I wish I had, a lot of the people I was contacting went on to become absolutely massive, the whole street art scene boomed. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/2026/08/47wvjnqd.jpg) ©Andy Smith ### Inter-island connections. In 2006, I joined the Vale Earth Fair Committee. We did the visual identity for two years in a row, a lot of painting and stuff. In 2007 we brought over a load of people from Jersey to paint, which began a fruitful friendship. We got invited to paint at Jersey Live, and we forged some inter-island connections. Often, in Guernsey, if you were into niche stuff you could feel isolated. The job Andre De Carteret ([DJ Oneofakind](https://www.facebook.com/theonlydjoneofakind/)) used to do, with bringing hip-hop artists to the island, really helped to elevate the local groups and bands. We used to go and watch Edith’s Head all the time. Being on the committee, you would end up in social situations hanging out with Errol, and we would end up in the pub having really interesting conversations about all kinds of stuff. It became really apparent to me that you can't just be passive in these situations. You can have an opinion and be like ‘Ah, climate change is terrible’, but unless you're doing something about it, you're essentially facilitating it. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/2026/08/QrkAWNoe.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/2026/08/V2_82uTh.jpg) Left: Andy Smith & Hugh Rose, an artist friend. Right: Errol Groves and Emma Smart, Andy Smith's wife ©Andy Smith ### All these crises are interlinked. You become so aware of the inequalities across the board, and as soon as you start making those connections for yourself, you realise that actually all these crises are interlinked and there is one pretty evil root of it all, which is the hoarding of wealth under capitalism. ### It was interesting to see how many of my Guernsey friends bought into the Daily Mail propaganda: ‘Oh, he's a hypocrite.’ When we were doing climate actions, my wife Emma and I ended up having negative coverage in the Daily Mail. They'd done loads of digging up on us and were like, ‘Oh, look at these hypocrites, they've driven around the world in a big diesel-guzzling 4X4.' It was interesting to see how many of my friends bought into that propaganda. I've always been a person who thinks it's important to have dialogue and a discussion, right? I invited quite a few friends to open up a dialogue and no one was open to that conversation. I found that difficult because it kind of exemplified the problem with the world. It demonstrates how people aren't open to their own belief systems or lifestyles being challenged because, deep down people know they can't continue what they're doing – going on holiday halfway around the world, flying everywhere and continuing the extravagant lifestyles. But ultimately, the people who are operating this system are a very small minority, right at the very top. What was interesting was when I got arrested for Palestine activism, a lot of those same people were actually vocally supportive. I had quite a lot of messages, "What you're doing is amazing," which we never had when we were protesting climate. It was interesting to see how that had changed. ### You occasionally end up in these situations with people who are ludicrously famous We were in the organising circles of Extinction Rebellion. As part of that, planning all the national actions, you end up having weird access to lots of different people, meetings with loads of celebrities and musicians, so you occasionally end up in these really weird situations with people who are ludicrously famous who you really admire. ### One of the celebrities the day I got arrested for Palestine was Rob from Massive Attack My wife, Emma, was working as press liaison for [Defend our Juries](https://defendourjuries.net/?ref=ilesanglo-normandes.com). One of the celebrities around that day was Rob from Massive Attack, so I ended up speaking to him and it turned out we have a lot of mutual friends, weirdly. He was heavily involved in the art scene in Bristol, painting graffiti in the 80s and 90s. Inkie, who had exhibited in our Guernsey gallery, is good friends with Rob. It was Inkie who set up the first big graffiti exhibition in Bristol with Banksy, Rob knows Banksy, so all those guys are all connected. ### Luckily Massive Attack haven't been targeted in the same way as Bob Vylan were. On that day he was contemplating getting arrested but the implications for him are slightly harder because it puts a dampener on touring. He also finds it equally frustrating more celebrities aren't using their platform to stand up and speak out. And when people do, it’s interesting how the media just slowly tries to destroy them. Luckily Massive Attack haven't been targeted in the same way as Bob Vylan were - there’s an Earth Fair connection there - but certainly, he's been incredibly outspoken and I wish more musicians were. Only this week (July) he was arrested in Singapore just for holding a flag on stage. > when people speak out, it’s interesting how the media just slowly tries to destroy them. ### We went there on that day in August to get arrested I was arrested on August 2025 at a Defend Our Juries protest in Parliament Square, along with 850 other people. At least 1000 people were there that day, all holding signs for Palestine Action, which had been proscribed a terrorist organisation by the government. It wasn’t my first experience of arrest, I’d been arrested a few times for climate related stuff, so I understand the protocol. The purpose of the protest was to get arrested to point out how ludicrous it was to get arrested just for holding a sign. It’s insane that the UK government continues to this day to take this stance and continues to this day to keep arresting people. I saw a report of someone this week who got arrested for clapping in support of someone from Palestine Action– they got arrested for clapping, which is just insane. For me it's obviously about the ongoing genocide in Gaza but also about the onslaught of authoritarianism in our own country. And how much foreign influence there is within our own political system, how far Israel's fingers run deep into our political system here and how much influence they actually have, that's one of the shocking things, which ultimately does impact everyone. You’re removing people’s protests rights, which are fundamental in having a healthy democracy. It's pretty terrifying. > The purpose of the protest was to get arrested to point out how ludicrous it was to get arrested just for holding a sign...You’re removing people’s protests rights, which are fundamental in having a healthy democracy. It's pretty terrifying. The arrest was quite weird, I was arrested late in the day, about half past four and the Met police had set up a processing centre at the back of Downing Street – where essentially they were just taking people, processing their details and then pushing them back out on police bail. I disagreed with how they were doing that. They had turned it into an administrative task. I argued, 'well if you’re arresting me on such a serious terrorist charge, then you can deal with me like a serious terrorist. Why would you take me even closer to Downing Street than I already was?' I refused to give any of my details, refused to fill out any forms; as a result they ended up taking me to a custody suite in South London, down in Croydon, where they held me in a cell, took my details there. They can hold you for up to 24 hours but it’s a busy custody suite down there and they needed the space so I think within maybe three or four hours I was out again. So they didn't hold me particularly long. > I argued 'well if you’re arresting me on such a serious terrorist charge, then you can deal with me like a serious terrorist. Why would you take me even closer to Downing Street than I already was?' ### Since then I have been charged under the Terrorist Act. Since then I've been charged under Section 12 or 13 of the Terrorist Act. I’ve been to court to plead 'not guilty.' But currently all those cases are on hold. Ironically I was mean to be in court last week and they've bumped that now and they’re pulling together some weird court legal process where they're trying deal with everyone in one go, after judicial review. So there's still a chance it might get thrown out. But that's looking slimmer and slimmer, to be fair, as time goes on. ### One thing that's apparent in all this is this global shift towards totalitarianism One thing that's apparent in all of this is this kind of global shift towards totalitarianism, to divide and conquer essentially, right? And the war machine, the war mongering is part of that. War is vile and offensive, but how it impacts on the climate, the amount of CO2 pushed out by the war machine in general, then the knock-on effects, absolutely ravaging land, is insane. And most wars being driven by oil, certainly in my lifetime. Everything that's happening at the moment is driven by all the oil that's in the Middle East. That's driving climate, driving war, and the amount of people displaced by that, impacted by that, you've got these giant nations just robbing other nations of all their resources. It's just disgusting. It's vile. > War is vile and offensive, but how it impacts on the climate, the amount of CO2 pushed out by the war machine in general, then the knock-on effects, absolutely ravaging land, is just insane ### One thing I was inspired by, which Errol is to blame for, is the DIY approach of the Earth Fair I really loved the DIY approach of the Earth Fair, which I believe Errol is to blame for, to be fair, the fact it didn’t have corporate sponsorship, just really passionate people who wanted to do something and they just got on and did it. I’ve always found that really inspiring; it’s one of the reasons we set up the gallery, the little art collective we had; because it didn’t exist and no-one else was going to do it for us. So if you want something, just get on and do it, crack on with it, see how it turns out. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/2026/08/8-25th-August-2017-1-2.jpg) ©Vale Earth Fair ### It didn’t have glitz and shine some of the bigger events had. A lot of our own DIY approach came from the Earth Fair, it always felt, especially in the early days, just a group of people pulling it together - it didn’t have a lot of glitz and shine that maybe some of the other bigger events had. And for me that’s what’s amazing about the Earth fair and still to this day, the ethos that the fair stands for. It’s really unique in that regard, that it hasn’t succumbed to corporate sponsorship and is still raising money for amazing causes. > For me that’s what’s amazing about the Earth fair and still to this day, the ethos that the fair stands for. It’s really unique in that regard, that it hasn’t succumbed to corporate sponsorship and is still raising money for amazing causes. *This interview has been compressed and edited.* --- [About​I produce artwork and music under the name ‘Smithsonian Rösterino’ or ‘R ö st’ for short; for me a pseudonym offers another layer to the complexity of my work; it also distinguishes me…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/icon/favicon-be000799-bd8a-4ac1-94dd-94c2ab2324f5.ico)Smithsonian Rosterino![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d1/c7/d1c79ccb-3da4-4ed2-8fda-9b60db236f61/content/images/thumbnail/i-wish-i-had-a-wooden-heart_1-26a84b34-7e59-413f-bb8e-9a9f1c7eb3d7.jpg)](https://www.rost-collage.com/about.html?ref=ilesanglo-normandes.com) Andy Smith is a multi-disciplinary artist including mixed media collage, painting, assemblage, digital media and music, under the name [Smithsonian Rosterino.](https://www.rost-collage.com/about.html?ref=ilesanglo-normandes.com)