“Because it is alternative stuff, is rock and metal, many people in our group didn’t have a ton of friends in school and were marginalised,” Ben Willmott tells The Big Issue in this week’s magazine.
The 27-year-old from Worthing is one of three people who helps to run Camp Loner at Download Festival.
It’s a simple idea: if you’re travelling to the festival alone and have no one to help carry your beers or help push those tent pegs into the ground then Loner offers a community of like-minded pals to pitch your tent with.
The community started almost by accident in 2008 when one reveller from Jersey was let down by his pals and searched for others to join him at the festival campsite. He got together 35 to 40 people that year and that pales in comparison to the numbers involved with Camp Loner now.
With up to 1,000 people joining the community every year, organisers have even allotted Camp Loner its own spot on the campsite while Ben and his fellow ringleaders arrange community meet-ups to “keep the vibe” going throughout the year.
It’s a small part of the five-day metal extravaganza held each June at Donington Park in Leicestershire – but the impact it can have is enormous, according to Ben.
