Tributes paid to Sid, 'King of the Hippies' - Glastonbury Festival legend
"KING of the Hippies" Sid Rawle has died.
The 64-year-old festival organiser, from Hillersland, collapsed suddenly at the Rainbow Camp in Rodley on Tuesday afternoon.
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King of the hippies: Sid Rawle
Sid was one of the most recognisable faces of the 'Summer of Love' in 1967 and the new age movement of the 1970s.
A former resident of 'Beatle Island', John Lennon and Yoko Ono's retreat off the coast of Ireland, Sid was a leading figure in the free festival scene.
He organised events around the country as well as the Forest Fayre and the Rainbow 2000 Camps near Westbury-on-Severn.
District councillor Norman Stephens (Ind, Newnham and Westbury) had known Sid since he moved to the Forest around 20 years ago.
He said: "Although Sid chose an alternative lifestyle he was also a gentleman and a man of peace.
"He had run the Rainbow camps, first at Elton and then at Rodley for a number of years and the locals had taken the festivals to their heart. There was never any problems.
"I last spoke to Sid on Friday and his death is a real shock. My thoughts are with his family."
Sid was the only person to make a profit at the first Glastonbury Festival in 1971 cooking up a huge cauldron of fruit and veg discarded from Bristol Market.
The committed campaigner, was also a key part of the free festivals at Windsor Great Park in the early 1970s and was arrested for trying to promote a festival there in 1975.
He founded the Tipi Valley hippy community in West Wales in 1976 and was perhaps best-known for creating the infamous new age travelling group the Peace Convoy. He left shortly after the Battle of the Beanfield in 1985 – the largest mass civil arrest in English history – when police prevented the convoy from setting up at the 11th Stonehenge Free Festival.
After a period with the Green Party Sid returned to setting up festivals including the Rainbow 2000 series of events.
Sid's camps were inspired by the 'Vision of Albion' which he described as: "A vision of one world united in love, a vision of unity in diversity."
In 1997, the Halifax Building Society used a picture of Sid without his permission in an advertising campaign.
The image used the slogan 'Be Part Of Something Big, Man' in a speech bubble above Sid's head.
Sid tried to sue the company but was unsuccessful.
Sid died as he was packing up this year's Rainbow 2000 Camp.
Police confirmed their were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Sid's death.
5 Comments
by gemma, coleford
Thursday, September 02 2010, 10:49PM
“will miss you and so will kids-next time am in kaplans will raise my cup of tea to you, speed well my friend on your final journey”
by Phil, Churchdown
Thursday, September 02 2010, 7:24PM
“Albion is a shade less bright! Journey Well Sid, a modern day legend,
Hael, and Farewell!”
by Hafren, ag Pumlumon
Thursday, September 02 2010, 2:20PM
“Rest easy with me.”
by Vanessa, Churchdown
Thursday, September 02 2010, 1:00PM
“This year I attended my 7th Druid Camp (facilitated by the Rainbow 2000 crew at the Westbury on Severn site) ~ the Rainbow Camps offer the opportunity to step away from the demands and confines of everyday life, and give you the space to just be yourself ~ no pressure, no routine & no judgement ~ a rare thing in today's world! Camps just won't be the same without Sid, he was a real hero of our age for people who choose to live outside the "norm". Journey well Sid, you'll be sadly missed by many!”
by DG, Cheltenham
Thursday, September 02 2010, 11:29AM
“Sad news.
I knew Sid in the Notting Hill days before the first Glastonbury and the subsequent Tipi Valley Commune.
RIP.”