SUMMER in Britain these days means festivals. In fact, it’s almost possible to spend most weekends listening to music in a town or city, browsing the stalls and – naturally – eyeing up pork baps that simply grunt the words ‘expanding waistlines’.

The festival phenomenon was born in the 1960s when rock bands, forever searching for bigger venues, realised that the open air was the biggest arena of all.

Since then, the great British festival has expanded to include all manner of events. And there is no better personification of this ideal than WorcesterLive’s great celebration of the season which starts today.

Showbiz supremo Chris Jaeger is bringing more than 540 events that will enliven the city for the rest of August. This year, Worcester also hosts the Three Choirs Festival that will incorporate the Fringe for the first week. Chris has always emphasised that this annual treat is neither a music nor an arts festival. It is series of partnerships between cross-sections of the community.

A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting at the Swan Theatre that sought to examine ways of increasing funding to the arts in Worcester. Despite sterling help from various sources – notably the city council – cash flow is always an issue.

And it was at that point of the proceedings that my mind drifted back to the formative years of the British festival and all those bands which rapidly discovered that this was the key to wealth and fame.

The big bucks would never have come their way had it not been for thousands of people paying top whack to lie in a field of mud for the privilege of viewing the new aristocracy.

Bearing in mind that these multimillionaires – some of whom are now allegedly tax dodgers – were elevated to their present status by festival returns, wouldn’t it be nice if they put a little back in to the system?

Real rock ‘n’ roll died years ago, as many of us know. Nevertheless, it’s high time some of these pensionable posturing freeloaders showed a bit of willing and acknowledged the people who made it possible for their careers to flourish in the first place.