W hen “slow news” website Tortoise Media co-hosted the inaugural Kite Festival, a three-day celebration of “ideas and music” at Kirtlington Park estate in Oxfordshire, the start-up hired a nearby manor house for bosses and guests to rest up overnight. In the event, James Harding, the founder and editor, opted to slum it. Sort of.
At the 11th hour, he decided to stay in one of the festival’s luxury glamping tents. “James had never been to a festival before,” sighs one ex-colleague, who recalls it being a faff for staff to organise a last-minute tent for the boss. “It blew his mind.
Real-world things like festivals and camping are a novelty.” To critics, the short tale of the 2022 Kite Festival, retold by three former employees,.