Meet the team
"Committed to the cause of supporting live events"
John Goldberg
Email - john@festbuddies.co.uk
John was born and grew up in Camberwell, South London and now lives in Kent. John discovered an interest in music at an early age asking his parents to buy him vinyl records at the age of eight.
Early music influences were Punk, New Wave and Ska bands, particularly artists such as Elvis Costello, XTC, The Undertones, Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants, The Beat, Madness and The Specials. John’s first concert was at Wembley Arena in 1986 seeing Level 42. Work wise John has always had a interest in photography and film working as a manager of a photographic shop in Central London.
John started off volunteering in 2005 at festivals and events including Glastonbury, Reading Festival, Latitude, Boomtown Fair, Hi:Fi (South), Hyde Park Calling, Port Eliot Festival, Proms in the Park and BST Hyde Park and built up an extensive knowledge working in managerial roles including team leader, team supervisor, artist liaison and stage management.
John met Mike volunteering at a festival and discovered a shared interest in music and a a great friendship grew. Fest Buddies was created following volunteer provision at OnBlackheath festival.
John co owns Fest Buddies with Mike. Fest Buddies are a large group of trustworthy, reliable and committed music loving people who support live events through voluntary work.
Mike Juniper
Email - mike@festbuddies.co.uk
Mike lives in Bexleyheath Kent with his wife Sally, he has three grown up children, two cats, and a camper van called "Maisy".
Mike has always loved music especially live music, his first live gig of note was seeing Depeche Mode live in 1982 at Flicks nightclub in Dartford (best we dont mention Darts at Croydon). Music especially seeing bands live has always featured very high up in his life.
Mikes first festival was not until 2013 when he went to FIB Benicassim in Spain. Seeing bands such as Beady Eye, Artic Monkeys, The Killers, Primal Scream, Kaiser Chiefs, Miles Kane and Jake Bugg. Festivals introduced him to new acts he may not have considered previously such as The Kooks, The Vaccines and Kasabian to name a few. His love affair with festivals had taken over from just live events. Favourite bands still include The Who, Blur plus a continued interest in Ska and Reggae
Mike is a Sales and Marketing professional previously working for P Wilkinson Containers, a family run business and factory making tins and supplying containers to industry. Prior to that Mike worked in Royal Mail Group (FTSE 100 company) for 35 years Working for Post Office Limited, Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail in such positions as Head of International Sales in Royal Mail International, International Sales Specialist in Parcelforce Worldwide and then Sales Development Manager in Royal Mail.
Mike has excellent interpersonal skills, is customer focused, delivers work of high quality, with an attention to detail. For more details check Mike out on Linked In
How we work
Fest Buddies reinvest any profit (after expenses and salaries) back into the business to deliver long term growth and ensure a sustainable future. Our volunteers are at the heart of every decision made, we work with Festival owners and promoters to ensure they have an amazing and safe experience and feel valued.