HEIDELBERG UK PARTNERS WITH THE GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL FREE PRESS
5 MAY 2025
This year, HEIDELBERG UK partners with the Glastonbury Festival Free Press. The Glastonbury Free Press, the Festival newspaper, is printed in the Theatre & Circus fields, along with a series of posters with a different theme each year, that are sold during the course of the festival.
The newspaper is now in its twelfth year of production. Tens of thousands of copies are printed, by hand, over the course of the festival each year. These copies are distributed for free around the festival at different locations and times. It utilizes a vintage 1950s 7-ton HEIDELBERG Cylinder Press to prepare and print the four-page Festival newspaper.
The 70-year-old HEIDELBERG CYLINDER press, which is still in perfect running condition, stands testament to the long and storied history of HEIDELBERG in the printing industry. The fundamental advantage of a cylinder press is that the impression of paper on type only has to be delivered in a small strip — the point where the cylinder touches paper and type. Other presses have to get an impression across the whole area of the type at once. This means cylinder presses can use a greater force with greater precision that their platen equivalent. The HEIDELBERG press attracts young enthusiasts and veterans from Fleet Street alike, fascinated by the hands-on approach to newspaper creation in the digital age.
As part of the partnership, HEIDELBERG will provide an apprenticeship to a young person from the festival and its partners. This apprentice will receive training as a printing machine engineer.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Glastonbury Free Press,” Ryan Miles, Managing Director, HEIDELBERG UK. “The Free Press at Glastonbury is a real piece of HEIDELBERG history. This year, HEIDELBERG celebrates its 175th anniversary, creating the perfect opportunity to give back to the local community. We are delighted to be able to give a young person working in the festival the opportunity to be part of the HEIDELBERG Apprentice Scheme.”
The Glastonbury Festival 2025 will run from Wednesday 25th to Sunday 29th June, 2025. The Free Press section will operate on all five days of the festival to print produce thousands of copies of the Free Press newspaper as well as creative posters for sale.
More info: https://youtu.be/x9RUh8eZZDU?si=a67MLEu3lzEg8XNR
HEIDELBERG cylinder presses are claimed by many to be the peak of precision letterpress work at volume. Their 1958 offerings are detailed below in specification
Original Heidelberg Cylinder 15″ x 20½” Original Heidelberg Cylinder 21″ x 28″
Largest Paper Size 15″ x 20½” 21.25″ x 28.375″
Smallest Paper Size 4.125″ x 5.875″ 4.5″ x 6.375″
Inside Chase 14.25″ x 18.75″ 20.25″ x 26.375″
Maximum Running Speed 5,000 iph 4,000 iph
Floor Space Required 8’4.5″ x 4’7.125″ 11’2.25″ x 6’3″
Power Required 5.5 hp 7 hp
Net weight 7,950 lbs (gross) 13,650 lbs (gross)
April 2025
For further information please contact:
Eirini Spanou, HEIDELBERG UK, on 02084-903796