A tribute to Tracy Harrison, by her daughter Lindsey Harrison
Beep beep coming through mistress of the portaloo. Thats what we used to chant as she would drive through crowds while we cling on to the sides of the land rover to get to our next destination. Everyone who was crammed in the back was so proud of what we did. Clean toilets! you would never see a miserable face from anyone who was doing a shift for Tracy’s Hygiene crew, we used to dance and sing and wear J cloths as hats (clean ones of course), and thats all because my mum was the best boss on the festival site! She had made her mark, she knew just about everyone and if she didn't know you, you certainly would have known her. She would be one of the first on site in March/April and would be one of the last on site.
She dedicated her whole life to Glastonbury it was where she felt at home and no wonder really. She saw some sites, helped many people get out of sticky situations and helped many people bring life into the world (she had delivered a few babies off site, but her most favourite was to one on site in 2013 who is nicknamed Arcadia- mum is a member of her extended family) She managed to deliver this baby in a panda suit. It was her night off (what a night off it was!). She was peoples shoulder to cry on and a face to scream at. She took anything at her and made everything a positive. She was the advisor the mum and the nanna rolled into one.
I have very fond memories of her at Glastonbury as do many others. She was known for her role in the forks which had a mass amount of post it notes to keep track of what she was doing because lets face it, her memory was rubbish. (I wonder how she saw out her window sometimes). She would always put everyone else first and top of that list was Glastonbury. To her very last day on earth she was making sure everything was OK, her role was taken care of, and she managed to visit the site to say her goodbyes. Tracy was and is a very inspirational woman I hear stories prop up about her all the time that I had no idea about even 4 years later. She was and always will be THE mistress of the portaloo. THE mistress of the portaloo.