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ON 28 MAY, Ollie White got on his bike and set off from the Spanish capital of Madrid.
His lease had just concluded, he had finished up at his job, and it felt like a “natural end” to his life in Spain.
The 25-year-old had been living in Spain for three years, he told The Journal: one year in Valencia and two in Madrid. He had booked his ticket to attend Glastonbury some time before, and it seemed like the perfect time to travel before heading home to Sligo.
The cycle from Madrid to Glastonbury spanned 2,150km and took White 28 days to complete. Along the way, he camped 90% of the time, staying in hostels where needed.
“Unless there was some specific reason, like I needed to charge [my devices] or I needed the shelter, or I needed something, I would just find a spot in the woods or in a field and just put my tent up, and I’d be grand,” he said.
He arrived at Worthy Farm on Tuesday night, 24 June, and stayed for the weekend. For him, Kneecap’s performance was one of the highlights of the festival.
“I would say it will be the most memorable gig of the weekend,” he said.
“It was incredible. The atmosphere, the sea of Palestinian flags, tricolours, so many Irish people.
“And just to hear the Irish language being enjoyed by well over 30,000 people, it was honestly spectacular. I just think [Kneecap] really took that moment, and they really articulated themselves very well. Obviously there’s so much controversy around them at the moment, but the overriding message they were spreading was ‘all we want is peace’.”
White documented his journey on social media. He had previously been working as a content creator in Spain.
“I wanted to raise money for two important causes, and I wanted to split it between two, because I wanted to make an impact in Sligo, where I’m from, and then an impact on a global level.”
White chose the organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and North West Hospice in Sligo. The funds raised are being split evenly between both causes.
He explained that he had been aware of Médecins Sans Frontières since he was a student in secondary school, when a former student working for the healthcare charity came to speak to his class.
“I was really amazed by what he was doing, basically risking his life to provide medical aid for people in the most dire situations,” White said.
“In the last year and a half, with everything going on in Palestine – and different countries around the world who we were less aware of – I wanted to do something for Palestine, and I knew Doctors Without Borders were providing really important medical aid.”
He added that he has seen the important work carried out by North West Hospice and sees the value it brings the community.
Now in Bristol after the end of the festival, White plans to cycle around the UK for a while with a friend and visit some family based in various areas before returning to Ireland for a number of months.
After that? “South America,” he said. “Maybe towards the end of this year.”
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