The Annual Glastonbury Festival
the UK's Finest Rock, Pop, Folk and General Entertainment Experience
Glastonbury is much more than a music festival, it's a stunning experience held in Somerset, UK, for six days every June.
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (its full title), or Glasto, as it is affectionately known, is more like visiting a unique, special village that only exists for six days.
According to the official programme, the 177,000 attendees use as much electricity and water as a town the size of Bath or Norwich in the UK do over the same period.
The 1,000 acre site takes 30-40 minutes to walk from one end to the other during the day when the site is back to its usual farm status, the ground is dry and you’re sober.
How Many Stages?
No-one seems to have ever actually counted the number of stages. In 2007, a reporter for the BBC tried to identify how many and reached 44, not taking into account the cabaret, circus, theatre and cinema stages or the impromptu performers who can be found seemingly everywhere.
A 'Typical' Glastonbury Day
Although the venue traditionally opens to the public on the Wednesday and stays open until Monday, the festival officially starts at Friday lunchtime but with that amount of happy campers you can be sure of something going on all the time.
The site itself is surrounded by a large impenetrable fence with designated access points. The enormous car parking fields are located outside this fence. Once through the fence, visitors are greeted with a wristband, a programme of events and an incredible feeling of community. It’s friendly, chatty, helpful. Need a hand pitching your tent? No problem.
Mornings start with the noise of other people getting up or the milk truck trundling by. First things to do are get a coffee, have breakfast, visit the toilets and clean yourself up. There’s no hurry to do this and you might be queueing so relax.
Then you’ll pack a day bag and wander off. Perhaps to the Field of Avalon to listen to the acoustic bands, or the Green Fields to chill and relax. Maybe it’s time for some serious retail therapy – there are enough shops and stalls to fulfil everyone’s desires.
Or perhaps you’ve looked at the programme and decided which bands and performances interest you so it’s off to the main stages to see them. Or maybe you’d prefer to just wander and see what you come across. People at Glastonbury do both. Don’t worry if you don’t like the bands on the two main stages, there’s another 70 or so to choose from…
Performance Times
Although performances tend to start around 10-11am and carry on until one in the morning, the headline bands are normally on later in the afternoon or at night. But there will always be something going on. Lost Vagueness, the Dance Village and The Park areas often provide entertainment throughout the night and many of the bars, cafes and shops are open 24 hours a day.
Atmosphere
The feeling of relaxation and community is incredible. Some festivals have an air of tenseness or potential trouble about them, but not Glasto. There’s so much to see and do you can never get bored. Favourite memories from seasoned Glasto-goers include ‘sitting in a field in the sun with a glass of cider listening to bands’, to ‘that band were incredible’ and ‘best massage I’ve ever had’. Massage? That’ll be in the Healing Fields.
Tempted? Visit the official website to find out when tickets go on sale. If you still need convincing, the BBC has some excellent information. Then, when you've decided to go and you've got your ticket, read Tips for the Glastonbury Festival to get the most enjoyment out of it.
