So after a few days recovering from lack of sleep, lots of sun and incredibly loud music, I have sifted through my photos and am feeling suitably crestfallen that I am not still surrounded by many thousands of people enjoying what has to be one of the best festivals in the world. Take me back to Glastonbury!
From the moment you arrive you are overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the site. After an early start to catch the first train to Castle Cary we were very much looking forward to pitching our tents and having a little nap. Our friends had driven and saved us a spot near where we camped last time. We choose the same spot due to the fabulous view that stretches to the borders of Worthy Farm.
Arriving on Wednesday allows time to explore the endless fields of activities and to gather your bearings ready for navigation between music tents over the weekend. I think you would probably have to visit Glastonbury at least 5 times if not more to discover all this amazing place has to offer!
From chilling in the sun in stone circle to sitting in a Her temple experiencing some cultural chanting to learning how to blow glass. There is almost certainly something for every one! I was pleased to see stalls for the wildlife trusts, marine conservation groups and save the badger groups. What better way to advertise how important our wildlife is, when you are surrounded by countryside!
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| Stone circle |
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| Peace gardens in stone circle |
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| A lady playing the piano |
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| A large unidentified mechanical bird... whose performance could that be for?! |
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| A polar bear that came alive - part of Greenpeace's Save the Arctic campaign |
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| Part of the green futures fields... |
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| Water |
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| Fire |
Craft fields, healing fields and circus acts aside, Friday was just around the corner and everyone was eager for the live music to begin. The variety of music genres is astounding. With thousands of acts, this has to be the most diverse festival ever right?! Many people may question why you would pay over £200 to stay in a field for a few days, but me, I think it is 150% worth it! You see 10 bands and you have already got your moneys worth and with the almighty Stones headlining, well you'd probably need to see even less! One of the best experiences ever, standing amongst maybe 185000 people watching one of the most iconic bands ever who now have a combined age of 273 years has to be up there in moments of a lifetime!
Throughout the 5 days on Worthy farm I heard chiff chaffs every day plus numerous other bird songs. Gulls were bountiful due to the easy pickings of left over chips, pizza, and any other food that you can think of. Another of my favourite Glasto memories involves partying until sunrise and experiencing bats swoop low over our heads and birds serenading us with the dawn chorus. Incredible!
Glastonbury is a festival which welcomes families, youngsters, hipsters, oldies, hippies and any other type of person you can name. It will never get old because there will always be something different, each and every year. So much hard work and effort goes into making it the greatest festival and it is hard to imagine how it ever returns to being a farm!
In my opinion, Glastonbury is a festival which everyone should experience, given the opportunity.
Michael Eavis and everyone else who makes the festival what it is, deserve a medal! Not forgetting the friends you go with, the new friends you make and the general friendliness from people you have never met before.
I'll leave you with the view from my tent on the last night. I hope you enjoyed reading my Glasto post which seemed to turn into a little review!
I last went on the 25th anniversary (a long time ago now) and loved it, so it was really nice to see your photos and read your review. Glad you had a good time. It's quite hard to go back to normal for a few days afterwards I seem to remember!
ReplyDeleteThank you CT :) Yes so hard to adjust. Need to remind myself to shower as I do now have that facility!!
DeleteI will probably never make it, so am very happy to have you take me round. I've got to the stage where I start to flag at about 10.00pm so I'd be a total lightweight washout in my earplugs wishing for a nice hot bath! Am looking forward to your post next year already...
ReplyDeleteAhhh it's never too late! Glad I could show you how great it was though :)Wish I'd been able to take my proper camera, but wasn't worth the risk!
DeleteI'm glad you had a great time! I last went in the mid 1980s and I think it's a whole lot bigger now! It's good that the sun shone, it certainly makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteI expect it was a lot cheaper then too! It really made a nice change having to worry about suncream rather than rain macs :)
DeleteI don't think you can put a price on a such unique and diverse festival, I have to confess I haven't been for about twelve years now which is a shame the tv coverage that I managed to see looked great, really enjoyed the Artics Monkeys, surpised you recovered so quickly:)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the images too, the polar bear looks amazing.
I agree Douglas! It is also nice to know that Michael Eavis etc donate a certain amount to Greenpeace, wateraid and oxfam. This year an email was sent to glasto goers thanking them for making such an effort to tidy camp areas, so that is a good sign! The 'love the farm leave no trace' moto is obviously sinking in!
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