Glastonbury Festival. Worthy Farm, Pilton. 25th – 29th June.
So. Who’s going? Who got tickets? No, we’re not talking about Prince (but did you?! £125!). We’re talking about Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. Or Glastonbury. Or Glasto. Or G2014. It’s been a while since it needed its full name!
With opinions forever divided over the festival, one thing is for sure, it will always sell out. In minutes. And in frustration. Even on the resale. And even with Coachella and their Woodstock memories… The Americans want Glastonbury more than anything!
Glastonbury Festival (originally Pilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival) is five days of music and shenanigans. So, as well as the many, many stages with an array of different genres playing, you’ll also find dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts and creative nonsense.
Started and organised by Michael Eavis on his own land (Worthy Farm in Pilton) in 1970, the festival has always been the one to watch for the big headliner (this year Dolly Parton) and line up of just about everybody popular.
Inspired by the free thinking and environmental views of the hippie, counterculture and free festival movements, Glastonbury still holds strong on these ideals. The Green Fields Area with its Green Futures and Healing Fields is one of the daytime areas that if you can make it to, you’ll experience heaven within the craziness of your party time.
The size of a large City, Glastonbury camping may seem daunting at first. But it’s simple. You get there, camp as far away from toilets so that you can’t smell them or get flooded out by them if it rains, but camp close enough so that you don’t have miles to walk to use them.
Wherever you camp, you’ll have to walk for a long time to get there from the arenas and from your transport. So take a trolley because the journey into the camp site is bad (the queues can take half a day or more) but getting out is like a living hell.
As for getting around and seeing your favourite bands, have a plan but don’t worry about sticking to it. Getting from stage to stage can be a trek but the things you’ll see and do on the way more than make up for it. Art installations and interactive theatre are everywhere and you won’t be able to contain your amazement.
Whatever you do in the day and night make sure you head right over to the late night areas afterwards.
Shangri La, Block 9, Arcadia, The Unfairground, and Silver Hayes. It’s like walking into the post-apocalyptic space circus of your wildest nightmares. Find hidden doors in walls, crawl through an abandoned office, discover secret raves and feel like you are walking through the set of a twisted 80s movie.
One major thing that you need to do is head up to the stone circle for sunrise. Head up, find a patch of grass and lay with your friends. It’s magic.
That’s it.
It’s G2014. It’s Glasto. It’s Glastonbury. It’s Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts.
For a list of things to take to Glastonbury Click Here.
For festival info click here.
This year’s line up