You know your Festival is a success when the tickets numbering 137 500 are sold out within 90 minutes and the line up of artists hasn’t been announced as yet. Two months after the record sell-out, the line up has finally been announced and festival goers will not be disappointed, as in past years, big names have been signed up.
The Glastonbury Festival started in September 1970, had an attendance of 1 500 at an entrance fee of £1 which included free milk from the farm on which it was being held. The Festival is a camping type of happening! The next one was held in June 1972 and was free this time around. Attendance was estimated at 12 000. Since then there have been some gaps due to lack of finances or having to allow the meadows to recover and provision made to keep gate crashers out and other logistic dilemmas.
From almost its inception, awareness has been created and funds raised for local charities and from 1992 included international ones such as Green Peace, Water Aid, Oxfam. Issues about caring for the environment are promoted and this year’s campaign is to appeal to Festival attendees to personally make a difference with efforts to stop climate change.
The event features multiple stages, a Dance Village, JazzWorld Stage, John Peel Stage for new bands, the famous Pyramid Stage which in its first form acted as a barn yarn during the rest of the year and Other Stage. But there is so much more to Glastonbury than the music.
There are special spaces either open or covered that feature poetry, bars and markets, a space where you can get married, get dressed up to promenade, a political space where you can argue, a Kidz Field, an open area The Glade where impromptu artistic collaborations take place. And so much more. There is the area covering three fields called Theatre and Circus. The actual program of what is on offer is mind blowing and worth marveling at by visiting the website.
The Glastonbury Festival is a prime example of what can be done when an event is patiently built up over many years. It also shows how one can learn from previous mistakes and improve on them. Reading the brief history of this Festival one is amazed at some of the set-backs the organisers have had to contend with. For instance, during the 2005 event, two months worth of rain came down over a period of several hours. This was a once in a hundred year occurrence. Those who attended that year, dinghy’s and all, still had a fabulous time. There is no doubt that this year’s lucky ticket holders will have a wonderful three days, rain or not.
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