Music festivals have long been associated with the summer and several cities all over the world host raucous summer music festivals as a celebration of the arrival of balmy weather. These music festivals usually feature several big name artists whose presence serves as crowd pullers for these festivals. Apart from music, these festivals also feature several other forms of entertainment to the delight of the hordes who usually buy tickets to these much anticipated festivals months in advance.
England’s Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, which has been in existence since 1970, is often regarded as the mother of all music festivals. The festival is usually held over the last weekend in June on a working 1100 acre farm called the Worthy Farm located at Pilton near Glastonbury in the county of Somerset, England. The Festival is run by a local farmer called Michael Eavis who has nurtured the festival since its inception . This year, the Glastonbury Festival which has already sold out will be held from Wednesday, 24th June to Sunday, 28th June.
Decoding the Glastonbury Festival
Music and much more
Though the Glastonbury Festival is primarily a celebration of music, it offers music and much more. The festival features more than fifty stages which are set up for various forms of entertainment like performing arts with cabaret, theater, circus, children’s entertainment, poetry, healing, green crafts and dance. Music on the main stage is governed by licensing rules and starts from around 11am each morning until 12.30 am on Friday and Saturday and till midnight on Sunday, though entertainment on the smaller stages is known to continue until the wee hours of the morning.
Central Theme of the Festival- Clean Green Festival
The Glastonbury festival has always tried to be a ‘green’ festival that tries not to disrupt the working of the farm on which it is held. Accordingly the festival, this year has a central theme that emphasizes the mantra-”Love the farm - leave no trace - zero waste!”. To further emphasize this central theme, the organizers ask festival goers to use public transport to access the festival and to bring only what is necessary to the festival site. The organizers are also quick to remind the festival goers to clean up before they leave.
The Festival with a conscience
The Glastonbury Festival aims to create a better world for all and it has long been associated with various different causes. In recent years however, the main beneficiaries of a portion of the proceeds from the Glastonbury Festival have been organizations like Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid.
The 2009 festival line up
The Glastonbury Festival has always featured major international bands and this year, the festival will feature super star known as ‘the Boss‘. Yes, Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band have confirmed their participation at this year’s Glastonbury Festival and are scheduled to perform on Saturday the 27th. Other high profile acts scheduled to appear at Glastonbury include the English alternative rock band Blur, Canadian rocker and environmentalist, Neil Young, English pop star Lily Allen and Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. The 2009 Glastonbury festival will additionally also feature acts like Kasabian, Emiliana Torrini, Florence and The Machine, Fleet Foxes, Doves, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Ting Tings, DJ Chinaman etc. For the full list of acts, visit the official website of the festival.
A Tent City
The Glastonbury Festival is usually attended by approximately 100,000 people who stay in camper vans or in tents that they pitch at the designated campsite of the festival. Similar tents and temporary shacks accommodate the food vendors and the stores which are set up for especially for the festival. In fact, the festival which is now manned by a staff of over 35,000 people has become quite well organized over the years.
The mud
The British weather is known to be unpredictable and many times the festival has had to be held in the midst of pouring rain. The rain and the muddy fields only add to the charm of the festival which has been known to carry on regardless of the weather. The Glastonbury festival-goers seem well experienced with the vagaries of the British weather and almost always equip themselves with wellingtons( knee high rubber boots)to deal with the mud and the grime that covers the field when it rains. Most attendees though enjoy the rains and the mud and use it as an excuse to party harder.
Kate Moss –poster girl of the Glastonbury Festival
The festival has been known to attract several superstars and celebrities, including super model Kate Moss who has been a regular at the Glastonbury Festival in recent years. The appearance of this fashion trendsetter has been known to delight both the festival goers and the members of the media who assemble at Worthy farm for the Glastonbury Festival.
The rural location of the Glastonbury festival can be quite difficult to access but there a number of air, road and rail connections that connect the festival from its main access cities of Bristol and London. In fact, the city of Bristol is located only forty kilometers away from the site of the festival.
If you’ve been lucky enough to score a ticket for the 2009 Glastonbury festival and are planning to head to the festival via Bristol, why don’t you plan to stay for a few days to discover the medieval city of Bristol? And if you need hotel accommodation in Bristol, you may want to check out the attractive rates being offered currently by several Bristol hotels like the pretty riverfront Mercure Brigstow Hotel and the city center Novotel Bristol Centre Hotel in time for the Glastonbury Festival.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 2:38 am and is filed under Europe, Festival, Fun, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Glastonbury is a great festival!
It’s all for being eco friendly and spreading the word to help save our planet.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
so true Tilly.. no wonder its such a popular music fest. Thanks for visiting!
June 11th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Glastonbury - where else could you find so many people to share your mudbath? With added audio.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
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December 10th, 2009 at 11:30 am
The only access to the campervan and caravan fields in Glastonbury is via the Blue Route, along from the A37. A windscreen sticker will be sent to you with your campervan ticket, which will permit access to the Pylle Road via the Blue Route, and allow you to park in the fields. You will be allowed access from 8am on the Wednesday before the festival.