Glastonbury Festival (UK)

Gastonbury is the mother of all festivals! Despite increased ticket security and entry guards, Glastonbury still maintains a nonchalant reputation, where everyone from ‘earth lover’ to bad arse scally can chill out, go nuts or ‘find themselves’ in a field with the others of the hundred thousand strong crowd.

The first festival came together in 1970, just after the death of legend Jimi Hendrix. 2000 people turned up to see T Rex. People enjoyed ox- roast and milk courtesy of Michael Eavis, owner of Pilton farm, the home of Glastonbury festival. Over the years, Glastonbury came and went and has been staged in consecutive years since 1981. 2001’s festival was cancelled due to the foot and mouth epidemic.

Glastonbury is known for everything from fire eating to knitting. The music is a mish-mash of young and old with every style that could possibly exist. The list of stages and tents is exhaustive. A very brief rundown of what you can expect:

The Pyramid Stage: Where all the main headlining acts can be seen. Past performers include The Prodigy and Franz Ferdinand. Probably the place that will be most packed at the end of the night.

The Other Stage: Always has some kind of mega popular act on, such as Goldfrapp and Groove Armada. Catering for everyone, this stage always has something great going on.

Jazz World Stage: Not just for pork pie hat wearing jazz cats. A middle ground between dance and rock, this stage has been host to artists ranging from Amy Winehouse to Morcheeba. The bar next to it sells fab local perry.

John Peel Stage: Formerly known as the New Tent, it was lovingly dubbed after the late lover of new bands. Artists such as Coldplay and Lemon Jelly were established through this stage alongside more renowned acts like Death in Vegas and Ian Brown.

Acoustic Tent: The place with the ‘old time festival vibe’. A place to chill out and listen to wicked artists such as Ritchie Havens and Portishead.

Dance Tent: Rumoured to be undergoing a makeover before the 2005 festival, this tent is not just for plastic dummies and disco biscuits. Fatboy Slim is a regular alongside other DJs such as Seb Fontaine and Jon Carter. It hosts a variety of electro dance and chill out with artists such as Zero Seven and Scissor Sisters.

There are also circus tents, big tops and theatres to keep all walks of life amused. Get your backside down to Pilton Farm and have yourself a very happy time.