1991 - no festival
There was no Festival due to the disturbances in the previous year.
1992 (26th - 28th June)
This was the first year that the donations from the profits of the Festival were made to Greenpeace and Oxfam. Michael Eavis felt that with the ending of the Cold War that people’s concerns had shifted away from the possibility of nuclear war to the concerns of the environment. The Festival was also linked with National Music Day and the surprise guest was Tom Jones. £250,000 was donated to Greenpeace, Oxfam and other local charities.
Acts included: Carter USM, Shakespear’s Sister, Primal Scream, P J Harvey, Sawdoctors and The Levellers.
Attendance:70,000. Tickets:£49. Programme: £4
1993 (25th - 27th June)
The Festival continued to go from strength to strength as it began to get into its stride as a successful and increasingly popular event. The advance only tickets were sold out by mid June. This years big performer and golden oldie was Rolf Harris. More than £250,000 was raised for Greenpeace, Oxfam and many local charities.
Acts included: The Orb, Lenny Kravitz, Velvet Underground, Galliano and Stereo Mcs.
Attendance: 80,000. Tickets: £58. Programme: £4.
1994 (24th - 26th June)
On 13 June 1994 the famous Pyramid stage burnt down in the early hours of the morning but luckily a replacement was provided by the local company who also provided the stages for the NME and Jazz stages. It was also the first appearance of the wind turbine beside the main stage providing 150 kw of power for the main stage area. Channel 4 televised the event live over the weekend and it increased the appeal of the Festival to a wider audience.
On the Saturday night there was a shooting incident involving five people but no one was badly hurt. But there was the first death in the Festivals history when a young man was found dead from a drugs overdose. £150,000 was donated to Greenpeace, £50,000 to Oxfam and some £100,000 to local charities and good causes.
Acts included: Bjork, Manic St Preachers, Orbital, Van Morrison, Lemonheads, Elvis Costello, Galliano and The Levellers
Attendance: 80,000. Tickets: £59. Programme price: £5.
1995 (23rd - 25th June)
The 25th anniversary of the first Festival was celebrated and saw the return of the two performers from the first event - Keith Christmas and Al Stewart. Demand for the tickets had never been so intense and the event was completely sold out within four weeks of the ticket release date.
1995 also saw the introduction of a Dance Tent which was a major success and featured Massive Attack, System 7 and Eat Static. The Stone Roses were forced to pull out the week before the event to be replaced by Pulp but did appear at the Pilton Show in September instead. Channel 4 televised the event again. The Greenpeace donation was raised to £200,000, Oxfam to £100,000 with local charities benefiting by another £100,000.
Acts included: The Cure, Oasis, Orbital, P J Harvey, Simple Minds and Portishead.
The event was marred by the perimeter fence being taken down at the top of the site aggravating the problems of trespass for other land owners adjoining the site.
Attendance: 80,000. Tickets: £65. Programme price: £5.
1996 - no festival
There was no festival. After the phenomenal success of the previous event to give the farm a rest, the cows the chance to stay out all summer long, and allow all the people involved the chance to take a break from the demands of organising such a large event. However, 1996 also saw the introduction of the Classical Extravaganza which took place at Glastonbury Abbey in the August.
1997 (27th - 29th June)
Torrential rain just before the weekend resulted in this being the “Year of the Mud”. Undeterred, festival-goers boogied in their boots to more live performances than ever before. This year’s highlights included a “dubhenge” made from upended VW beetles and campervans and the first ever Greenpeace field with a reconstructed Rainbow Warrior and solar heated showers. The site expanded to 800 acres, a daily newspaper was published by Select and BBC2 broadcast live. Greenpeace, Oxfam, Water Aid and Mid-Somerset CND were the main beneficiaries.
Acts included: The Prodigy, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Ray Davies and Sting.
Attendance: 90,000. Tickets: £75 including official programme.
1998 (26th - 28th June)
Rain again turned parts of the site into a brown quagmire, but resilient campers still enjoyed the evergreen mix of entertainment and all night fun. Over 1,000 different performances on 17 stages included a new marquee for up and coming bands. The enlarged Dance Tent was as packed as ever. Theatre highlights included thepunk opera “Kiss my Axe”. Mud surfing proved popular. There were better loos and a proper on-site bank. American singer Tony Bennett rose above the mud in immaculate white suit and tie. Over £500,000 from the Festival’s income went to Greenpeace, Oxfam, water Aid and many local organisations.
Acts included Blur, Primal Scream, Robbie Williams, Tori Amos, Pulp, Bob dylan, Roni Size and the Chemical Brothers.
Attendance 100,500. Tickets: £80 including programme.
1999 (25th - 27th June)
The sun finally shone on Glastonbury again, bringing a broad smile to the faces and performers alike. £150,000 was still spent on downpour precautions. The widest range of entertainment ever was on offer, with over 300 bands, a kaleidoscope of theatre, comedy and cultural adventures, and more than 250 food stalls – all publicised on a buzzing Glasto web site and broadcast on BBC2. Greenpeace, Water Aid and Oxfam again benefitted. This year’s event was sadly overshadowed by the death of organiser Michael Eavis’s wife Jean. A winged wicker sculpture was ceremonially burned in her honour, whilst fireworks erupted into a moonlit sky.
Acts included REM, Manic Street Preachers, Fatboy Slim, Hole, Blondie, Al Green, Skunk Anansie, Lonnie Donegan, Marianne Faithful and Courtney Pine.
Attendance: 100,500. Tickets £83 including programme.
2000 (23rd - 25th June)
This year saw the return of the pyramid stage (the third pyramid stage) – 100 feet high and clad in dazzling silver. There was more camping space with the introduction of a special family campsite. A new outdoor dance venue among trees, christened the glade, was introduced and proved a great success. Once again Greenpeace, Oxfam and Water Aid were the major beneficiaries. This year saw a huge influx of gatecrashers – but even so the infrastructure stood up and people were treated to a weekend of diverse entertainment and fun.
Acts included Chemical Brothers, Moby, Travis, Morcheeba, Basement Jaxx and David Bowie. Licensed attendance 100,000.
Tickets £87 including programme.
2001 - no festival
It was decided to take a year off to address the concerns over safety due to the large number of gatecrashers at the 2000 event. In March of this year the Festival was prosecuted for breach of the licenced attendance in 2000 and fined £5,000 as well as a further £1000 fine for a noise offence in one of the Festival car parks after the event – from ‘travellers’ who stayed on. The year was spent carrying out a large amount of work to put measures in place to try and overcome the growing culture of illegal entry to the Festival as well as ensuring a secure and safe environment for the legitimate festival goers. A virtual festival was held in June on the Festival website, comprising archive footage and some live acts.
2002 (28th - 30th June)
The most long-awaited and carefully prepared Glastonbury Festival took place in wonderful weather. The ring of steel fence repelled all non ticket holders and 140,000 legitimate festival goers revelled in the space and security created by the widely praised new operational management structure. Tickets were put on sale in February and sold out in weeks.
Acts included, Stereophonics, Coldplay, Manu Chao, Rolf Harris, Kosheen, Mis-teeq, Fat Boy Slim, Roger Walters and Rod Stewart, White Stripes, Orbital and Isaac Hayes. For many the place to be was Lost Vagueness in the Green Fields which bizarrely provided a silver service restaurant and ballroom dancing.
Tickets £97, including programme.
2003 (27th - 29th June)
Tickets sold out in under 24 hours making this year the fastest selling Glastonbury Festival. It was widely acclaimed as ‘the best yet’ - the weather was perfect, atmosphere chilled, Pilton was crime free and the line up brilliant. Over a million pounds was paid to local groups and charities. Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid were the main beneficiaries and on site FairTrade led a high profile campaign
Acts included: Love with Arthur Lee, Damien Rice, De la Soul, Flaming Lips, Jimmy Cliff, Moby, Radiohead, REM, The Damned, The Darkness, The Thrills; Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra and Nightmares on Wax in Lost Vagueness; Bill Bailey, Ross Noble, Black Sky White in the Cabaret areas plus a huge variety of kid’s entertainment and the creative madness that is Lost Vagueness.
- Attendance 150.000. Tickets £105, including programme
25th - 27th June 2004
A massive over demand for tickets frustrated all concerned. The weather in the run up to the Festival was not on our side. However, the improved drainage and organisation triumphed to contribute to the safest ever Festival. ‘Working together for a greener Glastonbury" paid off – with 32% of all waste recycle including 110 tons of organic waste composted. Streams and hedges remained unpolluted, she-pees were installed. Coffee and chocolate were FairTrade. On top of the £1 million paid to Greenpeace, Water Aid, Oxfam and local good causes, an additional £100, 000 was donated to the Sudan appeal. This was the year of The Tower – a massive 70 ft tall moving structure erected adjacent to Leftfield to celebrate working together. The Unsigned Performer’s Competition was launched. The Pyramid Stage had its normal eclectic range of performances, including The English National Opera playing to an audience of 15, 000 and a larger crowd watching England play (estimate 65, 000) than actually attended the World Cup Stadium in person.
Acts included: Paul McCartney, Muse, Oasis, James Brown, Joss Stone, Toots and the Maytals, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Black Eyed Peas, Sister Sledge, Television, Michael Franti and Spearhead. The Greenfields and particularly Lost Vagueness, were a mass of innovative, creative and amazing sights and sounds. Over 1200 acts in The Cabaret, Theatre and Circus Fields included The Generating Company, Helios – The Saga of a 1000 Suns and Albatross while the Kidz Field was a profusion of fun and colour, workshops and parades.
Attendance 150,000. Tickets £112.00 including programme.
2005 (24th - 26th June)
Lightning strikes!!! Two months worth of rain in several hours! A once in a hundred year occurrence! For those unfortunate enough to get swamped, Welfare were there to give a helping hand. All in all, everyone pulled through – dinghy’s n’all – and thoroughly enjoyed themselves whatever the weather. Sure enough the sun came out to greet us by Sunday turning it into the happiest festival yet.
The huge success of the Make Poverty History campaign was echoed at the Festival, with Michael Eavis making a very rare appearance on the Pyramid Stage with Bob Geldof. Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid worked together declaring “...this year, let’s make poverty history and clean energy our future…” A remarkable £1,350,000 was paid to charities and good causes.
Tickets sold out in under 3 hours and 50% of all waste was recycled!
We said farewell to the Dance Tent and welcomed the new, vibrant, colourful Dance Village with eight different venues, all playing different types of dance music – including the Silent Disco. The Midnight Cabaret and The Ghost Train in the Circus Field were fun new additions that had everyone talking, along with all the fantastic sculptures around the site.
The New Tent was re-launched as The John Peel Stage, in memory of all this late, great supporter of the Festival did to promote emerging talent. The Unsigned Performers Competition generated thousands of entrants, with over 35 acts performing in various venues, including the new, rockin’ Late ‘n Live marquee in the markets.
Acts included: Basement Jaxx, White Stripes, Magic Numbers, Coldplay, The Belly Dance Superstars, Razorlight, New Order, Brian Wilson, The Wailers, James Blunt, Beautiful South, Baaba Maal, Babyshambles, The Killers, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, Ska Cubano, K.T Tunstall, Kaiser Chiefs, The Subways, Chas n Dave, The La’s, Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal & Royksopp.
Attendance 153,000. Tickets £125 including programme.
2006
There was no Festival this year, as the farm took a year off.
2007 (22nd - 24th June)
2007 may have been another year of mud and rain, but it was nothing that Glastonbury Festival-goers couldn’t handle, thanks to a strong line up, continually improving drainage and an indomitable collective will to enjoy, that held off the worst effects of the wet and mud like a matching rainbow umbrella and welly set.
The worthwhile causes supported by the Festival joined forces for the I Count campaign, which highlighted the need to address climate change, and signed up 70,000 people to the campaign over the weekend, an impressive 46% of all 153,000 ticket holders on site. Glastonbury 2007 also strove to be the greenest one so far, with Bags for Life given out and Festival-goers encouraged not to bring loo roll as recycled rolls were provided at the Festival
This year saw the introduction of Emily Eavis’s Park Stage, bringing a whole new section of the Festival site to life, whilst the Dance Village cemented its reputation in its second year. The Unsigned Bands competition became the Emerging Talent Competition, which again generated thousands of entries and a host of worthy winners playing on many of the Festival stages. Also introduced this year was the award winning anti-touting registration system for ticket buyers.
The Arctic Monkeys played their first Glastonbury set headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Friday night and The Who pulled out all the stops as the closing band on Sunday. Other acts to play included Bjork, Shirley Bassey, Iggy Pop, CSS, The Go Team, Amy Winehouse, MIA, Kate Nash, Billy Bragg (it wouldn’t feel like Glastonbury without him), Corinne Bailey Rae, Damian Marley, Lily Allen and The Chemical Brothers.
Attendance 135,000 Weekend Tickets, 37,500 passes(for crew, performers, stewards,traders etc,) and 5,000 Sunday Tickets. Tickets were £145 including programme.
2008 (27th - 29th June)
After two years of mud and rain, Glastonbury 2008 bounced back with a weekend of fine weather and fabulous music, performance art and ever so much more. A little rain prior to the event saw the attending masses draw in a sharp, nervous breath, but all the smattering of rain did was keep down the dust as the Festival got underway.
For the first time in many years, the tickets didn’t sell out immediately, but all was not lost – the fine weather brought about a flurry of purchases at the last minute and all places were taken by the time the Festival got going, meaning that the good causes Glastonbury supports were all guaranteed another large donation.
This was a year of pre-Festival hoo-ha about the inclusion of rap megastar Jay-Z as Saturday night’s headline act, the suggestion being that rap had no place at Glastonbury. Jay-Z disproved this with enormous style and some wit, delivering a storming show that drew a vast and enthusiastic crowd. The Kings of Leon headlined on the Friday night and Sunday night’s electrifying Verve reunion sent shivers down the spine.
Two Glastonbury stalwarts passed away prior to the Festival; Arabella Churchill, Theatre and Circus organiser, in late 2007 and Pat VT West, who organised the Poetry&Words tent, two weeks before the Festival. They will be much missed, but received the best tribute possible – their work was continued in fine style by the people they chose to replace them.
2008 was a year for electrifying sets by golden oldies interspersed amongst the wealth of new music; Solomon Burke, Joan Baez, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Jimmy Cliff, Joan Armatrading, and Neil Diamond all went down a storm, but Leonard Cohen stole the entire weekend in dapper style, leading the crowd in an astonishing chorus of ‘Hallelujah’, and performing a taut set of his greatest hits as the sun went down on the Festival’s final day.
Others who provided great moments included Manu Chao, Massive Attack, Groove Armada, Seasick Steve , Lupe Fiasco , Mark Ronson , Dizzy Rascal , Ozomatli , Eddy Grant , Stanton Warriors , Natty , Dr Meaker , Fun Loving Criminals, The National, Tunng and Laura Marling. Katie Melua and Will Young gave intimate sets at the Avalon Stage. Late night entertainment was varied and stunning with the Park going from strength to strength, and Trash City, in its new home, and Shangrli-la keeping festival goers dancing til dawn...
Attendance 134,000 Weekend Tickets, 37,500 passes(for crew, performers, stewards,traders etc,) and 6,000 Sunday Tickets. Tickets were £155 including programme.
2009 (24th-28th June)
After the triumph over adversity that was Glastonbury 2008, expectations were running high for the 2009 Festival. The ticket deposit scheme proved to be a successful and popular initiative, helping the Festival to sell out eight weeks before gates opened. When they did, the crowds flooded through them in droves: by the Thursday morning, a record number of Festival-goers (90,396) had already set up camp on Worthy Farm's rolling hills. Excitement and anticipation fizzed throughout the site, and this year's event certainly lived up to it.
With no main stage acts until Friday, markets heaved and lush green fields teemed with cider-sipping sunbathers. But gloomy forecasts predicted a monsoon to engulf the Mendip Hills and, sure enough, Thursday evening saw the day's clear sky darken with some ominous-looking storm clouds. Lightning strobe-lit the valley and a torrential downpour did its best to drench fairy wings and dampen spirits. But umbrellas were opened and spirits remained impenetrable. The clouds moved on for good, leaving only some muddy puddles and smug welly wearers in their wake.
Music-wise, Maximo Park kicked things off with sweaty panache in the Queen's Head in the new William's Green area on Thursday afternoon, while East 17 got the party started in the Dance Lounge in a rabble-rousing, mass tear-inducing rendition of Stay Another Day. That evening, though, news of Michael Jackson's untimely death swept through the crowd and tributes celebrated his music throughout the weekend; Friday saw Lily Allen perform her brilliant Pyramid Stage set wearing one white glove while The Streets' Mike Skinner covered Billie Jean in homage on the Jazz/World Stage.
Despite Jackson's death, the mood on site remained upbeat. On Friday morning, Abba parody Björn Again opened the Pyramid Stage, and from that point, the performance highlights came thick and fast. Fleet Foxes' sweet harmonies serenaded a sun-dappled afternoon throng; Little Boots and Lady Gaga dazzled; Ray Davies and Neil Young delivered classic sets.
Rolf Harris' Saturday performance jammed the Jazz/World stage; Dizzee Rascal marked his arrival as a bona fide star at the Pyramid; Florence And The Machine rocked a rammed John Peel Tent and the frenzied excitement that consumed the crowd watching Pendulum on the Other Stage was only surpassed by those cheering on The Boss as he broke into Born To Run in his headline set on The Pyramid.
Sunday's sing-a-longs came courtesy of golden oldies Tom Jones and Tony Christie. Nick Cave's tremulous sun-down set was upstaged by a plucky - though unsuccessful - would-be gatecrasher attempting to defy the fence by flying in via microlite, while later, The Prodigy tore up the Other Stage. But it was hard to top a reunited Blur's return to Glastonbury. Hailed as the best Pyramid set in an age, the unfaltering show and its ecstatic reception even moved Damon Albarn to tears. Emotional and elated, he wasn't alone.
Outside the main stages, the Festival was more vibrant than ever. For the first time, Arcadia was given its own field and fascinated with its fire shows and industrio-decadence. Shangri-la, now in its second year, impressed with an enthralling retro-futurist virtual world of snaking corridors and neon-gilded surprises. Late Friday night, in Club Dada, Lady Gaga's riotous secret gig was suitably thrilling. It was an unexpected treat that was hard to beat, even by Bruce Springsteen's unscheduled stop on stage with New Jersey rockers', Gaslight Anthem at their John Peel Tent show.
But there's always more to Glastonbury than music and this year the Theatre and Circus areas were home to some spellbinding performances of a gloriously alternative ilk. Cirque du Soleil's Fulcrum impressed with their power and lithe acrobatic skills, while The Fire Tusk Pain Proof Circus brought the classic thrill-seekers' circus show into the 21st century with awe-inspiring extreme stunts. In the Cabaret Tent, a blistering bill of diverse acts - from the political capers of Mark Thomas to the sparkling silliness of Adam And Joe and the sheer genius of Spymonkey's Monty Python-esque physical comedy - ensured funny bones were well tickled.
With the sun high in the sky, The Park came into its own this year. Perched on the hill it was the place to escape the busy hubbub of the Festival and indulge your senses in the unusual. The BBC Introducing stage hosted a blistering array of up-and-coming talents, while the natural amphitheater of The Park's main stage proved the perfect place to relax and take in eclectic acts such as Bon Iver and Animal Collective. Making its debut, the Free University Of Glastonbury entertained with its mind titillating lectures, while The Rabbit Hole further established itself as the home of unpredictable zaniness and anything-can-happen surprises.
On the worthy causes front, this year saw the Festival add its support the White Ribbon Alliance's Million Mums campaign. Charity patron, Sarah Brown, and Ambassador, supermodel Naomi Campbell, both dropped in on the Festival to give their support to the charity's aim to end the needless deaths of women in childbirth. At the charity's Festival HQ in the Park, over 10,000 signatures were collected in aid of the campaign.
Michael Eavis later hailed 2009 as "the best Glastonbury ever". He has, of course, said that before. But this time, few saw any cause to argue.
Attendance 135,000 Weekend Tickets, 37,500 passes (for crew, performers, stewards,traders etc,) and 5,000 Sunday Tickets. Ticket price was £175.
2010 (25th - 27th June)
Glastonbury celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2010, a milestone that brought a fresh buzz of excitement to the Worthy Farm valley. The weather was also suitably celebratory, with warm days and balmy starlit nights.
Car parks opened up on the Tuesday night for the first time prior to the pedestrian gates opening on the Wednesday morning. From 2100 on Tuesday night to around midnight vehicles flowed into carparks with no problems. From 0600 traffic levels increased dramatically with major queues developing on all routes by 0730 as many people tried to arrive for the 0800 pedestrian gate opening. Between 0800 and 1400 there were delays on all routes to the site with the longest being on the route from the M5. The vast majority of ticket holders arrived on site on the Wednesday, earlier than in any previous year.
With the sun beating down relentlessly the demand for water was enormous, so the decision to build a second new permanent reservoir this year was more than vindicated. Both reservoirs hold about a million litres of drinking water each. Just over 800 taps were installed across site as were 600 basins, but there were still queues for water. In 2010, there were also some 4,600 toliets (a mix of longdrops, African, polyjohns and flushing) and 670 metres of urinals for the guys and much more modest 100 metres of "she pees" for women.
Visually, the anniversary was recognised by two giant dates on either side of the Pyramid stage and a Hollywood-style display of letters that spelled out “Glastonbury 40” across the site’s southern grassy slopes. Classic photos taken by local Somerset photographers across the decades were exhibited in the main backstage area. Several performers from the original 1970 event appeared, including DJ Mad Mick, who dropped the Festival’s very first tune.
The Leftfield stage returned in a different position (close to the Glade) and with a new curator, Billy Bragg. More music was mixed with the usual wide range of political discussion and debate. For the second year running a giant screen of painted and embroidered banners broadcast messages such as “Give Bees a Chance”.
Two new areas were created in the late night corner of the festival – The Common and the Unfair Ground. Arcadia shot bursts of fire into the sky from its temple-like structures as dance music pumped through the night. Shangri-la’s casbah of the weird and wonderful was as rammed as ever.
A new bridge flanked with local Mendip stone was erected over the Whitelake stream, and named Bella’s Bridge after theatre fields founder Arabella Churchill, who died in 2007. This year’s theatre and circus highlights included Colombia’s Circo Para Todos, the Russian troupe BlackSkyWhite and slack-rope walker Kwabana Lindsay cutting a hornpipe between the tent tops.
The JazzWorld stage was given a new identity as West Holts. This was the original name of a “halt” on the railway line which once ran through Worthy Farm; Michael Eavis could remember driving cattle across it before the next train arrived.
Sunday was given a downside by the defeat of England’s footballers in the World Cup, an event for which two special fields were allocated with their own giant screens. 80,000 fans watched the match. More successful was a game played out in front of the Pyramid stage on Thursday, when Festival-goers representing England beat the Rest of the World and raised £9,000 for charity.
As ever, there were many musical highlights. Gorillaz filled the Friday night Pyramid headline slot with grooves and guests, following U2's enforced cancellation, although that band's guitarist, the Edge, did turn up do a song with Muse for their storming Saturday night slot. The final headliner, Stevie Wonder, brought things to a close on Sunday night with a wonderful, hit-filled set, which memorably also featured a duet of Happy Birthday with Michael Eavis.
Aside from the headliners, Shakira and Scissor Sisters lit up the Pyramid Stage on Saturday with suitably exuberant pop (the latter featured a guest performance from Kylie Minogue), while Biffy Clyro and Radiohead's Thom Yorke/Jonny Greenwood played warmly-received surprise slots in The Park.
Other Stage highlights included a rousing Pet Shop Boys set, a huge turnout for Florence and the Machine and a guest appearance from Doctor Who for Orbital's Sunday night set. Meanwhile, at the John Peel Stage, Groove Armada, Mumford & Sons and The xx were among the acts who attracted big crowds and warm reviews.
Over in the Dance Village, Glastonbury veterans The Orb and Fatboy Slim once again whipped up a storm, while the rise in urban pop music was reflected with blistering sets from acts including N-Dubz, Chipmunk, Plan B, Kelis and Tinie Tempah.
It was, all would agree, a vintage year. Michael Eavis told the world’s media at his traditional Sunday morning press conference: “It has been the best party for me – the weather, the full moon and last night a crowd of 100,000 people, every single one enjoying themselves.”
2010 - Attendance 135,000 Weekend Tickets, 37,500 passes (for crew, performers, stewards,traders etc,) and 5,000 Sunday Tickets. Ticket price was £185.
2011
Click below for photos from the 2011 Festival.
With a fallow year scheduled for 2012, this was the last Festival for two years. Tickets sold-out the day they went on sale and when gates opened on Wednesday morning, tens of thousands of revellers made their way in – a full two days before main stage music action kicked off. Traffic ran smoothly with no particular delays to the site. However, sheer numbers meant there were some queues at the pedestrian gates.
After the scorching heat of 2010, showers painted the air during the opening days of the festival. Umbrellas were opened and wellies were thanked. At least it had been worth hauling them cross-country.
The rain tried to dampen Friday night’s headline Pyramid performance by U2, but as Bono and his band tore through a powerful, career-spanning set, the barrage of crowd-pleasers drowned-out the weather instead. Chase and Status and Cee Lo Green raised pulses over on West Holts, while across the fields on the Other Stage, Primal Scream battled the elements with a fierce back-loaded set. Earlier that day, as Fleet Foxes hypnotised their brimming crowd with their haunting, reverb-driven folk, thousands traipsed through drizzle to the Park, for the day’s much anticipated Special Guests. There, the packed hillsides were treated to a suitably atmospheric, un-billed set from Radiohead.
Stornoway opened Saturday’s Pyramid stage, warming soggy souls with their shimmering folk-pop as the sun’s rays teased shoulders out of macs. It was a welcomed warmth that awoke the grass and brought a bright new buzz to the previous-days’ bedraggled. Blur’s rough diamond, Graham Coxon, and New York’s new wave stalwarts, The Walkmen, rocked The Park stage before the day’s Special Guests, Pulp, delighted record crowds with a triumphant greatest hits set. At the John Peel Stage, Noah And The Whale lead a rousing sing-along while at the Pyramid, Elbow delivered a deep, happy sigh of a set matched in beauty only by the setting sun which it soundtracked. Coldplay followed and in their charming, inimitable way, played a thrillingly-paced, momentous show, lighting up the Pyramid stage both metaphorically and, for the first time, literally. Over the way, The Chemical Brothers ignited the Other Stage with their explosive day-glo beats and propulsive rhythms.
Elsewhere, over the weekend, East Dance played host to heavyweights Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, Professor Green and Pete Tong as well as memorable live appearances from Ke$ha, Fenech-Soler and Azari & III. Away from the main stages, the Kidz Field – this year playing host to tot heroes The Gruffalo and Rastamouse – was a world of inspiring invention, bustling with kid-friendly mayhem. In the Circus tent, No Fit State Circus redefined the genre with their frenetic and jaw-dropping show.
Down in the late-night corner, a new one-way system was introduced after hours to ease revellers through the distorted wonderland of the south-east corner of the site. There, apocalyptic Arcadia impressed with its mesmerising fire shows on the new fully-animated 360 degree stage. Block9 again hosted an alternative reality, spiked with the surreal: its surging nightclubs and pounding house-parties set in crumbling inner-city towerblocks, built from scratch in a farmer’s field. While over the railway track, the dystopian future-themed Shangri-La enticed and seduced as a neon-lit pleasuredome.
Of course Glastonbury is not just about hedonistic abandon. Mind-altering Green-themed debates and inspiring talks from the likes of Tony Benn and Clare Solomon rocked Billy Bragg’s Left Field. And throughout the Festival, over £2 million was raised for WaterAid, Greenpeace, Oxfam as well as other local good causes. Up in the Park, the White Ribbon Alliance were again raising the plight of mothers and the right for safe childbirth throughout the world.
For young tykes and Pixar fans, the Pilton Palais Cinema was the only place to be on Sunday morning; the tent was filled to the rafters for the UK’s first screening of 3D high-octane extravaganza Cars 2. The Pyramid stage opened with the stirring baritones of Port Isaac’s Fisherman’s Friends. Later on the main stage, Laura Marling’s sassy timeless folk echoed the heady warmth of the afternoon. Paul Simon resurrected his hits to the packed banks of the Pyramid Stage field while on the Other Stage, TV On The Radio brought a refreshing blast of spiky alt rock.
Later in the valley, as Pyramid headliner Beyoncé belted-out bootilicious platinum chart-toppers, on the Other Stage, Queens Of The Stone Age offered a raucous adrenalin-fuelled antidote to Mrs Z’s feisty tunes. Above the writhing bacchian mass, up on the sloping hillsides, the enchanting wonky world of The Park was perfectly soundtracked by Sunday night’s headliner, Welsh psychedelic pop-meister Gruff Rhys. From there, high over the site the picture was perfect. Pastel skies prevailed as a crystalline sun set on another great year.
2011 - Attendance 135,000 Weekend Tickets, 37,500 passes (for crew, performers, stewards, traders etc,) and 5,000 Sunday Tickets. Ticket price was £195.
Now
a three day event and was still referred to as the Glastonbury Fayre
but with the theme of “the year of the child”. Bill Harkin and Arabella
Churchill were the instigators on this occasion and turned to Michael
Eavis for financial backing. He secured a bank loan against the deeds
of the farm. Special provision and entertainment was provided for
children and it was at this event that the concept of the Children’s
World charity was born which still exists today and works in special
schools throughout Somerset and Avon Again, despite the numbers
attending, the organisers suffered a huge financial loss and no one
wanted to risk another festival in 1980. It was also this summer that
Michael’s youngest daughter, Emily was born.
The
name was changed to Glastonbury Festival and Michael Eavis took the
helm running the event again. This was the first “Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament” festival. Michael helped positively towards the peace
movement by holding the Festival at Worthy farm to benefit the Mid
Somerset CND campaign. Michael had to convince National CND and said
that with proper management the Festival could be turned into a
profitable venture. Agreement was reached with National CND sending out
information in their mailings, handling advance ticket sales and
allowing the use of the CND logo. It was up to Michael to provide the
money, arrange entertainment and organise the event, liaise with the
authorities and organise market stalls etc.
It
was this year that it was decided to build a new Pyramid stage.
However, this time it was a permanent structure, doubling as a cowshed
and animal food store during the winter months. It took two months to
build the permanent Pyramid stage out of telegraph poles and ex-MOD
metal sheeting. The CND logo was not present at this Festival, as it
was too heavy to lift into position at the apex. Michael Eavis
eventually handed over approximately £20,000 to a very grateful CND.
1983
called for a licence to be obtained for the event since the
introduction of the local Government Act became law, giving local
authorities the power to regulate such events by stipulating the
conditions. Mendip District Council issued a Public Entertainment
Licence which set a crowd limit of 30,000 and went into considerable
detail about access roads, water supply, hygiene and so on. It was also
the first year that the Festival had its own radio station, Radio
Avalon. £45,000 was eventually raised for CND and local charities.
In
January 1984 Michael Eavis successfully defended 5 prosecutions bought
against him by Mendip District Council alleging contravention of the
previous years licence conditions. All five charges were dismissed
after a day long hearing at Shepton Mallet Magistrates Court. The local
council then announced that the licence for 1984 would cost £2,000.
The licence numbers were set at 35,000 and for the first time specific
car parking areas were designated with stewards employed to direct the
traffic. Messages were also broadcast on the radio to advise people not
to turn up unless they had purchased a ticket in advance. 1984 also
saw the start of the Green Fields as a separate area within the
Festival. £60,000 was raised for CND and other charities.
Again,
this was a bigger Festival than the preceding year’s event. Due to the
growth there were additions to the farm office, communications, welfare
and medical teams. The Theatre and Childrens Areas moved to new homes,
the first Classical music tent was introduced and the market areas
relocated from the top of the site. £130,000 was raised for CND and
local charities.
The
council’s decision to refuse the licence was overturned in court only
in May. 1987 saw the introduction of the Womad stage to the Festival.
£130,000 was raised for CND and local charities.
