History UsefulNotes / GlastonburyFestival

One day, a farmer decided to set up a music festival. Michael Eavis had seen a Music/LedZeppelin concert and was a bit influenced by the hippy movement, although not that much, as he's a practising Christian.

'Fallow years' where no festival occurs happen every four or five years, in order for the land - which is a working dairy farm (or rather, at this point, several farms) - to recover. Sometimes these off-years are arranged to work around other major events; e.g. 2012 when the Olympics was held in London. When Glastonbury is on, everything from police time to marquee hire is in short supply for anywhere else. The last 'fallow year' was 2018.

The festival was back for 2019, and had planned to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020 - but then was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The BBC kept the Glasto-time in its scheduled and played past performances throughout the weekend Glasto 2020 should have happened, presented by the usual BBC coverage crew from a festival-less Worthy farm where cows grazed peacefully around the skeletal structure of the Pyramid stage. Michael and Emily Eavis promised to be back with a delayed 50th anniversary event as soon as possible. Alas, the 2021 event was also cancelled as the pandemic continued to pose a risk. Tickets purchased for the 2020 and 2021 were rolled over to the 2022 event, which had Creator/PaulMcCartney as the headline act.

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was the result. Taking place most years (there are breaks about every five years to allow the land to recover) at Eavis's Worthy Farm, near Glastonbury, Somerset. In UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry if you need a better generalization.

The most iconic images of the festival are the central Pyramid stage where the biggest acts are hosted, especially when seen at sunset with the famous Glastonbury Tor and Abbey a few miles away lined up behind it. And ''mud''. The weather is, in fairness, often very nice, but the wet years have been frequent and memorable. It is a brave - or naive - festival-goer who doesn't take wellies to Glastonbury.

The festival was back for 2019, and had planned to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020 - but then was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The BBC kept the Glasto-time in its scheduled and played past performances throughout the weekend Glasto 2020 should have happened, presented by the usual BBC coverage crew from a festival-less Worthy farm where cows grazed peacefully around the skeletal structure of the Pyramid stage. Michael and Emily Eavis have promised to be back with a delayed 50th anniversary event as soon as possible. The 2021 event was also cancelled as the pandemic continued to pose a risk. Tickets purchased for the now cancelled events were rolled over to the 2022 event.

You can find the official website [[https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/ here]]. The full history of the festival is beyond the scope of this website, as usual Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} has a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glastonbury_Festival comprehensive article]].

The festival was back for 2019, and had planned to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020 - but then was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The BBC kept the Glasto-time in its scheduled and played past performances throughout the weekend Glasto 2020 should have happened, presented by the usual BBC coverage crew from a festival-less Worthy farm where cows grazed peacefully around the skeletal structure of the Pyramid stage. Michael and Emily Eavis have promised to be back with a delayed 50th anniversary event as soon as possible. The 2021 event was also cancelled as the pandemic continued to pose a risk. Tickets purchased for the now cancelled events were rolled over to the potential 2022 event.

In fact the only year that tickets haven't sold out immediately since was 2008 which many theorised was due to ''another'' major shift in Glasto culture introduced that year: a hip-hop headliner in the form of Music/JayZ. While the festival has always been diverse and evolving in the music it showcased, it would be fair to say that it was, until the last ten years, very much led by 'guitar music' and, well, pretty white. Jay-Z was not an uncontroversial choice of headliner with Noel Gallagher of Music/{{Oasis}} famously sneering at the idea. Nonetheless, in the decade since the trend has continued towards more pop and hip-hop acts alongside the traditional Glasto fare. Headliners have since included Creator/{{Beyonce}}, Music/KylieMinogue and Music/KanyeWest.

In fact the only year that tickets haven't sold out immediately since was 2008 which many theorised was due to ''another'' major shift in Glasto culture introduced that year: a hip-hop headliner in the form of Music/JayZ. While the festival has always been diverse and evolving in the music it showcased, it would be fair to say that it was, until the last ten years, very much led by 'guitar music' and, well, pretty white. Jay-Z was not an uncontroversial choice of headliner with Noel Gallagher of Music/Oasis famously sneering at the idea. Nonetheless, in the decade since the trend has continued towards more pop and hip-hop acts alongside the traditional Glasto fare. Headliners have since included Creator/Beyonce, Music/KylieMinogue and Music/KanyeWest.

A fairly recent addition to the festival has been the Sunday afternoon "Legend" slot where an older act (usually a solo artist) who wouldn't normally be seen as a festival type act plays a set. These have generally been well received and the artists have been surprised by the enthusiasm of the generally much younger crowd for their songs. Highlights have included [[Music/TomJones]] in 2009, [[[Music/TheBeeGees Barry Gibb]] in 2017 and Music/LionelRichie in 2015 who went down a storm unlike headliner Music/KanyeWest who had a very mixed reception.

The festival was back for 2019, and had planned to mark its 50th anniversary in 2020 - but then was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The BBC kept the Glasto-time in its scheduled and played past performances throughout the weekend Glasto 2020 should have happened, presented by the usual BBC coverage crew from a festival-less Worthy farm where cows grazed peacefully around the skeletal structure of the Pyramid stage. Michael and Emily Eavis have promised to be back with a delayed 50th anniversary event as soon as possible, and are hoping for 2021.

These shifts in culture have often been spearheaded by Emily Eavis, Michael's daughter, who started getting involved with the festival after her mother's death from cancer in 1999 and who is no a co-organiser. Both she her father are keen to keep the festival fresh and inclusive and make sure it doesn't become the province only of older white patrons. Michael Eavis has said he didn't want festival attendance becoming "too middle aged and respectable".

In fact the only year that tickets haven't sold out immediately since was 2008 which many theorised was due to //another// major shift in Glasto culture introduced that year: a hip-hop headliner in the form of Music/JayZ. While the festival has always been diverse and evolving in the music it showcased, it would be fair to say that it was, until the last ten years, very much led by 'guitar music' and, well, pretty white. Jay-Z was not an uncontroversial choice of headliner with Noel Gallagher of Music/Oasis famously sneering at the idea. Nonetheless, in the decade since the trend has continued towards more pop and hip-hop acts alongside the traditional Glasto fare. Headliners have since included Creator/Beyonce, Music/KylieMinogue and Music/KanyeWest.

The most iconic images of the festival are the central Pyramid stage where the biggest acts are hosted, especially when seen at sunset with the famous Glastonbury Tor and Abbey a few miles away lined up behind it. And //mud//. The weather is, in fairness, often very nice, but the wet years have been frequent and memorable. It is a brave - or naive - festival-goer who doesn't take wellies to Glastonbury.

Coachella is often seen as the closest US equivalent by dint of audience size and the kinds of acts booked, but it is really only partly comparable. For one thing, it is //much// younger, having only started in 1999. You might have a closer idea if you imagined a cross between Coachella and Burning Man.

In fact the only year that tickets haven't sold out immediately since was 2008 which many theorised was due to //another// major shift in Glasto culture introduced that year: a hip-hop headliner in the form of Music/JayZ. While the festival has always been diverse and evolving in the music it showcased, it would be fair to say that it was, until the last ten years, very much led by 'guitar music' and, well, pretty white. Jay-Z was not an uncontroversial choice of headliner with [[Creator/Osasis Noel Gallagher]] famously sneering at the idea. Nonetheless, in the decade since the trend has continued towards more pop and hip-hop acts alongside the traditional Glasto fare. Headliners have since included Creator/Beyonce, Music/KylieMinogue and Music/KanyeWest.

In fact the only year that tickets haven't sold out immediately since was 2008 which many theorised was due to //another// major shift in Glasto culture introduced that year: a hip-hop headliner in the form of Creator/JayZ. While the festival has always been diverse and evolving in the music it showcased, it would be fair to say that it was, until the last ten years, very much led by 'guitar music' and, well, pretty white. Jay-Z was not an uncontroversial choice of headliner with [[Creator/Osasis Noel Gallagher]] famously sneering at the idea. Nonetheless, in the decade since the trend has continued towards more pop and hip-hop acts alongside the traditional Glasto fare. Headliners have since included Creator/Beyonce, Creator/KylieManogue and Creator/KanyeWest.

Despite the move into respectability, the vibe of Glastonbury remains in some contrast to other big UK and worldwide music festivals for still having a (wellied) foot firmly in the camps of the New Age, edgy, hippie and artsy. Whereas festivals like Reading and Leeds are purely concert-focused, Glastonbury is interested in creating a theatrical, immersive experience and involves artists, set-designers and other gonzo creators. Areas, current and extinct, like Lost Vagueness, Shangri-La, Downtown NYC and Block9 are almost redolent of Ride/DisneyThemeParks in their immersive world-building and theatrical trickery - albeit with more adult/countercultural theming. Disneyland never had a giant, flame-throwing mechanical metal spider as a DJ booth, a J. G. Ballard-esque apocalyptic council estate or a recreation of seedy 80s gay clubland in New York.

UsefulNotes/Coachella is often seen as the closest US equivalent by dint of audience size and the kinds of acts booked, but it is really only partly comparable. For one thing, it is //much// younger, having only started in 1999. You might have a closer idea if you imagined a cross between Coachella and Glastonbury has a touch of UsefulNotes/BurningMan.

This was the result. Taking place most years (there are breaks every five years to allow the land to recover) at Worthy Farm, near Glastonbury, Somerset. In UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry if you need a better generalization.

Glasto, as it's commonly known, has become famous for people frequently sneaking in without paying, the Pyramid Stage and frequently becoming a mudbath. Consequentially, it has become synonymous with wellie boots. There has been violence at the past and a lot of arrests for drug possession.

In the past 20 or so years, the festival has been dominated by AlternativeRock, and {{Britpop}} in particular. The 2008 Festival (27-29 June) was the first for 15 years not to sell out before it began, probably due to the controversial decision to have Jay-Z (a hip-hop act) headlining.

The American equivalent (in terms of importance, attendance and general structure) is the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, but that only started in 1999.

It didn't occur in 2018. Although it was easy to assume that it was due to the heatwave season, the actual reason was that it was the "fallow year", mentioned above, which is scheduled to allow the land to regrow.

The 2020 festival, which would have been the 50th anniversary, was cancelled in March of that year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

It didn't occur in 2018. Although it was easy to assume that it was due to the heatwave season, the actual reason was that the field was too battered and needed time to regrow.

It didn't occur in 2018. Although it was easy to assume that it was due to the heatwave season, the actual reason was that the field was too battered and needed time to regrow.

The American equivalent (in terms of importance, attendance and general structure) is the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, but that only started in 1999.

This was the result. Taking place most years (there are breaks every five years to allow the land to recover) at Worthy Farm, near Glastonbury, Somerset. In TheWestCountry if you need a better generalization.