Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival over time

A series of concerts were established in the town of Glastonbury between 1914 and 1926 by classical composer Rutland Boughton (1878-1960), and with their location attracted a bohemian audience by the standards of the time. They featured works by then-contemporary composers, sponsored by the Clark family, as well as a wide range of traditional works, from Everyman to James Shirley's Cupid and Death.

Glastonbery in the 1970s

The first festival at Worthy Farm was a small scale event of 1,500 people called the Pilton Festival, held by Michael Eavis in 1970, The first artist to perform was the group Stackridge; the headline act was T Rex. It was much in the spirit of many small events held in farms around the country at that time.

The larger scale free festival in June (summer solstice) the next year was the first to attract nationwide interest, and it was this event that became the true precursor of the later Glastonbury Festivals. The Glastonbury Fayre of 1971, was organised by Andrew Kerr with help from Arabella Churchill and others - Michael Eavis, although the landowner, was not involved. The 1971 festival featured the first incarnation of the "Pyramid Stage" conceived by Bill Harkin, built from scaffolding and metal sheeting. Performers included a young David Bowie, Traffic, Fairport Convention, Quintessence, and Melanie. It was paid for by its supporters and advocates of its ideal, and took a medieval tradition of music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment. The 1971 festival was filmed by Nicolas Roeg and David Puttnam and was released as a film simply called Glastonbury Fayre.

There was a small unplanned event in 1978, when the convoy of vehicles from the Stonehenge festival was directed by police to Worthy Farm; the festival was revived the following year (1979) by the 1971 organisers, plus Michael Eavis, in an event for the Year of the Child which lost money.

The festival has been an annual fixture since 1981, albeit with breaks in 1988, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006.

Glastonbery in the 1980s

In 1981 Michael Eavis took control of the festival for the first time, and it was organised in conjunction with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). That year a new Pyramid Stage was constructed from telegraph poles and metal sheeting (appropriately, repurposed from materials of the Ministry of Defence), a permanent structure which doubled as a hay-barn and cow-shed during the winter.

In the 1980s the children's area of the festival (which had been organized by Arabella Churchill and others) became the starting point for a new children's charity called Children's World. 1981 was the first year that the festival made profits, and Eavis donated £20,000 of them to CND. In the following years donations were made to a number of organisations, and since the end of the Cold War the main beneficiaries have been Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WaterAid who all contribute towards the festival by providing features and volunteers who work at the festival in exchange for free entrance.

Since 1983 large festivals have required licences from local authorities. This led to certain restrictions being placed on the festival, including a crowd limit and times during which the stages could operate. The crowd limit was initially set at 30,000 but has grown every year to over 100,000. In 1985 the festival grew too large for Worthy Farm, but neighbouring Cockmill Farm was purchased.

1985 was a wet festival with lots of rain. Worthy Farm is a dairy farm and what washed down into the low areas was a mixture of mud and liquefied cow dung. This didn't prevent the festival-goers from wallowing in the knee-deep slurry in front of the pyramid stage.

Glastonbery in the 1990s

1990 saw the biggest festival yet; however, violence at the end of the festival between the security guards and new age travellers - the so-called Battle of Yeoman's Bridge - led to the organisers taking 1991 off to rethink the festival. The festival returned in 1992 with an expanded festival, which proved to be a great success. 1992 was the first year that the new age travellers were not allowed onto the site for free and a sturdier fence was designed. This success was carried through to 1993 which, like 1992's festival, was another hot, dry year.

In 1994 the Pyramid Stage burned down just weeks before the festival; a temporary main stage was erected in time for the festival. The 1994 festival also introduced a 150 kW wind turbine which provided some of the festival power. This festival also included the setting of a new world record on 26 June when 826 people, juggling at least three objects each, kept 2,478 objects in the air. This was also the year the festival was first televised by Channel 4; concentrating on the main two music stages, it provided a glimpse of the festival for many who knew little of it. Channel 4 also televised the following year as well, which proved to be very successful.

The following year saw the attendance rise drastically due to the security fence being breached on the Friday of the festival. Estimates suggest there may have been enough fence-jumpers to double the size of the festival. This aside, 1995 proved to be a highly successful year with memorable performances from Oasis, PJ Harvey, Jeff Buckley and The Cure. This was also the first year of the festival having a dance tent to cater for the rise in popularity of dance music, following the success of Orbital's headline appearance the previous year. The dance acts of 1995 were led by Massive Attack on the Friday and Carl Cox on the Saturday.

The festival took a year off in 1996 to allow the land to recover and give the organisers a break. This would be a pattern which would be followed every five years from now on. 1996 also saw the release of Glastonbury the Movie which was filmed at the 1993 and 1994 festivals. In that year, local artist Paul Branson established his Glastonbury Arts Festivals to provide a platform for classical works and put on a highly successful production of Rutland Boughton's opera "The Immortal Hour" at Strode Theatre as well as an art exhibition and a "son et lumière" at Glastonbury Abbey. These festivals, however, were short-lived.

The festival returned in 1997 bigger than ever. This time there was major sponsorship from The Guardian and the BBC, who had taken over televising the event from Channel 4. This was also the year of the mud, with the site suffering severe rainfalls which turned the entire site into a muddy bog. This caused many festival goers to leave early on the Friday, or not even bother to attend after radio and television reports gave details of just how muddy the site was. However those who stayed for the festival were treated to many memorable performances, including Radiohead's headlining Pyramid set on the Saturday which is said to be one of the greatest ever Glastonbury performances.

In 1998 the festival was once again struck with severe floods and storms, again some festival goers departed early but those who stayed were treated to performances from acts such as Pulp, Robbie Williams and Blur. 1998 was also the first year that attendance officially broke the 100,000 mark.

1999 was a hot dry year, much to the relief of organisers and festival goers. Memorable performances from R.E.M. (see here), Fun Loving Criminals and Al Green were among the highlights. Again, the festival was overcrowded due to fence-jumpers, this however would not be a major problem till the following year when the festival suffered from massive numbers of fence-jumpers. This surge increased the attendance to an estimated 250,000 people. The 1999 festival is also remembered for the Manic Street Preachers requesting and being given their own backstage toilets, however it was revealed by the band that this was a joke; the 'reserved' sign on the toilet was not at the authorisation of the management.

Glastonbury in the 2000s

2000

2000 saw a new Pyramid Stage introduced as well as several new features such as The Glade and The Leftfield. The festival was headlined by David Bowie playing 30 years after his first appearance. The Pyramid Stage also hosted an unusual event on the Saturday, with the wedding of Chelfyn & Helen Baxter conducted by actor Keith Allen (whose daughter Lily would perform at the 2007 festival). This year also saw an estimated 250,000 people attend the festival (only 100,000 tickets were sold) due to gatecrashers. This led to public safety concerns and the local District Council refused any further licences unless and until the problem could be solved.

2001

The organisers took 2001 off to devise anti-gatecrashing measures and secure the future of the festival. It was at this point that the Mean Fiddler Organisation was invited to help.

2002

In 2002 the festival returned after a hiatus, with the controversial Mean Fiddler now handling the logistics and security — especially installing a substantial surrounding fence (dubbed the 'superfence') that reduced numbers to the levels of a decade earlier. The lower attendance led to a much more relaxed atmosphere and massively reduced crime levels compared to previous years. There were some incidents outside the fence involving frustrated individuals who arrived at the festival assuming they would be able to jump the fence, but despite this the event was hailed as a great success by the media companies that had taken an interest in the festival. 2002 also saw Coldplay headline the Pyramid Stage for the first time. The show was closed by a set from aging rock star Rod Stewart on the Sunday night. 2002 also saw the introduction of the inflatable cinema screen.

2003

By 2003 most people had accepted the idea that it was no longer possible to crash the festival and hence it is recognised as one of the most successful years to date. The number of tickets available to the public was increased slightly over 2002, partially in response to criticism that the 2002 festival was underpopulated and lacked atmosphere. The tickets sold out within one day of going on sale, in marked contrast to the two months it took to sell a similar number in 2002. It was also the first year that tickets sold out before the full lineup was announced. This was also the year Radiohead returned to headline the Pyramid Stage. Revenue raised for good causes from ticket and commercial licence sales topped £1 million, half of which went to Oxfam, Greenpeace and Water Aid.

2004

In 2004 tickets sold out within 24 hours amid much controversy over the ticket ordering process, which left many potential festival goers trying for hours to connect to the overloaded telephone and internet sites. The website got two million attempted connections within the first five minutes of the tickets going on sale and an average of 2,500 people on the phone lines every minute. The festival was not hit by extreme weather, but high winds on the Wednesday delayed entry, and steady rain throughout Saturday turned some areas of the site to mud. However Sir Paul McCartney's Saturday performance cheered many festival goers up. The festival ended with Muse headlining the Pyramid Stage on Sunday, after Oasis had headlined on Friday.

After the 2004 festival, Michael Eavis commented that 2006 would be a year off — in keeping with the previous history of taking one "fallow year" in every five to give the villagers and surrounding areas a rest from the yearly disruption. This was confirmed after the licence for 2005 was granted.

2005

The Sunday headliner was originally scheduled to be Kylie Minogue, but she pulled out in May to receive treatment for breast cancer. Basement Jaxx were announced as a replacement on June 6. Both Coldplay and Basement Jaxx performed a cover of Kylie's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" during their concert. 2005 saw a big increase in the number of dance music attractions, with the multiple tents of the Dance Village replacing the solitary dance tent of previous years. This new area contained the East and West dance tents, the Dance Lounge, Roots Stage, and Pussy Parlure, as well as a relocated G Stage, formerly situated in the Glade. The introduction of the innovative silent disco by Emily Eavis allowed revellers to party into the early hours without disturbing the locals — a requirement of the festival's licensing. Following the death of DJ John Peel in the autumn of 2004, the New Tent was renamed the John Peel Tent, in homage to his encouragement and love of new bands at Glastonbury.

The opening day of the 2005 festival was delayed by heavy rain and thunderstorms: Several stages, including the Acoustic Tent (and one of the bars), were struck by lightning, and the valley was hit with flash floods that left some areas of the site under more than four feet of water. The severity of the weather flooded several campsites, the worst affected being the base of Pennard Hill, and seriously disrupted site services. However Mendip District Council's review of the festival called it one of the "safest ever" and gives the festival a glowing report in how it dealt with the floods.

2006

There was no festival in 2006. Instead, a documentary film directed by Julien Temple was released to make up for the lack of a festival. The film consists of specially shot footage by Temple at the festival, as well as footage sent in by fans and archive footage. Glastonbury was released in the UK on 14 April 2006.

2007

Glastonbury 2007 (20-24 June) had the largest number of attendees since the construction of the security fence in 2002. An extra 27,500 tickets were sold, and 177,500 - the largest number of legitimate ticket holders to date - were able to attend.

As an extra precaution against touts (scalpers), purchasers had to pre-register, including submission of a passport photo which was security printed into the ticket. Tickets, at £145 each, sold out in about one hour and 45 minutes,. In a deliberate move to reduce the number of attendees travelling to the festival by car, a portion of the tickets were tied to a mandatory coach travel deal, with ticket holders only being issued their tickets upon boarding of the coach. These tickets sold out slightly later than the others.

Continued periods of rain throughout much the festival caused muddy conditions across the site, though the downfall was much less than 2005, and flooding was avoided, in part due to Michael Eavis spending £750,000 on installing flood defences. muddy conditions on many of the temporary roads on the periphery of the site led to delays for many people leaving the site.

The festival this year was headlined by the Arctic Monkeys and Björk, The Killers and Iggy & The Stooges, and The Who and Chemical Brothers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. Dame Shirley Bassey was also featured. This was the first year that 'The Park' area opened. Designed by Michael Eavis's daughter Emily, its main stage featured extra sets by several artists playing on the main stages including Pete Doherty and Gruff Rhys, whilst the BBC launched their new "Introducing" stage in the area.

Glastonbury's crime rate was slightly down from 2005 but the number of arrests were "well up". This is said to have been due to the proactive operation of both police and security on site. There were some 236 reported crimes, down on the 267 incidents at this time in 2005; of these 158 were drug related , compared to 183 in 2005. Of those not drug related was the infamous impersonation of stewards at the festival. On the second night, a group of men were reported directing traffic down muddy paths. There were, perhaps surprisingly, just 15 complaints in total, with only 8 of those relating to noise levels.

Some 1,200 people required medical aid with 32 being taken to hospital most of which were accidents caused by slipping in the awkward underfoot conditions. The festival also had one fatality; in the early hours of Saturday morning a man, believed to be from the West Midlands, was found unconscious by festival staff in the Park Farm area of the site, he later died in Yeovil District Hospital of a suspected drugs overdose.

This year saw a rise in the number of people leaving their tents and personal belongings behind after the festival had finished . This was in part encouraged as part of the "Give Me Shelter" campaign by the Global Hand charity, which aimed to take the usable tents left behind and redirected them to meet needs internationally , yet none of the thousands of tents left set up were recycled or given to charity and had to be taken down by litter pickers to be sent to landfill like most of the rubbish. The ICount charity also announced that they had over 70,000 people join their "Stop Climate Chaos" campaign.

Source: Wikipedia