Somerset Tourist Guide - Articles
Glastonbury Festival
A huge tented city!
Everyone is here to have a fantastic experience in their own way. As you will see from the official website for the Glastonbury Festival, the site has distinct socio-geographic regions. The more commercial aspects are around the Pyramid, Other and Dance stages, Then, there are more relaxed areas like the Jazzworld and Acoustic areas, and the family oriented areas like the Kidz Field, the Theatre and Circus fields, and an increasingly alternative aspect as you pass the Field of Avalon, the Tipi Field, and the Green Fields before you reach the hedonistic madness that is Lost Vagueness. At the top of the site is the Sacred Space - its stone circle being a modern construction, but in keeping with the traditions of its predecessors.
The site is in a beautiful location - 900 acres in the Vale of Avalon, an area steeped in symbolism, mythology and religious traditions dating back many hundreds of years. It's where King Arthur may be buried, where Joseph of Arimathea walked, where leylines converge.
And the site is vast - more than a mile and a half across, with a perimeter of about eight and a half miles.
There is a great diversity of people attending the Festival with one common characteristic - they understand that it offers more opportunity than any other happening to have the best weekend of the year or even of a life-time, and they are determined to have it! You'll meet all kinds of people, of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, musical tastes, lifestyles, faiths and modes of fashion (or lack of it). The atmosphere is distinctly mellow and friendly.
Of course there is also the scheduled entertainment: music (probably more bands than any other weekend event, with lots of smaller stages which you might not read about in the press!); theatre, circus, cabaret (more fringe theatre shows than any other weekend show in the UK); the Festival that is the Kidz Field; markets selling everything you need, a lot of things you want, and those shirts and hats mentioned before; an enormous menu of food...
Don't come with too many preconceptions. If there are one or two particular bands a day you want to see let your day revolve around them, and go with the flow. Hurrying between stages so you can tick off a list of things you feel you must see is not the best way to enjoy Glastonbury. If you can't get a good vantage point, or aren't enjoying a show, move on. There'll be something else in the next field! You might not have heard of it before, but often your best memories will be of new things that startle you with their brilliance, rather than checking whether idols live up to expectations.
Have a good look at the Performance Area pages on this site, the Festival programme when you are on site, or ask at Information points, and realise just how much there is to see. To get a well-rounded experience of the Festival don't just hang out by the main stages but visit all areas of the site at least once. All those other stages and attractions wouldn't be there if they weren't worth taking in. Whether you are at the Festival in person, one of the television or radio audience or attending virtually you will have just the best experience. Enjoy!
For up to date information and further details please see the official Glastonbury website (link below)
Glastonbury Festival Official site
Everyone is here to have a fantastic experience in their own way. As you will see from the official website for the Glastonbury Festival, the site has distinct socio-geographic regions. The more commercial aspects are around the Pyramid, Other and Dance stages, Then, there are more relaxed areas like the Jazzworld and Acoustic areas, and the family oriented areas like the Kidz Field, the Theatre and Circus fields, and an increasingly alternative aspect as you pass the Field of Avalon, the Tipi Field, and the Green Fields before you reach the hedonistic madness that is Lost Vagueness. At the top of the site is the Sacred Space - its stone circle being a modern construction, but in keeping with the traditions of its predecessors.
The site is in a beautiful location - 900 acres in the Vale of Avalon, an area steeped in symbolism, mythology and religious traditions dating back many hundreds of years. It's where King Arthur may be buried, where Joseph of Arimathea walked, where leylines converge.
And the site is vast - more than a mile and a half across, with a perimeter of about eight and a half miles.
There is a great diversity of people attending the Festival with one common characteristic - they understand that it offers more opportunity than any other happening to have the best weekend of the year or even of a life-time, and they are determined to have it! You'll meet all kinds of people, of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, musical tastes, lifestyles, faiths and modes of fashion (or lack of it). The atmosphere is distinctly mellow and friendly.
Of course there is also the scheduled entertainment: music (probably more bands than any other weekend event, with lots of smaller stages which you might not read about in the press!); theatre, circus, cabaret (more fringe theatre shows than any other weekend show in the UK); the Festival that is the Kidz Field; markets selling everything you need, a lot of things you want, and those shirts and hats mentioned before; an enormous menu of food...
Don't come with too many preconceptions. If there are one or two particular bands a day you want to see let your day revolve around them, and go with the flow. Hurrying between stages so you can tick off a list of things you feel you must see is not the best way to enjoy Glastonbury. If you can't get a good vantage point, or aren't enjoying a show, move on. There'll be something else in the next field! You might not have heard of it before, but often your best memories will be of new things that startle you with their brilliance, rather than checking whether idols live up to expectations.
Have a good look at the Performance Area pages on this site, the Festival programme when you are on site, or ask at Information points, and realise just how much there is to see. To get a well-rounded experience of the Festival don't just hang out by the main stages but visit all areas of the site at least once. All those other stages and attractions wouldn't be there if they weren't worth taking in. Whether you are at the Festival in person, one of the television or radio audience or attending virtually you will have just the best experience. Enjoy!
For up to date information and further details please see the official Glastonbury website (link below)
Glastonbury Festival Official site
