2018 was a fallow year, meaning that Glastonbury Festival didn’t take place last year. This gives the organisers, festival-goers and, of course, Worthy Farm itself the chance to recover and recuperate from the previous five years of mayhem. Well, it is the world’s largest greenfield festival, after all, generally attracting up to 175,000 attendees! This probably also means that the party may well be extra hearty at this year’s Glastonbury, which takes place between Wednesday 26th June and Sunday 30th June 2019. Here’s what we here at Escapade love about Glastonbury Festival, as well as a little something about what we have to look forward to …
- The music, of course!
Glastonbury is known for putting on many of the world’s biggest music act on one stage, and this year’s no different. The Cure, Janet Jackson, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Minogue, Vampire Weekend, The Killers. Stormzy and Ms. Lauryn Hill all look set to play the Pyramid Stage. Meanwhile, Tame Impala, The Chemical Brothers and Christine and the Queens are headlining the Other Stage.
Glastonbury has had many legendary shows on its famous Pyramid Stage. T-Rex, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Orbital, Johnny Cash, Radiohead, New Order, the Happy Mondays, Seasick Steve … The list goes on, and every Glastonbury usually has at least one set that shakes the festival - and much of the world of music - to its core. This year looks set to continue this trend.
2. The music in all the other tents …
It’s very easy to get wrapped up in what happens on the main stage. Whilst there are always some must-sees on the big stages, it’s worth remembering that the Glastonbury Festival is huge, and often has less well-known and underground acts that can easily hold their own (or even better) against the guys and girls playing the Pyramid and Other stages. Who can forget Portishead on the Acoustic Stage in 1995 (well, except those who weren’t born yet or were sadly too young or too far away to go)? And of course, the Ozric Tentacles, who pretty much have their own stage every year at Glastonbury!
3. All the art, crafts and other creative stuff …
Glastonbury Festival’s full name is Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, and it’s called that for a reason. Yes, there’s music, but there’s also comedy, theatre, cabaret, circus, dance and more besides. Plus, there’s plenty of workshops to go to, so you can flex your own creative muscles yourself!
4. The dressing up, of course!
No festival is complete without fancy dress, and Glastonbury is no exception. In fact, alongside festivals such as Secret Garden Party, Shambala, Boomtown, Burning Man and Nowhere festivals, Glastonbury is one of those where people get truly creative and make many DIY costumes. For those people, we have plenty of accessories to help you do just that, from face paints to capes to those costume accessories that help fully complete your outfit.
5. The fact that you can’t possibly see it all …
There’s just so much to do. There are brilliant music acts, amazing theatre, cabaret and puppet shows, people to meet, friends to shuffle around with and lots more besides. You’d have to do the festival 5 years in a row to grasp what all the different areas, zones, tents, stages and campsites are like, and even then you might not get a grasp of it all as it’ll change somewhat year-to-year! This makes Glastonbury easily one of the best festivals around.
6. It’s kept its 1960S/1970s spirit.
Glastonbury was born in 1970, just after the many brilliant festivals of the 60s. Glastonbury also ignited the free festival movement of the 1970s, where people and bands would bring their own equipment and create their own environment. This would directly inspire the outdoor raves of the 80s and 90s, the freetekno communities of Europe, Australia and North America, and to some extent the Burning Man and associated festivals from the 80s onwards.
Sadly, like many festivals of yesteryear, Glastonbury has had to start charging entrance fees. However, unlike many other festivals, corporate sponsorship isn’t a huge thing at Glastonbury, and there is no corporate advertising on the site (directly, anyway, and there have definitely been sponsors in the past, even if their branding is more subdued). This makes Glastonbury still one of the places to get an idea of what the counterculture was like both then and now.