Festival review by : Helen Tatch

Glastonbury Festival 1999

Friday 25th to Sunday 27th June 1999
Worthy Farm, Pilton, nr Glastonbury, Somerset, England
£83

After two years of congering through swamps and kissing goodbye my beloved purple DM's as they were submerged by mud to remain forever the property of Worthy Farm, it was almost too much to hope for to see the sun rise over Glastonbury. But come the Friday and we were indeed basked in glorious sunshine, as if Mother Nature herself had decided to pay her own personal tribute to Jean Eavis.

However, the Glastonbury Festival really does not need great weather in order to make it a totally awesome experience, and as with previous years my favourite part of the festival was the total friendliness of it all. To spend 4 days in a world where everyone seems to love everyone else is always a pretty amazing experience, although the scum who steal from other people's tents, or - worse still - from Water Aid, are a harsh reminder to us all that there are those out there who do not seem to share this philosophy.

The festival could not have got off to a better start than with the hilarious Bare Naked Ladies on the Friday afternoon, who managed to put almost all who watched them into a mood suiting to the occasions, and as always there were many brilliant bands. My only criticism of the festival is that personally I would have prefered to see all the dance acts kept within the boundaries of the dance tent and not spreading to the main stage. Not because I don't like bands like Underworld - I do. But if I wished to go to a dance festival I would do just that. A feeling that was seemingly shared by the various hecklers in the audience during Underworld's performance.

Aside from the music there was, as always, a wealth of other attractions. One of my favourite being a wheelchair that had been converted into a water-pistol yielding radio controlled robot that surprised many an unsuspecting passer by.

As usual Select magazine provided an excellent service with their free daily papers keeping us all informed about the latest festival news. Keep up the good work guys!

By the end of the festival I was having to fight back the tears because it was all over. The prospects of returning to the real world are harsh indeed after such a brilliant weekend. But at least I'm safe in the knowledge that the festival is set to continue for a good few years yet, and I'm already looking forwards to next year. See you all then.