overview

This is the year Glastonbury re-established itself as the festival of the summer. Realistically it always has been, but after the mudbath of previous years and the press be-moaning both the headliners and ticket sales, this had to be the year Glastonbury proved itself again.

More people than ever it seemed wanted to get the full Glasto experience and so there was the usual scrum to get to the gates. I'm not sure why people are so determined to be there so early, there was more camping areas than ever before, and yet drivers who were far too tired created mayhem on the roads around the site.

We opted to leave an hour or too after gates opened and thus avoided the queues at both the car parks and the entrance gates. Glastonbury looked glorious, there seemed to be flags everywhere this year.



Wednesday traditionally is the quietest day, giving us all the chance to ease ourselves into the new pace of the tented city. There were food stalls and cafes open, there were new realms to explore, and after a while the bars opened.

The weather clearly influenced the mood, and the festival goers congregating at the cider bus, or finding the odd small venue with live music were all clearly ready to enjoy the festival.

A clear night was followed by a Thursday visiting the new bits of the site, a huge vista awaited above the sacred space amongst the many fluttering flags. Trash City wasn't open but looked tantalising, and Shangri La felt more earthy and traditional than it's glitzy predecessor. The Bimble Inn had moved, as had the tipi field and the Park Area was flanked by both. New arrivals also included Chai Wallahs, loads more loos, more solar showers, and the John Peel tent had had a makeover.



Leftfield opened proceedings with a fantastic evening of The Slackers, Pama International, and The Levellers – and by watching all three we missed the rain – exiting the tent to find the site slick with mud. Everyone had a slightly forlorn look, could the mud be here to stay?

The festival officially opened the next day, and by now the site was awash, not with mud, but with colour and smiles. We all realised this year was going to be different, the mud was hardening, a few showers didn't dampen spirits, and for the first time in years the cabaret and theatre field were traversable.

The field, re-named 'Bella's field' in honour of Arabella Churchil, one of the founders of the festival, was full of people, and performers peaked full of vest, as they were finally able to rove the fields, and entertain.

At the main stages, the crowds also gathered, and more and more the atmosphere of celebration built as the sun began to burst forth. Movement from one area to another was easy, the dance village was bustling, John Peel stage had two big screens, one inside and one out, the acoustic stage had a stepped bar to cope with the slope, and there were flags everywhere. toilets stayed clean, and it was clear that this would be a vintage year, all the kinks seemed to be ironed out.

Despite the media saying that Glastonbury had no killer line-up this year, there was a host of breaking talent across the stages, and as the rain started up I happened to be passing the Pyramid stage as The Feeling brought on a sing along, the crowd seemed oblivious to the light drizzle.

The weather cleared, and under the Jazzworld flags, we rested our feet to watch an incredible performance by Jimmy Cliff. We headed for Shangri La for late night antics, and wandered around jaws agape, before locating the real pub and beer garden, holing up until dawn.

Better weather brought an even better atmosphere, people were starting to enjoy themselves, we were spoilt for choice for breakfast, Gastonbury must surely have more food options than most cities do! We decided to wander the markets, before meandering up through an un-muddy Avalon, and on to the Green Fields, the festival within a festival. As the sun shone down we returned to Bella's field to laugh at the roving walkabouts, join in with the crowds, and even have a knees up with Pronghorn. After year's of not being able to fully explore it was fantastic to sample all that Glastonbury has to offer.



The highlight of the weekend came back at Jazzworld, with Joan Armatrading playing a fantastic rocked up set. The Park had a fantastic atmosphere for MGMT, and Jay-Z demolished critics with an awesome video montage, an opening of Wonderwall, and even a U2 song. Elsewhere numbers seemed down with everyone coming to see what the fuss was about, we heard CSS, and Massive Attack were terrific, and The Proclaimers had a big crowd at Avalon. Next door Trash City shot flames into the air, in a night warm enough to hang out on the grass, and discuss the day's highlights.

Sunday warmed up quickly, we packed the tent, and stowed it in the car, re-entering the site with lots of day trippers, who commented that they were surprised we weren't muddy. The surprise of the day was how good the legend slots were. Neil Diamond had a few good singalong moments, Eddy Grant was fantastic taking to the stage for the first time in two decades. But it was old crooner Leonard Cohen who took the perfect moment of the weekend award, as he rose emotions with a sunset 'Hallelujah', simply awesome.



We closed our festival finally seeing Manu Chao, in a truly international audience, with the Spanish celebrating their football exploits, before heading to Late n Live to see the Travelling Band, play until the power was shut off, and then continuing acoustically out on the tables. It seemed a fitting end to the festival.

We'd had a glorious festival, the infrastructure worked so well, that even the legendary Glastonbury loos might be a thing of the past. As it happens I saw much less bands than I usually do, but saw much more of the festival, and I felt I was not alone, there were more people sampling the arts side of the festival, and that's something I think the festival provides more successfully than any other. it was a year of new experiences for many, and it was great to find the suntan didn't wash off in the shower this year!



There was so much on this year, the multitude of stages, the myriad of entertainment, the funny moments, the laughs, the dressing up, the flags, the signs, Hobo Jones, the entertainers, the bands, the random friendly folk, the impromptu singalongs, the food, the colour, the beer, The Wurzels, the crafts, the crazy vehicles, the weird sculptures, the fireworks, the lanterns, the grass, the bubbles, the sights, the views, the cider, the wierdly dressed acts on the bandstand, the kids having a terrific time, even the police in fairy wings, this was the most fun you can ever have in a farmer's field.

To everyone who went, everyone who played, and everyone who organised it, thank you for breaking my heart when I had to leave, it's a whole year until the next one, what's the betting there's a mad scramble for tickets?

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