It's not about the music

[grumpyhack]

The standard response to the whingers banging on about the line up - apart from f**k off and go to V - is that Glasto is not about the music. So let's start listing some of the things apart from the music that Glasto is about.

For me it's the friends I meet up with each year (though to be fair I could meet up with them at other fests) so, in no particular order it's:

The beautiful site. Set in a bowl where you can look across to the other hillside lit up by campfires at night.

The view of The Pyramid from the hillside - and from under the Oak tree where you can appreciate the enormity of the whole thing.

The food. Great choice of food from all over the world. You could eat from a different country every day and no need to look at a burger all week.

The Stone Circle. What a wonderful place to sit and chill.

The flags. Such colour.

The craft fields and stalls. Amazing to watch people making such beautiful things.

I could go on but let's have a few of your thoughts.

[srvman]

its just how it really shouldnt work but it just does,

it is amazing how thousands of people can move from one place to another in an organised chaos,

and the way that EVERYone smiles,

its just the way id imagine heaven would be if there was one....

[no1_foxymama]

Its the dizzying glee when that wednesday night sunset cheer goes up all across the site, everyone united in one all-mighty WOOOOOOO!

Its the fact you can waltz to an eastern-European polka band in the mud with a man in a massive red balloon (no, I wasn't on acid)

Its the fact all my friends can have that time together, and, come rain or shine, we'll have a blast

Its the pond walk

Its Tony Benn

Its the smallest disco in the WORLD

Its finding the LOVE

Its the fact that when I take my son for the first time, I know he will be able to get trapeeze lessons

Its the pyrotechnics you can see from the stone circle every night, although you never quite make your way to see them

Its the fact you can gather round a camp fire with your mate who plays the guitar, and by sunrise you've also aquired an irish drum, a flute and a bottle of aftershock haha

Its the rabbit hole

Its the politics

Its the funny man trying to climb up the flag pole in front of the Jazz/World stage on the Wednesday night that captures the attention of all around him

Its the art

Its learning about the work of the CND

Its the sights, sounds, touch, taste and smells....its home

And believe me, I f**king love music on top of all that

[pie_and_a_pint]

Being constantly drunk for five days in a place which is somewhere akin to Utopia.

The food.

The fact that you can see the most eclectic and random selection of bands all in the space of a day.

Finding things you've never found before.

The flags blowing in the wind.

The sheer beauty of the Vale of Avalon.

The cool, funky, brilliant people!

But most of all:

Just being able to BE for a few days.

[fantomas]

(it is partly about the music, and the wide-range thereof).

[biscant]

(it is partly about the music, and the wide-range thereof).

[grumpyhack]

It's the chance to stop being the me I have to be but instead become the person I'd love to be for six days every year.

[hazey_jane]

It's about bimbling around seeing something new.

Wandering through the circus fields and laughing till your eyes water at some comedian/ juggler/ acrobat.

Having a laugh (and a sneaky snooze!) in the comedy tent.

Munching my way through various culinary delights- and a good piping hot jacket potato with beans and cheese

Most importantly- the lemon pear cider!

Edited April 2, 2009 by hazey_jane

[minkitzka]

its just how it really shouldnt work but it just does

[mimis]

Ahhh I love this thread, I feel all warm inside now. So true that everyone just 'gets' it without it ever having to be spoken about.

The enormity of it all

the attitudes of everyone- caring and smiling

discovering something new - music, food, any random thing round the next corner

being lost for hours on end with no battery and making new friends, experiencing new things, having a totally altered reality to the 9 to 5 we are used to. Time becomes irrelevant, enjoyment and love comes first.

The sheer beauty and magic of the area and the site itself.

Those flickering lights from up at the stone circle, THAT view. Those cheers, and a genuine sense of unity I'm yet to find anywhere else.

For me, the Pyramid is ok, a necessity, enjoyable.. a landmark.. but ultimately, alone, it would be nothing, especially with the line up that indie/emo/the next big/'alternative' craze followers would like to see play it.

Cannot wait to be back there. The most romantic time that my partner and I have shared together, was strolling around the Greenfields/Pennards/who knows where else, a lil bit merry on I think it was Wednesday or Thursday night of 2005, enjoying the cheers, smiles, woodsmoke and views.

and that's about 2% of the reasons I love Glasto

[denwyn]

Last year was my first glaso at the grand old age of **, i got blasted for saying its all about the music, and i did go just for the music,but i must admit i enjoyed many other things while there. i'm there again this year and while i still go mainly for the music i will look futher now and enjoy more of the atmosphere... I still can't get into the wierd stuff going on, but thats proberbly just me,having done it all before in the 60's,its a festival like no other and needs exploring...Myself i am happy just to chill out to the music,and a few beers

[Funkfarley]

Sunrise on the friday morning,

Sticking your head out of your tent (Or just as you are getting back in your tent)

Hazy light,

campfire smoke lingering above the camps,

nice blue sky,

The sound of gentle chatter on the breeze, and distant drums,

The damp dewy summer morning air,

and the feeling that today, something amazing, this way comes.

Ahhhh. Magic.

Edited April 3, 2009 by Funkfarley

[Francis Biley]

Yes, its all these things, being able to hear the 'Mexican Wave' of sound as it passes through 170,000 people; its the sum of nearly 40 years of energy/history, and of course the music and food, and the stunning way that 170,000 people can simply come together for along weekend. But its more than that, in the words of John Daido Loori "Our world is full of internal dialogue, analysis, evaluation, classification. We choose knowing over direct experience. Yet, in knowing, we kill reality, or, at least, we make it inaccessible". And I hope Im not making this too tedious, but Walt Whitman said..."You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and water-craft [and Glasto?]; a certain free margin, and even vagueness - perhaps ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things". What does this mean? For me it means don't try to understand it (Glasto), just be it.

[Pinhead]

The only true sense of community I know, albeit temporary, but more real and sincere than I have ever felt elsewhere.

[Monkismo]

All of the above plus the fact that there are no rules about what alcohol you can take with you and where you can take it. One thing I hate about V and Reading/Leeds is the whole arena thing they've got going on where they search you on the way in and force you to buy their awful weak lager brands inside. They even have to check you when you go back to the campsite and if you don't get there early enough you could be around half an hour's walk from the arena!! I also like the fact that everyone at Glastonbury is there for the full time and gets into the outdoor spirit. The other fests always seem to attract more chavs and with the introduction of day tickets just seem a bit too clean to me. Give me wet wipes, long drops, greasy hair and an excuse to grow a beard any day!!

[MUZRAE]

Whilst I agree with the comments and views above, one thing does stick out - The line up is still very poor... C'mon... The ting tings for example - really.... I have been to Glasto for a number of years, but by far this is the worse line up ever....

Micheal Evis said in 07 that he wanted to attract a younger crowd - the following year (08) the line up was hmmmhhhh and this year - not a single decent act. When you look at the other Festival's happening this year look at their line up and already confirmed... I agree that we have a better time at Glasto and no other festival compares and that it is the longest running festival compared to V, Reading and T in the Park, but isn't it about time we have decent artists playing and certainly not the likes of Lilly Allen, Tony Christie as headliners...

I know the line up isn't confirmed, however, it doesn't look promising!!!!

Bring on the Rain, Mud and the Cider bus (I have sooo missed the Hot & Spicy Cider)..

See you all there - have a great time.

M

[The Nal]

Micheal Evis said in 07 that he wanted to attract a younger crowd - the following year (08) the line up was hmmmhhhh and this year - not a single decent act.

[russycarps]

for me it's about

*girls in short skirts and wellies

*weeing in a bottle in your tent but missing the hole and weeing on your sleeping bag

*having your toilet paper get wet and your finger going through and up your bum when wiping

*putting a girl on your shoulders and underestimating her weight/your alcohol consumption and dropping her in the mud

*dying for a shit during your favourite band and not wanting to leave and when you finally do make a run for the toilet it being too little too late and shitting yourself.

*chucking shitted undies down the longdrops

all these things happened to "a mate" last year...

[The Nal]

for me it's about

*girls in short skirts and wellies

*weeing in a bottle in your tent but missing the hole and weeing on your sleeping bag

*having your toilet paper get wet and your finger going through and up your bum when wiping

*putting a girl on your shoulders and underestimating her weight/your alcohol consumption and dropping her in the mud

*dying for a shit during your favourite band and not wanting to leave and when you finally do make a run for the toilet it being too little too late and shitting yourself.

*chucking shitted undies down the longdrops

all these things happened to "a mate" last year...

[Matt 100]

To right girls in short skirts & wellies is defo one of my highlights

[grumpyhack]

It's also about setting your own clock. Get up when you want, go to bed (or not) when you want. If it wasn't for wanting to see certain bands at certain times I could happily leave my watch at home.

[FestMonster]

its about feeling like you are part of somthing special every year you go

[amfy]

It's about being totally engaged with your life the whole time you are there. I wish I could take that back with me. I always mean to but find that in the real world I just waste bits of it - at Glastonbury every waking moment is something.

[amfy]

.......even the bits you waste!

[Wooderson]

I could go on but let's have a few of your thoughts.