Glastonbury 2003 : lost and found

Michael Eavis normally claims it to be "the best Glastonbury ever" - regardless of how it actually was, and this year (although we've yet to see any such quote) he could be right. In my eyes - with 14 now under my belt - it was the best since at least '94.

Lost
Lost were the majority of the scumbags that prey on the Festival and the Festival go-ers. Final crime figures were down 47%, with just 316 reported crimes, and robbery down 79%. Tent thefts were about a third of all crimes, with that reduced by 26%. There were 167 arrests, with about half for drug offences, and the rest for theft. The crime we were aware of was the opportunist kind: bags left packed and unattended on Sunday night, or purses taken from unzipped tents while the occupants slept soundly inside.

Also lost was much of the dullness the surrounded last year; the vibe was just so much better everywhere around the site, although it peaked on Friday, too early. Even a few heavy but short showers didn't dampen the fun.

Found
Found was a spirit of community, with everyone pulling together to give the Festival a more secure future. The "don't piss on the hedges" message got through by and large, with just a few of the selfish feeling they had the right to piss where they pleased, and often (rightly!) abused for their actions by those passing by. To help eliminate the problem more in future years, more urinals in particular are needed around the site, and particularly closer to one of two of the stages.

More than planned found the new Lost Stage ... on Friday night around 4,000 were treated to an absolutely superb set by Nightmares On Wax, with shouts for "MORE" still ringing out a full ten minutes after the curfew. On Saturday, with 5,000 or so having witnessed Eat Static, extra stewards had to be called to the area to help deal with the crowds, and around a thousand more still ended their Festival with Zion Train on Sunday.

Lost Vagueness also found itself a popular end to a Festival day, with busy crowds every evening. Security were stopping more entering on Sunday night, even tho it wasn't as full as at other times. This was the place for the after curfew entertainment, and it didn't disappoint. Back in the Stone Circle in force each night were the drummers, beating out right through until sunrise, with loads gathering to see the dawn.

There were fantastic performances on all the stages, whatever your musical tastes. One that stands out particularly were Junior Senior in the New Tent on Friday, who had the whole crowd jumping madly - to the tent edges and beyond. Radiohead - although hugely popular - didn't draw as big a proportion of the crowd as Bowie in 2000, with the larger numbers strolling around or watching at other stages very noticable.

Numbers aren't expected to be increased for next year, with Michael Eavis feeling that there were enough there this year. The crowd was older and more ethnically diverse than last year, and this probbaly added to the great atmosphere, with less fanatic interest in the "big name" bands. Yet ironically this is seen as a problem: different methods of distributing the tickets next year are still being investigated, but one current favourite amongst the organisers is distributing 20-30,000 tickets to students, as a way of boosting the number of teenagers and diversity amongst the crowd.

The first of our photo galleries are now online, with hundreds more still to come (including Radiohead, Electric Six, Feeder, Flaming Lips, Jimmy Cliff, Polyphonic Spree, Sigur Ros, The Music, The Rapture with Bez, Yes and many, many more). They'll be loads of reviews too!

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