a legendary anniversary year for Glastonbury Festival

This year's Glastonbury Festival has all the makings of becoming the stuff of legend. Sunday's line-up is topped by Stevie Wonder who draws what has to be the biggest crowd ever assembled in front of the Pyramid to see his singalong set of hits and feel good numbers to "celebrate" Glastonbury's 40th Anniversary and close a 'vintage' Festival.

Wonder had the masses in rapture when he brought event founder Michael Eavis on to the stage saying, "I want to thank this wonderful man who's had this for 40 years. Yes, 40 years. It's a celebration. Happy Birthday." A huge massed chorus of "Happy Birthday" followed with farmer Eavis joining in on vocals.

Elsewhere festival favourites Orbital drew a decent crowd and Empire Of The Sun provided a visual treat to conclude proceedings on The Park Stage. Rodrigo y Gabriela also gathered a decent following at West Holts. Meanwhile on the most incredible looking stage at the festival, Arcadia, David Rodigan provided a fortieth anniversary celebration of the formation of Bob Marley & The Wailers, with enough flames to Catch a Fire.

A whole five days of sunshine with not a jot of rain is a rarity at Glastonbury, and the fields were dusty as fluttering flags and the occasional cloud provided shade during the morning.

The big clash of the day was the ill fated England match versus a rip roaring sing along to 'Sweet Child Of Mine', 'Paradise City' and more on the main stage with Slash, one of the most metal flavoured acts to ever gracce the Pyramid Stage.

For those footie fans who'd smashed up their vuvuzelas and were feeling the clouds of depression, there was Ray Davies filling the legend slot and he'd brought the Crouch End Festival Choir onstage with him to perform a string of Kinks hits including 'Sunny Afternoon', 'You Really Got Me', 'Lola', 'Waterloo Sunset', and 'All Day And All Of The Night'.

Faithless provided the last day's magical sunset slot entertainment and did not dissappoint, providing a wonderful worked soundtrack and a chance to take in our surroundings and take a chance to look around at the sights and sounds in this, the most iconic of arenas. Much like Maxi Jazz, I felt 'Become 1' was a moment never to be forgotten.

This year the festival had provided so much more Theatre, Circus, Poetry, Cabaret and alternative entertainment that the music almost took second place. Circolombia provided amazing acrobatics, and Ken Fox's incredible Wall of Death was an increddibly adrenaline fuelled experience. There were crowds in front of all the ground shows, and the new areas of The Common, Block9, and The Unfair Ground sat perfectly beside Shangri-La, and Climate Camp. This area really came into its own this year with mind bending site art, a host of random stages and bars, and a plethora of roving characters to make it an unforgettable experience.

The Green Fields too provided a wealth of skills to learn, and had a wonderful relaxed feel about it, a true festival within a festival away from the crowds sweltering in front of the main stage. The new kids' galleon, and Earth Dome Stage in the Greenpeace area also provided a nice base for those with young families.

Glastonbury offers a wealth of fun just for kids, with the huge Kidz' Field, and they turned up in their masses to enjoy the weekend. The mix of people attending the festival was as diverse as ever, with a nice global flavour and a diverse audience. It's also worth mentioning the huge range of food on offer, the Festival was a Gastronomic delight for many providing a wealth of choices from around the world to sample, alongside the more regular burger and chips, pizza, sandwiches and the like.

Festival organiser Michael Eavis and family, who have seen the festival grow into the largest and most diverse festival in the world must be heartily congratulated for giving us such a wonderful experiance over the last 40 years. It's staggering to think of how much time and effort went into making the event so thrilling, and so diverse, and the people who have worked so hard to achieve such a bounty must be heartily congratulated for providing a Festival which incredibly managed to offer more possibilities to thrill, entertain, and get involved than ever before.

The only downside, the Chinese lanterns whilst they look amazing in the sky, the amount of falling glowing embers (and wire - that's bad for the cows) in such a dry environment there was a risk of tents catching fire. The dying grey lanterns fell like jellyfish from the sky, raining down on the site, and surrounding fields. On the way home the roads and fields were littered with their husks which will cause a new clean up headache for the Festival.

With the wealth of entertainment on offer, it doesn't matter who the three headliners are that the dairy farmer says he has already booked for next year, the Festival will be the most extra-ordinary experience of the year, and we all have such amazing memories of a most treasured annivesary as we make our journeys home.

We'll have loads of reviews and pictures of the festival online shortly (we're recovering just like you are).

Latest Updates