Dreaming of the solar day when Glasto tickets were only £ 1 .
Glastonburyis considered by many to be the greatest music festival in the world, and as someone who’s been, I can confirm it most definitely is. With Glasto right around the corner, I wanted to look into somefun factsabout the history festival. Here’s what I learned…
1.The firstGlastonbury Festival(originally called thePilton Pop, Blues & Folk Festival) was held in 1970, the day afterJimi Hendrixdied.
2.It was started so alocal farmer couldclear his overdraft.
3.And his “one wish” is to getFleetwood Macto perform.
4.The iconic Pyramid stage has been throughseveral iterations.
5.The location, shape, and design of the stage hold a lot of power.
6.In 1971 – the first year the pyramid stage was introduced – tickets wereFREE.
David Bowie at Glastonbury in 1971.Photographer unknown.pic.twitter.com/wACzISuoYf
7.Glastonbury takes a “fallow year” (a year off) every five years so the farm land can recover.
8.In addition to its headliners, Glastonbury also has a “legends slot”, which has seen many iconic artists perform, including Diana Ross in 2022, Dolly Parton in 2014, and Paul Simon in 2011.
9.Glastonbury is not just about the music! It also has strong ties to sustainability, philanthropy, and local causes.
10.It also has relaxing/therapeutic areas such as theHealing Field.
11.There are also loads of secret and immersive areas that require insider knowledge to access, such asThe Rabbit HoleandThe Underground Piano Bar.
12.There’s even a pop-upNew York Discoinspired gay club, NYC Downlow.
13.The festival site is bigger than two countries combined!
14.And with a population of over 200,000 people, for 1 weekend out of the year, the festival site at Glastonbury becomes the7th biggest city in the south of England.
15.With that many people, imagine the amount of toilets needed… Luckily, there areover 3,300 toiletsand over 700 metres of urinals across the site.
16.Van Morrison holds the record for themost Pyramid Stage performances ever.
17.Speaking of breaking records, Sir Paul McCartney made history in 2022,becoming the oldest ever solo headlinerat the age of 80.
18.And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Billie Eilish also made history in 2022 by becoming theyoungest ever headliner of the festival.
19.Jay-Z became thefirst rapper to ever headline Glastonburyin 2008.
20.And in 2019, Stormzy became thefirst Black solo British artistto headline.
21.You technically don’thaveto pay to get aticket.
22.Which is good to know, since tickets have been known to sell out in33 minutes!!
From personal experience, I can truly say there is no place on this earth like Glastonbury. If you’re trying for tickets in 2024, I wish you the best of luck! But remember, there’s thousands of toilets you can always clean to go for free.
Glastonbury 2023is taking place from Wednesday 21st June to Monday 26th June, with headliners Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses, and Elton John.
