Glastonbury 2007 Report
Despite the great start to the Glastonbury Festival 2007 - sat at the stone circle with my family as the swollen evening sun settled on a blissful Midsummer's Solstice (where I even managed to get myself a bit of a tan), the weather was to prove more than a little unkind as the festival progressed over the next few days.
A Glastonbury Wishing Tree Wish
Mid Summer's Night at the Stone Circle
The heavens had opened during the night and the rain had already started to form large puddles on the unforgiving clay-bed fields by the time we awoke the following morning. Although only the occasional shower blighted the remainder of the day, every centimeter of water that fell meant another centimeter added to the growing puddles - Glastonbury used to be an island and the surrounding land (including Worthy Farm - on which the Glastonbury Festival is held) certainly seemed intent on returning to its sub aquatic origins this week. After a day of squelching around all the stalls and displays, we retired to our camp to relax around an open fire, looking forward to the start of the music part of the festival the following day but fearful of the extent Glastonbury's infamous mud might blight our experience of it.
The rain was falling heavily when Friday dawned and the forecast was for worse to come. Nevertheless, armed against the elements in our wellies and kagools, we stepped out from our tent and into the mud and made our way to the music which had already started to thunder from the Pyramid Stage. During our travels from stage to stage (there were dozens of them scattered over the small city-sized site) and around the various attractions, we discovered that there were two types of mud to be negotiated - which we labelled 'Good Mud' (loose, watery stuff which splashed but could easily be waded through) and 'Bad Mud' (thick, sticky, quagmire stuff which held you fast and tried to steal the wellies from your feet). Unfortunately, it was this latter, spirit-draining mud that predominated at this year's Glastonbury Festival.
Mud...
Mud...
And Even More Mud...
Despite this, we all had a great time and caught some amazing gigs and acts. Amongst our personal highlights were Kasabian, Bjork, Mark Ronson, Bat for Lashes and the Manic Street Preachers as well as the stand up comedian Bill Bailey. My children also enjoyed Mika, the Circus Tent and the various activities in the Kidz Field. And as we lay down to sleep on our very last night at the festival, we all agreed that, given the opportunity, we would all love to visit the place again next year. Of course, that was before we had to pack our tent up at five in the morning in the torrential rain, had to drag our stuff through half a mile of foot-deep, flooded tracks just to reach our return coach home and then, when we got back to Swansea, had to ring round for a lift back to our house as we were all still too wet and muddy to get accepted into a taxi.
Balance
Alan Parsons
Bill Bailey
Billy Bragg
Carrying the Cross
The Kaiser Chiefs
A Moment's Respite
Waiting for Kasabian to Begin
2 comments:
OK, all those videos are working fine. That mud must have been horrible!
Festivals can be a daunting experience for first-timers. The Tickets4Festivals survival guide should help you...
Choose a good pitch - preferably away from the toilets
Test run putting your new tent up before you go as putting it up in the dark won’t be much fun, if it’s the first time.
don't wear your smart designer clothes - they'll get trashed at a festival.
Nobody likes a cold beer - take only what you mind drinking warm.
Don't take valuables to festivals - apart from the risk of them getting stolen or damaged or covered in mud, do you really need to take your ipod?
Make friends with those camping around you - that way people tend to keep an eye out for each other - for example it's easier to spot a "stranger" going into someone's tent. Plus you'll have a much better time if you socialise rather than keeping yourself to yourself - this is what festivals are all about!
…..If you’re getting on famously, remember to practise safe sex!
If you put a padlock on your tent, you might as well have a banner on it as well that says "there's something in here worth nicking".
The toilets at festivals are notoriously unpleasant, it's just something you'll have to put up with. Take baby wipes, and keep your loo roll in a waterproof plastic bag.
Smile, and have a good time!
www.onelouderfestivals.com
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