Glastonbury Festival

The festival takes place on a vast, sprawling piece of land of 900 acres. The festival is greatly influenced by 'hippy' ethics. Michael Eavis was inspired to start a musical festival after attending the 'Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music' in 1970.

'Worthy Farms', the place where Glastonbury music festival is organized, lies between the 'Pilton' and 'Pylle' villages; six miles away from the town of Glastonbury. The farm is situated in the beautiful valley of Avalon, at the head of the river White lake.

The Festival
The festival hosts a variety of shows and allows numerous artists from the world over, to display their talent. The 'Pyramid' stage at the north of the farm and acoustic tents, circus and comedy tents to the east are the main attractions during the festival. The backstage compound is almost always occupied by various band crews. Craftworks and traditional arts are displayed in the space to the south of the farm. Charity functions are organized at the bar which is located near the backstage.

Organizing the Festival
Organizing such gigantic festivals is not an easy task. The Glastonbury Festival is the best example of an highly organized activity, carried out to manage a huge audience between 150,000 and 170,000. Organizing festivals on such a huge scale requires support from all the sections - the audience, participants, volunteers and the authorities. From 2002 onwards, 'Festival Republic' a firm from the UK which also conducts the festivals, 'Readings' and 'Leeds' annually, takes care of the security and logistics of the Glastonbury festival. For organizing the festival every year a company is formed, which is owned jointly by 'Festival Republic' and the 'Glastonbury Festival's Ltd.' 'Left Field' which is organized by Geoff Martin, does the arduous task of managing stages spread across the vast area of the 'Worthy' farm. 'Oxfam' a non-governmental organization brings in around 1400 stewards, for organizing the event. 'Carlsberg', a Danish brewing company sponsors the beer bars during the festival. Catering and retail services are contracted to local companies which also helps their business grow. There is a separate food stand for vegetarians.

Hitches and Setbacks
The year 1990 saw a violent outbreak in the form of a fight between security guards and people from a group, 'New Age Travellers'. The 1991 festival was canceled due to the violence. During the 1992 festival, the 'New Age Travellers' were not allowed to roam around for security reasons. The floods of 1997, 1998 and 2005 affected the Glastonbury festival to some extent; however, the festival is running smoothly thereafter.

Popularity
The popularity of the Glastonbury festival of England is rising year after year. The festival to be held in 2009 received a huge response in the form of 137,500 tickets bookings till 5th October, 2008.

History of the Festival
The festival made a modest start in 1970 but, has grown tremendously, thereafter. The first festival held in 1970 was known as the 'Pilton Festival'. It was attended by just 1,500 people as opposed to a mammoth 177,000 of 2007. The 'Pyramid' stage was first installed in 1971 by Bill Harkin and has remained the focal point of the festival over the years. During the festival held in 2007, a cow from the farm died, as it accidentally ingested a metal peg that was left behind. The authorities called for a "Leave No Trace Campaign" during the next festival in 2008. The campaign received a huge response and the festival was awarded 'The Green Festival Award' for the year 2008.

The Glastonbury festival is an open and free platform for aspiring artists. Musicians and other performing artists make the most of this great opportunity presented to them every year. With the audience and the artists getting the maximum benefit, the Glastonbury festival proves to be a win-win formula for music lovers.