The Glastonbury Festival is here again. The UK’s largest music festival takes place at Pilton, Somerset between the 21st and 25th of June and promises, once again, to be a spectacular and historic event.
Glastonbury is attended by around 200,000 people, a logistical challenge for the security, transport, water, and electricity-supply infrastructure. The record attendance of 300,000 was set in 1994 when the Levellers headlined to perform on The Pyramid Stage. Most festival staff are volunteers, helping the festival to raise millions of pounds for charity organisations.
Roots of the event
As a major event in British culture, the festival continues to be inspired by the 1960s ‘hippie’ counterculture and the free-festival movement. Vestiges of these traditions are retained in the Green Fields area, which includes sections known as the Green Futures, the Stone Circle and Healing Field.
History
Dairy farmer Michael Eavis first hosted what was known as The Pilton Festival in 1970 on his land at Worthy Farm, inspired by established UK events such as the Richmond and Reading National Jazz and Blues Festivals of the 1960s and, of course, the legendary USA Woodstock music festival in 1969.
In 1971 the Glastonbury Fayre, which included an early appearance by David Bowie, was recorded for both an album and a documentary film. Although smaller and largely unplanned, events were held in 1978 and 1979, it was not until 1981 that the annual festival was revived and continued to grow in popularity attracting top acts such as The Cure, Oasis, Beyoncé, Coldplay, and Adele.
Two top rock celebrities who have associations with Glastonbury have appeared in our free magazine, The World of Personal Number Plates.
Nick Mason
Drummer of Pink Floyd
250 GTOAlthough scheduled for both 1971 and 2002, Pink Floyd never actually performed at Glastonbury but Floyd drummer Nick Mason did appear in Issue 52!
Jay Kay
Jamiroquai
JAY 1KIssue 51 featured an interview with Jay Kay, who is no stranger to the festival, having appeared in 1993 and 1995 with Jamiroquai.
Top of the bill
The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the pandemic but the festival returned in 2022 headlined by Paul McCartney. This year features the Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses and a final UK performance by Elton John.
Let it rock!
If you are a music fan, what better way could there be to show your allegiance to your favourite band or artiste by displaying their name on your car?
Or, you could choose from thousands of more general examples resembling music-related words. Here are just a few:
