haunted_mike
07-02-2004, 08:34 AM
Here in the UK we don't have any Disneylands - the nearest is in Paris, but for the full experience we have to trek to the USA, which for most of us doesn't happen too often (unless you're in the know ;-))
This past weekend though I was lucky enough to visit the UK's own version of the Magic Kingdom: Glastonbury Festival. I've only really just recovered to the point where I can remember all the fantastic, magical times that I experienced and all the wonderful characters that I met over the weekend, but thought I would share some of them with you.
Arriving on site you realise that what you are stepping in to is much more than a festival - it's an huge 900 acre makeshift town which springs up for just one week every year at the end of June in the rolling British countryside. For the rest of the year the site is a dairy farm but for just this week the farmer turns it in to the best, most magical place in the whole world. It's a town which plays host to 150,000 residents from all walks of life, all out to have some fun, it has it's own daily newspaper, radiostation, shopping areas and more, the only thing this town doesn't have is any houses - it's strictly camping room only.
With this in mind I found myself a space to pitch my tent over by the Pyramid (main) stage. The Pyramid Stage is located in a huge natural ampitheater that can hold around 60,000 people, it's here that all the big bands come out to play (this year's headliners were Oasis and Paul McCartney (ex-Beatle)). After getting settled in I took my first trip to one of the festivals 2500 "portaloos" (plastic toilet cubicals) - thats 1 toilet for every 65 people, so as you can imagine things take a turn for the worse around these areas rather quickly!
Moving swiftly on.... let's take a tour of the site!
Glastonbury has 6 main music areas - they are the Pyramid Stage as mentioned above, the Other Stage (a second outdoor stage), the Dance Tent (modern electronic music), the New Bands Tent, the Acoustic Tent and the One World Stage (outdoor stage showcasing world music). There are also many smaller often improptu music areas too, these you just kind of stumble upon whilst wandering the site.
Aside from the music though, what makes Glastonbury special are all the other things to see and do. There are 7 shopping villages which offer alsorts of weird and wonderful merchandise and foods. There is a Wedding Chaple where people come to get married, a casino, rollerdisco and a cinema field. There's also a huge firework display that Disney would be proud of!
Glastonbury has a unique spirit to it - the site is on leylines of religious signifigance which many say is what lends the festival this spirit. Infact at the very top of the site is a large clear area called the Sacred Space - a large ring of stone henge style monoliths. Everyone on the site is laid back, having fun, and full of love. It's as if 160,000 people have all escaped from the real world for a few days and left there cares, inhibitions and predjuices behind them. wow. What's more all the profits that Glastonbury raises are donated to good causes such as Oxfam, Greenpeace and Wateraid.
I never wanted to leave.
Well I didn't intend this to turn in to a giant trip report, and I've only mentioned a few of the things which make this place so special.
I liken it to a Walt Disney World for grown ups, but the difference is that at Glastonbury the magic isn't imagineered or dreamt up by corporate suits - no the magic here is real, created by a combination of the beautiful spiritual site and the 160,000 revellers who each bring there own contribution to the magic with them.
I won't bang on any longer though, it's just so hard to put it in to words. Just go there one year and see for yourself.
Any questions???
(PS. see some pictures at http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/glastonbury/pics/index24.shtml and in "circlevision" at http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/glastonbury/360/pyramid.shtml
This past weekend though I was lucky enough to visit the UK's own version of the Magic Kingdom: Glastonbury Festival. I've only really just recovered to the point where I can remember all the fantastic, magical times that I experienced and all the wonderful characters that I met over the weekend, but thought I would share some of them with you.
Arriving on site you realise that what you are stepping in to is much more than a festival - it's an huge 900 acre makeshift town which springs up for just one week every year at the end of June in the rolling British countryside. For the rest of the year the site is a dairy farm but for just this week the farmer turns it in to the best, most magical place in the whole world. It's a town which plays host to 150,000 residents from all walks of life, all out to have some fun, it has it's own daily newspaper, radiostation, shopping areas and more, the only thing this town doesn't have is any houses - it's strictly camping room only.
With this in mind I found myself a space to pitch my tent over by the Pyramid (main) stage. The Pyramid Stage is located in a huge natural ampitheater that can hold around 60,000 people, it's here that all the big bands come out to play (this year's headliners were Oasis and Paul McCartney (ex-Beatle)). After getting settled in I took my first trip to one of the festivals 2500 "portaloos" (plastic toilet cubicals) - thats 1 toilet for every 65 people, so as you can imagine things take a turn for the worse around these areas rather quickly!
Moving swiftly on.... let's take a tour of the site!
Glastonbury has 6 main music areas - they are the Pyramid Stage as mentioned above, the Other Stage (a second outdoor stage), the Dance Tent (modern electronic music), the New Bands Tent, the Acoustic Tent and the One World Stage (outdoor stage showcasing world music). There are also many smaller often improptu music areas too, these you just kind of stumble upon whilst wandering the site.
Aside from the music though, what makes Glastonbury special are all the other things to see and do. There are 7 shopping villages which offer alsorts of weird and wonderful merchandise and foods. There is a Wedding Chaple where people come to get married, a casino, rollerdisco and a cinema field. There's also a huge firework display that Disney would be proud of!
Glastonbury has a unique spirit to it - the site is on leylines of religious signifigance which many say is what lends the festival this spirit. Infact at the very top of the site is a large clear area called the Sacred Space - a large ring of stone henge style monoliths. Everyone on the site is laid back, having fun, and full of love. It's as if 160,000 people have all escaped from the real world for a few days and left there cares, inhibitions and predjuices behind them. wow. What's more all the profits that Glastonbury raises are donated to good causes such as Oxfam, Greenpeace and Wateraid.
I never wanted to leave.
Well I didn't intend this to turn in to a giant trip report, and I've only mentioned a few of the things which make this place so special.
I liken it to a Walt Disney World for grown ups, but the difference is that at Glastonbury the magic isn't imagineered or dreamt up by corporate suits - no the magic here is real, created by a combination of the beautiful spiritual site and the 160,000 revellers who each bring there own contribution to the magic with them.
I won't bang on any longer though, it's just so hard to put it in to words. Just go there one year and see for yourself.
Any questions???
(PS. see some pictures at http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/glastonbury/pics/index24.shtml and in "circlevision" at http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/glastonbury/360/pyramid.shtml