My Glastonbury Adventure 2025: Part 2, 'A Dramatic Incident'.

Michael & Emily Eavis.

I emerged from my tent all bleary eyed on Monday morning at about 6.30, quickly pulled on my boots and made a dash to the loo. It is a myth about how bad Glastonbury’s famous long drop toilets are. These days they are kept adequately clean by teams of volunteers from Water Aid who I call the Poo Fighters. So, total respect to them. After a quick wash I made my way to the workers marquee for breakfast. We didn’t have meal tickets this year. We were given a bar code when we collected our t-shirts and gloves. The bar-code had to be scanned every mealtime. I must say that the catering was a vast improvement on last year and the food was delicious. I’m not famous for my cooking and I ate better at Glasto than I do at home, so congratulations to the hard-working catering staff. This year I was determined to cut down on any unnecessary walking because the previous year I had walked about 15 miles a day all over the 900-acre vast site. My aching feet were so blistered and sore I could hardly walk by Sunday night. Therefore, I never left Tom’s Field until the early evening, just sat around chilling and chatting with old friends until Kellie announced it was Beer O’clock and I cracked open a can of cider. 

Kellie.

After dinner on Monday evening Me, Kate and Kellie walked down to the Acoustic crew bar where they met Kate’s friend John, and I sat with Peter, Paul, Greta, Helen, and some other people whose names I can’t remember. Peter said that it was going to be very hot later in the week, so it was important not to look at The Sun,…or the Daily Mail, ..or The Express, which is the only joke I can remember. Finally, it was time to make our way home. “Come along children”, I said, guiding them back up Muddy Lane. Back at base, me and Peter decided to have one last drink in Tom’s Bar. I asked for two cold ciders and Laurie who has run the Bar for at least 20 years said, “Those drinks are on me, I’ve known you boys a long time”, which was another example of the kindness of Glasto folk.

Kate, Heidi, Me, John.

I thought Tuesday would be another quiet day of just hanging out and chilling. It began quietly enough but ended with some high drama in the evening. I could hear the pitter-patter of rain on my tent when I awoke, so I just turned over and went back to sleep until 9.30. I had missed breakfast, but never mind, 8 hours sleep is great by Glasto standards. The programmes had arrived, so I picked one up at the office and sat outside the marquee drinking tea, reading the programme, and talking to old mates like Pete, Bob & Paula from Nottingham, and Mani who drew mine and Odele’s portrait last year. In the afternoon Leon and Donna who had gone home on Sunday for work returned and we even had a glass of champagne. I kept telling my fellow campers stories about my previous experiences which always began with, “In the old days at Glastonbury”, until Kellie said I reminded her of Uncle Albert in Only Fools & Horses who always started a tale with “During the war”.

My Wristbands.

Odele messaged to say that she was arriving late and would probably miss the annual recyclers quiz at 7.00. That was a bit of a blow because our team The Glastafarians were the reigning champions. Greta and Paul were also meant to be in our team, but we wondered what had happened when they didn’t show up. So, our depleted team was just me, Peter, Helen, and Robin. When the first question was ‘In what year did Brian Wilson give a memorable performance on the Pyramid Stage?’ I thought it was a good omen that we would win again. Sadly, we only came 3^rd, but we still have the best record of any team, with our two previous victories. The entry fees always go to charity which makes it all worthwhile. Right at the end Greta’s husband Paul arrived and told us the reason for their absence. 

Festival Medical Services.

Earlier in the evening Greta and her friend Mary went to the carpark to bring in more stuff. On the way there they saw a man collapse on the ground. He was having a heart attack. Greta and Mary are both nurses and knew exactly what to do without panicking. They performed CPR on the man and contacted Festival Medical Services. An ambulance arrived within two minutes because they are already on site. The ambulance staff used a defibrillator on the man and transferred him to the air ambulance. Within a few minutes he was flown to hospital in Bristol. The good news is that he survived. He is a very lucky man because he would have almost certainly died if Greta and Mary hadn’t been there. 

Opening Ceremony.

Later that night I met up with Odele and talked with her and Steve until retiring early just past midnight. There was to be lots more excitement the next day. The gates were to be opened, and 130,000 people would pour onto Worthy Farm. Thousends of people were already in the queue and sleeping in cars outside, eager to get a good spot for their tents. There was to be an opening ceremony, and also, our friend Heidi was to appear on the Vernon Kay show to millions of listeners on BBC Radio 2 live from Tom’s Field. I’ll tell you all about that in the next instalment.

To Be Continued...........................