My Glastonbury 2024: Part 1, So It Begins.

2024 marked my 30^th Glastonbury Festival in the 45 years since my first one in 1979. I still get just as excited after all those years. As soon as the month of June arrives I start to get butterflies of anticipation which I call festival fever. On the Saturday night I was all packed and ready to go. I could barely sleep that night and kept waking up and looking at my alarm clock. On Sunday morning I was out on the square in Westbury at 6.45 and a small convoy of four vehicles arrived driven by Kate, Donna, Kellie and Russell. I opted to travel with Russell because I had never met him before, and it was a chance to get acquainted. We didn’t encounter any heavy traffic enroute and were in the carpark by 8.00. We had to queue up patiently for about an hour at the recyclers cabin outside Gate B to register for our wristbands, but soon we were on site in Tom’s Field once again. We had our tents up by 11.00 which is the earliest I have ever arrived at Worthy Farm. 

In The Queue.

We chilled out for the afternoon and sat around chatting as more members of Kate’s backstage team joined us such as Leon, another Donna, Heidi, Julie, Becky & Luke. We were later joined by Phil who we met last year. Amazingly, the first music I heard at this year’s festival was Astral Weeks by Van Morrison which was coming from a tent behind me. I congratulated them on their music taste. The man’s name was Carpy and he had got his son into Van. They were great people, and I enjoyed their music all festival.

We Are In!

Kate is a team leader backstage at the Pyramid Stage, so on Sunday evening she gave us a guided tour of the backstage area. I hadn’t been backstage at the Pyramid since 1982 when I worked there for Pee Wee from Trowbridge. These days it is a vast luxurious compound, and even the workers facilities are amazing. We sat in the huge canteen and helped ourselves to coffee and cake. Then we made our way to the Crew Bar at Arcadia. The main feature at Arcadia this year is a huge ex-navy helicopter which they have converted into an incredible dragonfly. 

Arcadia Dragonfly.

The crew bar here is huge and they serve food as well. I bumped into several old friends from previous years such as Paula & Bob and Stella. We had a long night in there. The intention was to have a last drink at the Acoustic Stage bar, but we were too exhausted, so me, Kellie, and Kate had a last one at the Bread & Roses saloon and then made our weary way back up Muddy Lane to Tom’s Field and sleep. 

On Monday morning the sun was already beating down as I emerged from my tent. After breakfast I put everything I might need for a day’s walking in my little backpack and set off for my traditional walk all over the 900-acre site. I headed for the Greenfields area which is now celebrating its 40^th anniversary since being established in 1984. 

My first stop as usual was the Tiny Tea Tent which has been in the same spot since 1992. It is a great place to sit and watch the world go by and relax with a cup of tea. One of the workers recognised me from previous years and shook hands. That is one of the great things about Glastonbury, the friendliness, and if you keep coming back then people remember you. I reached the Stone Circle and just sat in there for about an hour surveying the scene with my back resting against one of the stones. I wandered all over the site and even made the supreme effort to walk right up to the Glastonbury Sign which is a very steep climb. I felt quite pleased with myself that I can still do it at my age. You get a fabulous panoramic view of the whole site from up there. 

In the sky above a light airplane could be seen spelling out SO IT BEGINS in a vapour trail. By the time it got to the last S of BEGINS the first S of SO had already faded, but it was a good effort. That evening at dinner I got talking to Andrew from Cornwall who told me that there was an ancient Cornish kingdom called Dumnonia which extended as far as Glastonbury, so in ancient times Glastonbury was actually part of Cornwall. I met up with my great friends Peter, Helen, Paul and Gretta. We sat around talking and telling jokes and I finished the evening drinking brandy and lemonade and was in bed by midnight. I had walked about 15 miles that day.

Tuesday morning was another scorcher as the day began. A lady held the tap for me while I washed my hair in cold water. It was really refreshing. I could have stayed under that tap for half an hour. The programmes and our Veterans T-Shirts had arrived, so I collected them from the office. Who should come strolling along the path but our friend Odele who I first met at Glasto in 2013. Tom’s Field was quite crowded now, but she found a space for her tent just up from us. I didn’t leave Tom’s field all day because I had walked far enough the day before, and it was too hot. I wanted to be on good form for the quiz that evening. We just sat around, and I asked Odele potential questions that might come up. The Quiz began at just past 7.00. My team ‘The Glastafarians’ were as last year, myself, Peter, Helen, Odele, & Robin. We were former champions, so wanted the title back after a disappointing performance last year. We won by four clear points, so our reputation was restored, and we were once again champions. After having our photo taken with the Quiz master Bronwen we relaxed at Tom’s Bar basking in glory. I was in bed by midnight because tomorrow the gates opened to the 130,000 ticket holders and it was my first shift at work. As I drifted off to sleep little did I realise what drama and magical days lay ahead.

Quiz Champions, The Glastafarians, Helen, Peter, Me, Odele, Robin, & Bronwen.,

TO BE CONTINUED.............................