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Glastonbury Pilgrims
Glastonbury is a festival bohemoth, we all know that, but we haven't all been down to the west country to experience it. So for those of you wanting a bit of an insight, here is Sophie from Wandsworth with her low down:
I've been going to Glasto since I was 17 and it's turned into something of an annual pilgrimage. The line-up is virtually irrelevant on the basis that the music is only one part of the offer of Glastonbury. You could spend the whole weekend away from the main stages just wandering the green fields, healing fields, circus, theatre and cabaret tents, various pop up restaurants, climbing the ribbon viewing tower and finding unknown, often unsigned, musicians and singers on bandstands and mini stages all over the site. That said the line up is very good - although I admit it was less exciting than the 40th anniversary of last year.
The atmosphere is really good although the festival is edging slowly towards the mass-appeal, mass attendance festivals, and I would argue that having been since 2003 the tickets sales seem to be increasing yearly making it even more packed and less easy to move about the site. However, the mood and general hippy feel is something that remains a rare find at music festivals, certainly of those that i've tried.
The highlight act for me was Dreadzone in the West Dance Tent - a long standing favourite band, they always seem to get a crowd jumping and it's always a pleasure to be in the crowd. The standout moment however was Elbow's attempt at getting however many thousand spectators to perform a "front to back" mexican wave for their viewing pleasure. It worked - and there's nothing like being part of a "whole" (it was a similar at Faithless's "We Come One" last year when they encouraged the crowd to raise their index fingers in the air each time the chorus came around!)
Glastonbury is an experience that everyone (or rather "everyone who is good with camping and prepared to tap into their inner hippy for four days at midsummer) should partake in at some point. I think it has lost a bit of its magic as it has become progressively more of a mass appeal event, but it still offers a line-up that is more diverse and extensive than you'll get anywhere else.