Gleestonbury

I’m trying to talk about other things like football or the weather or espadrilles but all I really want to discuss is last weekend’s Glastonbury. It was the best weekend ever, and by far my favourite Glastonbury. Everything that happened that weekend was spot on, the line-up was excellent and as well as enjoying some of the best talent from across the globe, I got to have a good old rummage around the essential unmusical related wonders of Worthy Farm (If you’d like to read The Fly’s run-down of all of the bands Niall and I managed to see then click HERE. If not then continue to read some hippified ramblings).

The weather was impeccable, at times a little blisteringly hot; but I managed to keep my vulnerable skin away from burns by using Factor 50+. If you couldn’t handle the heat there was a plethora of shady spots to enjoy your time. There were plenty of trees and at one point I found a moments shelter in a double decker bus’ shadow. The weather also made camping a lot easier, as you didn’t have to do that the ever arduous task of trying to take your wellies off without using your hands. The first one is always so easy but that second one needs some outside help – help that sometimes just isn’t available.  I was lucky enough to stay in a tent provided by the wonderful Gaymers cider, and thus spent every waking hour consuming copious amounts of said drink and not having to erect/disassemble a tent. Gaymers even had a wonderful stage in the main areana with a whole host of acts performing whilst we sunned ourselves and sipped on their sweet, sweet nectar.

There seemed to be friendly lovely people everywhere to lend a helping hand, suprisingly so. But the highlight of the weekend, for me, was meeting Michael Eavis. He held my actual hand. My sister and I were strolling around the site on Saturday night and I saw this tanned headed beacon in the distance. Before the words ‘is that Michael…’ came out, my sister had plunged straight in to shake his hand fervently. I said “thank you so much” quite a lot and he even took the time to speak to us properly, asking us about where we were from and how many times we’d visited the festival before. I did listen to what he was saying but the majority of my concentration went on the fact that he was holding my hand as he spoke, his fingers were so warm and soft. As we walked away my sister said: ‘he’s my god’.  As well Mikey, I saw so many happy people all weekend, nobody was aggressive or pushy, there was only one girl crying. And that was me because Thom Yorke had just started playing ‘The Eraser’. And because he also played ‘Weird Fishes’. And when I arrived and was really excited. And when Grizzly Bear played ‘Lullaby’. And when I had to go home.

Another great thing about this year was that the phone signal was perfect all weekend. My phone died on the first day, but I was made fully aware that everyone else who had mobiles had none of that festival straight-to-answer phone thing going on. Not sure how they sorted that out but it made such a difference for the people that I was with to have functioning phones that connected every time and unified us all into one big love gang at Glasto 2010.
I don’t want to speak too much more because it’s highly likely that if you didn’t go to the festival you will hate me now. But lastly, the design in Shangri-La was out of this world, from the sordid, squalid corners to the charming, burlesque magic stages – it was unlike anything I’d experienced before:

CLICK HERE TO SEE BITS ABOUT SHANGRI-LA

Below-average levels of crime, Thom Yorke, Stevie, Muse and the Edge, Rolf, amazing food, beautifully decorated areas and the most positive vibes I’ve ever stepped into - all in all it was the most unforgettable weekend. Well done everyone!