The Real Glastonbury

As you all know the festival is nearly upon us, but whilst it is obviously immensely popular it has changed steadily over the years and so too has Glastonbury town.

On my way down the high street today, I saw a couple of young hippies wandering around with rucksacks n crusty clothes. It's June, it's that time again. 8 years ago you wouldn't be able to walk down the street without stepping over groups of festival goers, and you knew they didn't have tickets, and they knew that they'd get in.

Since the festival has become more mainstream the town has suffered. With the majority of festival-goers working, there are no hangers-on anymore. The town would be full from June until the end of summer; it was a continuation of the festival. Now, there's an influx of people at the bus stops on the Monday after, waiting to connect to their buses from the festival bus to take them back to work, and maybe a few acid casualties who don't know where they are! It's like a ghost-town after the festival and it's so weird. I remember my first festival and seeing the Tor from a distance and saying "I want to go THERE!!!" Does nobody do that anymore?

 

hear hear!



But a lot of it has got to do with the traveller laws and so forth. Once again the media seem to cause so much more harm and damage than they do good.

 

Aye, shutting down the Travellers field was a bad move. But a lot of the New Age travellers movement has simply vanished or dispersed thanks to 18 years of Tory rule. Sorry did I say 18 years? I meant 25....

 

Fucking bastards!!! .... but what can we do about it???

 

not just that, peoples predjudices as well

note-why isn't there a sad expression?

 

believe me, if i could pend lots of time travelling, and getting to know the glastonbury area, i would! but these days people shelve "travellers" in the same boat as gypsies, pikies and general drifters - we get a bad rep, and find it hard to get a good welcome anywhere!

and i'd love to visit the Tor

 

It seems to be a whole mixture of stuff really. Yes the dissipation of the traveller culture we owe largely to the tories but (and maybe as a result of that) the infiltration by the brew crew and smac users hasn't helped the cause either. The genuine travellers are few and far between. There are several sites dotted around this area and they all have nasty reputations.

It's also the whole security issue with the festival that plays a massive role now. If you don't have a ticket - you can't get in. That's only been in full effect over the last couple years. Fence jumpers simply don't exist there anymore. But I also think that the festival scene has to some extent, become trendy, you only have to look at other big festies like Reading & V, I'm not saying that they aren't good, it's just that they're so mainstream. Does that make me a snob? I dunno. Maybe hippies are simply a dying breed......

 

I remember when Glastonbury cost about a tenner to get in, the main festival was Stonehenge, most hippy types would go to that and a few would flit between the 2, jumping the fence to get in for nothing.

In those days I considered the music at Glastonbury to be shite commercial stuff, and was more than happy to stay at the Henge listening to Hawkwind, Chemical Alice, Roy Harper and The Enid nearly every night

Them were the days

 

I still think Glasto's in a very different league to Reading and V, they are commercialism without an atmosphere. Glasto has become commercialised, but it's still my favourite place in the world in terms of atmosphere. I do wish it would be more like it was in the old days, but then I never knew it then. It's like everything New, it goes shite and sells out....

 

bloody hell sal .. you need to get out more



and as for everything selling out .. well other things spring up .. its just a case of finding them or starting them yourself. remember the majority of people follow, not lead.

 

LMAO!!! He's got a point....

 

If you weren't joking I'd give you a severe telling off for that comment, but since I sense it was half in jest I'll let it slide....

Thankfully that one redeemed you, and I agree....

 

I wasn't joking .. you do .. .. you can have a charming smile tho.

 

not to mention a sweet ass...

 

urrrrrm .. you might want to look again at the wording on my post there .. can have as opposed to have .. what is he insuinating?

 

Well in that case I'd say it was very judgemental and subjective to criticise a person on their choice of atmosphere and the scene they prefer to identify with. I've travelled quite widely. For my short years I've been to many places around the world, absorbed a lot of culture, but I can still say that the vibrant party atmsophere I find in Glasto, is amongst those I feel most at home in. I could say the same about peace marches, or having a good time with good friends, but that doesn't stop me from loving Glasto....

(And for added effect) So ner!

*Smiles sweetly*

 

Hasnt glastonbury gone the way of the other big commercial festivals?? Surely by now its just as bad as Leeds and Reading in terms of atmosphere...im paying my money for the bands that are playing, not for a proper festival atmosphere, im pretty sure that dissapeared from Glasto when all these big commercial bands did start playing there and the security got ridiculous...

I go to places like Beautiful Days to experience a festival with more of an atmosphere...i mean wernt all festivals once folk festivals that sold ale and had people up and dancing around in front of the live bands and playing their own instruments where they were camped...thats what Beautiful Days was for me last year....Ok the reggae spoilt the mood a bit but hey it was good times...meeting lots of new people, sharing food cooked on a camp fire, offering each other weed and booze...sharing experiences and just enjoying the moment. If glasto's like that the Ill be bloody impressed, i just doubt it will be

 

I would actually say the atmosphere at Glasto is still better that at Beautiful Days, even though I love the Beautiful Days festival. Yes there is commercialism, yes there are thousands of stalls and huge headlining bands. But as with anywhere in life, you need only stray from the beaten track to find a whole new way of life. Visit the sacred stones, the healing field, the tiny bands playing on little known stages, (don't forget the Levellers are playing on one of these small stages this year!) talk to the eccentric people, or the giant Gnomes trying to sell you cosmic cookies and end up running off with your joint! Yeah it's changed, yeah it's probably no where near as good as it once was, but under the surface the magic's still there. It comes from the people as well as the place. You'll see what I mean in under two weeks....

 

I didn't criticise your choice of atmosphere .. I just said you need to get out more if that is the best atmosphere you have ever experienced.

thats all.

 

We have one in the making for late summer .. and I know someone here who has one in his head for next summer


yihaaaaaa


all free of course.