GLASTO: A Brief History!
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly known as Glastonbury or Glasto, is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. The first Festival was held over a two day period on September 19th, 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died. The festival is best known for its contemporary music, but also features dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and many other arts. For 2005, the enclosed area of the festival was over 900 acres (3.6 km˛), had over 385 live performances and was attended by around 150,000 people. In 2007, over 700 acts played on over 80 stages and the capacity expanded by 20,000 to 177,000. Glastonbury was heavily influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement in the 1970s, especially the Isle of Wight Festival.
Organizer Michael Eavis stated that he decided to host the first festival, then called Pilton Festival, after seeing an open air Led Zeppelin concert at the nearby Bath and West Showground in 1970. The festival retains vestiges of this tradition, including the Green Futures/Healing Fields area.
The festival takes place in South West England at Worthy Farm between the small village of Pilton and Pylle, six miles east of the town of Glastonbury, overlooked by the Glastonbury Tor in the mystical "Vale of Avalon". The area has a number of spiritual and mythological traditions, and is a 'New Age' site of interest: several ley lines are considered to converge on the Tor. The nearest town to the festival site is Shepton Mallet, three miles (5 km) north east, but there continues to be interaction between the people espousing alternative lifestyles living in Glastonbury and the festival itself. The farm is situated between the A361 and A37 roads.
Some of the performers who took to the various Glasto stages: Marc Bolan, Keith Christmas, Stackridge, Al Stewart, Hawkwind, Traffic, Melanie, David Bowie, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hillage, Alex Harvey Band, Sky and the Footsbarn Theatre, New Order, Hawkwind, Taj Mahal, Gordon Giltrap, Van Morrison, Judie Tzuke, Jackson Browne, Roy Harper, Richie Havens, Marillon, The Beat, UB40, Curtis Mayfield, King Sunny Ade, The Waterboys, The Smiths, Elvis Costello, Joan Baez, Ian Drury, Echo & The Bunnymen, Aswad, Joe Cocker, Style Council, The Boomtown Rats, The Cure, Madness, Simply Red, The Housemartins, The Waterboys, Pogues, Level 42, The Cure, Happy Mondays, Sinead O’Connor, World Party, Oasis, Orbital, P J Harvey, Simple Minds, Portishead, Blur, Primal Scream, Robbie Williams, Tori Amos, Pulp, Bob Dylan, The Prodigy, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Ray Davies, Sting, Roni Size, the Chemical Bros.,Stereophonics, Manu Chao, Rolf Harris, Kosheen, Mis-teeq, Fat Boy Slim, Roger Walters, Rod Stewart, White Stripes, Orbital, Isaac Hayes, Paul McCartney, Muse, Oasis, James Brown, Joss Stone, Toots and the Maytals, Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters, Black Eyed Peas, Sister Sledge, Television, Michael Franti, Spearhead, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Basement Jaxx, White Stripes, Magic Numbers, Coldplay, The Belly Dance Superstars, Razorlight, New Order, Brian Wilson, The Wailers, James Blunt, Beautiful South, Baaba Maal, Babyshambles, The Killers, Steve Harley, Cockney Rebel, Ska Cubano, K.T Tunstall, Kaiser Chiefs, The Subways, Chas n Dave, The La’s, Royksopp, The Arctic Monkeys, The Who, Shirley Bassey, Iggy Pop, CSS, The Go Team, Amy Winehouse, MIA, Kate Nash, Billy Bragg, Corinne Bailey Rae, Damian Marley, Lily Allen, The Verve, Leonard Cohen, Goldfrapp, Neil Diamond, John Mayer, Jay-Z, Kings Of Leon, The Fratellis, Editors, Gossip, The Feeling, Panic! At The Disco, Buddy Guy, The Zutons, Shakin Stevens ,The Wombats, Ozomatli and Crowded House.
