Glastonbury Festival 1990s — My Glastonbury Story

Sophie Tanner, 90s

“Growing up near Glasto, I was lucky enough to be there throughout the pre-digital Britpop era, saw pretty much all my heroes perform live; lusted after Damon Albarn, wept to Radiohead, crowd surfed to Pulp, got stoned to Massive Attack. Indie music was my lifeblood and Glasto was the (albeit crusty) beating heart.”

**Adi Guru Dasa**

“I was a London and Amsterdam squatter every year our tribe went to Glastonbury Festival.
One year my friend and I walked all the way along the Ridgeway sleeping out under the stars...all the ancient sites along the way and from Avebury we hitchhiked and walked straight in to Glasto fest site really early and set up a camp in the kings meadow and waited for all the others to arrive.
By ’91 I had left the drug hippy scene and became an ecstatic Hare Krishna monk.
Every year I begged to be allowed to have a break from my temple services and join the Festival team that did Glastonbury.
In the day time we went on singing procession around the site and fed thousands free food by our tent.
At night we chanted from when the last band stopped playing on the main stage til early hours with a tent full of trippers. we had sitar players, dramas and kirtan and lots of incense.
They were the days.
Now Glasto became a bit commercial. In the old days it was wild, every year a vehicle was burned and the travellers and drug dealers scared everyone.”

Seán Miller

“David Icke in the Green Futures Tent back in the early 1990s... he had a Q&A session and there was this one girl who was sitting cross-legged and kept saying "my guru says..." and "but my guru says..." and "the thing is that my guru..." and David, resplendent in his contemporary purple shell suit, lost his patience and interjected "I don't want to hear about your guru, I want to hear about YOU - WHAT DO YOU THINK??"

The girl looked completely bemused, answered "I'll have to consult with my guru, sorry..." and shuffled her way out of the tent.

There was a moment of silence after which Icke used this as an example of how human beings have a tendency to "follow the leader"... he would later, of course, use the metaphor of sheep... I recall after in the early 2000s he would frequently say "sheep have to be herded into a pen by a sheepdog, humans are worse than sheep - they herd themselves!" or similar... echoing the sentiment of Leonard Cohen in the song "Everybody Knows".

Definitely an experience that I found thought provoking...”

Steve White

“I recall a Glastonbury festival, likely 1990, I was there with my friend and soon to be business partner Chris for the Kaos juggling shop in Worcester, we had to drive back to Worcester for a Princes trust interview on the Friday, we decided that if it went well, we would return to site that evening and party and if it didn't go well, we would return to site that evening and party.

As I turned out, it went very well indeed so the party option it was!

The meeting led to the opening of the Kaos business which traded for 11 years and closed so that I could become Steve Kaos circus entertainer which led to working with the awesome Circus & Theatre area for the last 25 years! Live your dreams!”

**Bruce knight, 1990 (pictures above)**

“My first festival was 1990. I was a teenager just going to watch some bands. I discovered amazing people, a celebration of life itself and a feeling of freedom. I had no idea how this festival would change my life.
It took me 3 days to get home that first year. I left the site in a hurry, in the back of a van full of people I didn’t know. A pitched battle was going on between travellers and security, stuff was on fire. It was saddening to witness after the beautiful days I’d just had, days that definitely changed my view of life. The Festival also changed a lot in the following years.
During a rainstorm, in the mud fest of 1998, me and my girlfriend ran into the Circus Big Top to take cover. That’s when it happened. I fell in love, with Circus and Theatre. I remember watching one particular act, a man dancing in the air, doing tricks on a trapeze and I thought, “I wish I could do that. I’d love to do that.” Back in daily life, I started spending every spare moment, and every penny I had, on learning aerial circus skills, acting, dance, clowning classes and workshops.
In 2002 my wish came true. That year I performed for the first time at Glastonbury, on trapeze, in the very same Big Top where I had watched and dreamed. It was mind blowing and overwhelming. At the time I couldn’t imagine doing anything better, but it was just the beginning.
As part of the Swinging Elvises, a tongue in cheek tribute trapeze act, I became one of many regular performers in the Lost Vagueness Casino & Ballroom. I loved it. Lost Vagueness was like Bugsy Malone meets Bacchanalia; a glitter packed, dressing up, wild rumpus where everyone became part of the show. One year the Elvises were the warm up act for Fat Boy Slim’s “secret” gig in the Ballroom. Nearly the whole of Glastonbury turned up. People couldn’t get in the field, let alone the tent, it was so packed. Lost Vagueness, was always brilliantly chaotic and hilarious, no matter how many hours of organisation went into it. It eventually came to an end, but, in my humble opinion, it changed the course of festival history and inspired all sorts of theatre and pop culture.
I went on to do various work in the Circus & Theatre Fields. It was great but I missed those amazing vagueness nights. Again, I couldn’t imagine doing anything better. Then in 2008 I started working with a new theatre company, Copperdollar.
Copperdollar became the most incredible arts project I’ve ever been part of. The Artistic Director, Katie Simpson, had been involved with Lost Vagueness and knew the many magic tricks needed to create a great festival venue. Copperdollar’s ‘Back of Beyond,’ a late night fully interactive venue based on the Mexican Day of the Dead, became a regular feature at Glastonbury, in ‘The Common,’ up until 2017. More than 30 cast and crew, would run the show, all in character, for six hours solid every night and we loved it! It was one big amazing circus family. The Back of Beyond was theatre at it’s best and the best party I’ve ever been to, all in one. More than a show, it was a non stop night of surprises and the audience were actively encouraged to become part of it. Words cannot do it justice.
I have so many hilarious, beautiful, magic, messy and treasured memories thanks to the greatest arts festival in the world. I shall forever be there in spirit. Thank you Glastonbury and the Eavis family. Congratulations on your 50th! Glastonbury has the ability to open people up to possibility. When it returns it will undoubtedly continue to be a life changing event for many, many people. May the story never end…”

Greg Limna, 1990“My first Glastonbury was in 1990. I had just graduated from Manchester Uni and myself and 3 friends (Vince, Laura & Jon) decided to go to the festival. We bought tickets the week before, jumped in my old Austin Allegro early on … — **Greg Limna, 1990**
“My first Glastonbury was in 1990. I had just graduated from Manchester Uni and myself and 3 friends (Vince, Laura & Jon) decided to go to the festival. We bought tickets the week before, jumped in my old Austin Allegro early on the Friday morning and arrived by lunchtime to see Lush open on the Pyramid stage. We had no idea what to expect and had no tent so we ended up sleeping in the car to keep out of the rain. It was the height of the Madchester scene and the Happy Monday’s headlined the Friday night. It had rained quite a bit by then and I remember the sight of lots of Mancunians raving in the rain with their flares weighed down with heavy wet mud, but loving every minute of it.”

Simon Laken 1990 tent-1.jpg — **Simon Laken, 1990**

“My first Glastonbury festival in 1990. I arrived Friday afternoon to the Happy Mondays playing and couldn’t find a camping spot big enough for our tent so pitched halfway onto a footpath. Archaos were amazing, often performing on a stage on top of the pyramid stage simultaneously”

Anonymous, 1990

“My first Glastonbury was 30 years ago in 1990. I was 16, just finished my GCSEs and my Dad kindly drove me and three of my school friends to Glastonbury. I thought the festival was in Glastonbury so Dad dropped us off there. However, we soon realised that it was several miles up the road in Pilton! We walked along the main road, I remember passing stalls selling apples along the way. We arrived as Hothouse Flowers were sound-checking or playing a set, playing their beautiful ’I can see clearly now the rain has gone’. In those days you could camp really near the Pyramid stage, so we found a space to the left and not too far back, near a hedgerow. We had school friends who were part of a theatre group so we spent quite a lot of time watching the amazing Archaos. It was so child friendly. My highlight was watching the Cure, my favourite band. I was right near the front and it was very busy and a girl was injured in the squeeze and was airlifted out. Robert Smith stopped singing until everyone was safe and then continued. Then after the set I went to buy a tape recording of the set which I have somewhere in my attic! How things have changed now with phones etc. We had a super time and I returned to Glastonbury several times after, but 1990 has to be the best.”

Brian Jones, 1992

“In 1992, we worked on the gates checking peoples' wristbands, alongside a security team all recruited from the Swansea area. When we turned up for our first shift, I was greeted by a mature student whom I'd been teaching all year ! As a result, we got on very well with their team, and learnt that at least one of their team had been hospitalised every day since the weekend before the festival, including people who had been driven into by motorbikers.

Jan got suspicious of a little supposedly drunk Irishman, who kept on going in and out of the site, so after the fifth or sixth time, she followed him into the site, where he met up with a group of unsavoury looking yoing men, who passed ;over to him a large quantity of wristbands, which they'd either bought or stolen off festival goers. Jan followed him back to the entrance, told security what he'd been doing, whereupon they picked him up, confiscated a load of wristbands, and threw him out. The shift finished, but we were doing another shift straight away at the next gate along the fence. We'd just arrived for duty when in came the Irishman, having walked around the outside of the fence. Jan said “this man doesn't come in”, and explained why, and out he went again without his feet touching the floor, shouting “you are a dead woman !” and similar curses.”

Mandy Borsberry 1992 pic by Caroline Fryer-2.jpg

Mandy Borsberry, 1992“Sitting around in the blazing sunshine, probably feeling proud that we had scaled the Glastonbury perimeter fence (or maybe paid a security guard 10 quid to squeeze through a hole in the fence) and gotten in for free! Glastonbu… — **Mandy Borsberry, 1992**
“Sitting around in the blazing sunshine, probably feeling proud that we had scaled the Glastonbury perimeter fence (or maybe paid a security guard 10 quid to squeeze through a hole in the fence) and gotten in for free! Glastonbury ‘92”
**Photos by Caroline Fryer**

Emma Marston 1992.jpg — **Emma Marston, 1992**

“I had a rummage and I found a photo from Glastonbury 92, my first ever festival aged 17. It was boiling hot. I remember seeing Primal Scream, The Orb, Lou Reed and Van Morrison, oh and because it was the 90s the Levellers played, and the Shaman, Carter USM, James (actually maybe James didn't play I can't remember? ) and probably a digaredoo, pan pipes and obvs everyone wore white t shirts Amazing times!”

Stephen Armstrong 1992.jpg — **Stephen Armstrong, 1992**

“My first and only Glastonbury. I remember pleading with my parents to let me go and part with the 50 quid needed to get a ticket. My friends had been to Reading the summer before and I was desperate not to miss out again…
Today, as a dad of two, I can understand why my parents were worried. But fair play to mum and dad who, against their better judgement, let me go.
Reading back on the diary I wrote of the weekend I can see why they were concerned but I also think I repaid their faith in me. I pitched up a wide eyed, naïve 17 year old and left pretty much the same, but with a little bit of the Glastonbury spirit lodged inside me.
“Glastonbury was FUCKING AMAZING!!!” I wrote…
It’s basically a huge hippy fair where bands play and where there are loads of clothes stalls and food places.
“Everyone there was in a great mood. Got v. stoned and pissed the whole time but the best thing about it was the community… Just pitching up your tents in a circle with people you know and trust. And it seemed you could kind of just ‘relate’ to everyone who was there, in some way or another.
At the gigs, everyone was smiling as if they were on the same sort of level as you…
We pitched up in a beautiful field, close to the main stages but out of the way of the main paths so you didn’t feel hassled by continual streams of people. And wow, there were SO MANY PEOPLE…! Tents everywhere!
The days were spent lazing around drinking, smoking and getting stoned. I don’t think I have been as continuously out of it for 12 hours ever! We got up at 8.00, got ourselves some doughnuts, had breakfast and got stoned. Everyone had gear so it was all just so relaxed…
The only time this stopped was when we went to see the bands. They were all amazing but the ones that I’ll never forget [and I still remember them to this day] were Back to the Planet, Primal Scream, Blur and 808 State. Yes, rave bands!!! You just close your eyes, dance and your mind merges with the music and the lights!!”

**Scott Williams, 1992**

“1992 was our second year at Glastonbury Festival, we’d been first in 1990 travelling there by coach and walking from the town itself to the Festival site in Pilton, there were loads of walking along the road, music playing from cars in the queues - beers and smokes being passed around and by the time we’d arrived on site we opted to plonk our ridge tent in front of the Pyramid. That year my girlfriend (now wife) and I had hardly moved from the tent, except to get food and use the facilities. We’d woken up on the Monday after the end of the Festival to the sound of shouting and we could hear the trouble between the Travellers and the security kicking off. We were terrified and after the trouble the Festival had a year off, this time we took the train to Taunton and then the Badger Bus to Glastonbury, we spent the day wandering around the town before hitching a lift into the site.
We were dropped off near Pedestrian Gate C and walked down the ‘hill of death’ and into the Glebeland, camping areas were almost full so we kept walking, crossing the railway line and eventually settling in a quiet field called Pennards with a view of the Other Stage. We put the tent up, and sat in the long grass, relaxing with a smoke and a bottle of Mezcal Tequila, which attracted our new neighbours round, We chatted and gave out ‘Lunatics have taken over the asylum’ badges.
We didn’t spend much time at the tent and we were there for the Levellers, Back To The Planet, The Shamen, and The Saw Doctors. However we were to discover The Ozric Tentacles, who played repeatedly across the site, I loved watching them in the various tents in Green Futures. Each gig they announced where they were going to be playing next. We followed them about, catching Radical Dance Faction, and Nik Turner (we were both fans of Hawkwind), one of many Gong incarnations possibly Magick Brothers, and Attila and Otway for the first time.
First day and there was a magic ceremony on the opening night in the healing fields, I think it was the marriage of the god and goddess, and Undle Ground had a fire show. We chilled watching Skinning The Cat perform and in the dark I left my tobacco tin in the grass, losing our stash! We were near what became Glade trying to decide who to see next, having scored a tiny amount of squidgy from a bloke with a machete, who the Mrs refused to pay the full amount for such a rubbish deal.
The last of the light was draining away from behind Glastonbury Tor and a woman shoved a large newspaper wrapped bundle in my chest, saying: “A gift for you!” I turned and she was gone, i opened the bundle expecting it to be food from Manic Organic or something. It was chock full of buds! From then on all I remember is sound and colours augmented by the scent of sensi.
We danced to Senser, Bates Motel (one of my favourite bands at the time), Jah Wobble, and The Orb, watched Lush, Curve and Blur. Our world music odyssey started that year too with Youssou n’Dour, and Hugh Masekela topping a world music line-up on the new Jazzworld Stage.
We spent our nights in the Traveller Field in pitch blackness, getting directions to more Ozric appearances from the denizens on the roofs of the many vans. Enjoying tiny collaborations and playing the bongos badly around campfires. Watching strings of pretty people meander around tents to stop for 10 minutes for a smoke or a sip and a chat before dancing off into the night. Before stumbling back to our tent in the early light before dawn, through a quiet world of remnants of chaos, lazily smouldering fires, random giggling, and the occasional crash of a toilet door breaking the peaceful silence. We finished the Festival with Cheapsuit Oroonies and Kangaroo Moon.
It was an amazing year, probably my Glastonbury highlight, and was rounded off with bumping in to Ozric’s Jon on the way out of the Festival and us walking to Pilton together - he signed our programme. I think I may even have given him the rest of the newspaper bundle before we made our way home via Glastonbury Town, the Tor, the Abbey, the Sacred Well Gardens, and spent our time outside Pendragons and Star Child.”

Andrew Brannan, 1992 & 93

“We were really lucky as both 1992 & 1993 were both scorching years at Glasto... (changed my original as I thought it wasn’t 1990 & 92) .... seeing Lenny Kravitz was still one of the most amazing live gigs I’ve ever seen. It’s more about what we did than who we saw that I remember , pop up raves outside random food stalls in the township, drinking scrumpy from the cider bus.

Even thought I went with a large group of friends some of my best memories were on my own . The one time I hit talking to a Glaswegian hippy who invited me into the porch of his tent to keep cool only to tell me “I would offer you a brew but I think I ate all the tea bags last night “.

I met Dave the hippy who’s whole year began snd ended at Glasto , after the festival we always went to Holland to buy tobacco and then into another country to sell it, he knew what to but in each country to sell for a lot more in the next . He said in one country he always took bags on 2p pieces as they fitted in the cigarette vending machines in certain country’s so basically raided all the machines in a town before clearing off or being chased out of town.

One afternoon I ended up speaking to around half a dozen Hare Krishnas in their tend having a brew with them , not for one second did they try convert me, we just spoke about what was happening in the world , still sticks in my head now. Their tent was like a fridge.

One night a gypsy girl came and sat around our camp fire and showed us how to keep the embers burning all night. This was the night on one of the pics where someone thought it would be hilarious to stick a bottle of poppers under my nose , great times haha ...!!!!”

Kath Watson, 1993

“My first time was 1993, arrived day before so plenty of space. Pitched our tent overlooking the Pyramid stage. I remember a very drunk Glaswegian coming up to us and saying " Can you tell me where I live" Funny how that's the first thing that jumped into my head. Never mind The fact Velvet Underground, Robert Plant, Hothouse Flowers, Lenny Kravitz etc were playing.”

Sam Wilkinson, 1993

“This was my first ever festival, I was 24 years old and bought my ticket at my local HMV record store for £70. I had passed my driving test the year before and just got my first car and so I left my nearly 4 year old son with my Mum and went with my friend Lisa to Glastonbury festival! Lisa didn't have a ticket, we had to hang around the perimeter fence until she happened upon a few lads who were charging a fiver for the use of their rope ladder to get over the fence. Once Lisa was in, I went in with my ticket and we met up inside.
We were meant to meet other friends and camp with them but by the time we got near to where the tents started we were already fed up of carrying all our stuff and blown away by the huge site. We thought that if we went further off into the camping area we would have too much walking to do over the weekend! It ended up being a stupid idea as we were really close to a stage and so the noise and the people passing the tent was immense!
Over the weekend we saw Prodigy, Skunk Anansie, Eat Static, Pulp and lots more that I know fail to remember! We spent lots of time wandering around in awe of the massive festival, we bought clothes and souvenirs from the stalls, talked to random strangers and generally had a pretty good time.”

Martin De Heaver 1993.jpg — **Martin De Heaver, 1993**

“Two days into a wonderful Glastonbury with my late friend Robin Sandoe, we found ourselves sitting in the front row of the circus tent, more than a little the worse for wear. I was enticed into playing a supporting role on stage by an equally trashed acrobat. Such happy memories.”

John Avalon.jpg — **John Novis, 1993**

“It’s dusk at the Glastonbury Festival. It’s that small window of time when the mid-summer sun sets casting a golden, wan light over this ancient land. The day’s busy activity and madness is ceasing, beckoning a moment of reflection before the moon rises and artificial lights rev up the ceremony of merry making. A slow drum beat from a nearby tent, gather with friends and take in the mystical energy carried through the Vale of Avalon on cooler air from the Tor. Close your eyes for a moment and be with those ancestors from way way back, who also meditated at this twilight hour at this very place.”

**Jem Maynard Watts (aka Thomas Trilby)**

My first Glastonbury was 1993.
I was a student in York. Had been desperate to go having discovered festivals in 6th form. A friend rolled back from Glasto in about 1989, wearing a lab coat, wellies and a spaced out look on his face.
We were litter picking. Drove down in my mini. Parked about 20 yards from a pedestrian gate. Camped up in the Greenpeace compound.
Was scared by the communal vegan food. More scared by the mixed communal showers.
Rode round all day on the back of a tractor driven by a bearded gent who had been since the first year, dropping off empty bins, picking up full ones.
He stopped *very* regularly around the greenfields for a recreational moment.
Saw a naked man with a bong chatting to a policeman.
A tent of middle aged ladies would cover you in sun cream. Factor 50. Like toothpaste.
Saw a moment to use a backstage toilet. Passed Nick Cave on the way in. Possibly used the same dunny.
Fell in love with the place. The festival. Not the toilets.”

Malcolm Green-2.jpg — **Malcolm Green, 1993**

“The police were a bit more relaxed in the 90s in fact they still are. Queuing to get out one year the bobbie on junction duty was letting 20 car through at a time. We were number 21. I managed to bribe him with a bag of wotsits and he let us through, saved us lots time.”

Karen Hughes 1993-1.jpg — **Karen Hughes, 1993**

“My best friend Lainey Aldridge and I went to the festival most years as Lainey’s birthday falls on or near Glastonbury weekend. This was the morning of her 24th which we celebrated with some special cookies her uncle had made. We’re still the best of friends but don’t make it to Glastonbury so often as it’s so flipping hard to get tickets these days! There’s always next year...”

Karen Lee Moss 1993-1.jpg — **Karen Lee-Moss, 1993**

“So this could have been 1993, and possibly the year I had to drive that Camper on to site, being the only person with a ticket, whilst 4 or 5 others were concealed in bags and boxes in the back. I drove over a security guard's foot and saw him later in the week plastered up to his knee. So it can't have been the year we came in through a stream and a fence, into a secure artists' area and had to break back out to get our stuff. It could have been the scorching year we'd spent the week before making some killer fudge that funded the week, leaving people who ate it hungrier than before. It might have been the year we saw Faithless, or The Orb, or Orbital, or Massive Attack, or the year we saw no bands at all, drinking chai in the Tiny Tea Tent, or serving tequila in our hidden bar, listening to Dr Didg, keeping out of the mud. It was though the year that my late friend PG slept through the whole of Glastonbury packing up around him, eventually being the only thing left in that field, fast asleep. Definitely good times, 1993. Maybe.”

Victoria Marsden-4-2.jpg — **Victoria Marsden 1993**

“With my children Zoe, Astara and Crystal and Zoe's godmother Samantha in the Kings Meadow by the stone circle preparing to do a handfasting for Samantha and her partner. Astara and Zoe had just done an incense making workshop, when we ran into Zoe's godmother Samantha, on the main drag pathway She asked me to perform a handfasting. We had the incense..element of Air.. which the girls had named Luna. We stopped at the Tiny Tea Tent to buy cake.. element of Earth. Then we bought a candle.. element of Fire and a candle holder. We had a bottle of Glastonbury spring water.. element of Water. So everything had manifested that was needed and we met up by the standing stone circle to conduct the handfasting ceremony. A magical day.”

Ben Gold-1.jpg — **Ben Gold, 1994**

“So many in focus photos and so many blurry memories i'm finding it hard to know where to begin! I’ve been photographing Glastonbury for over 20 years, starting I think in 1994…Several years jumping fences culminating in 2002 with a 14 hour failed nocturnal attempt to beat the new super fence, finally being picked up in the early hours by security who, I think on seeing my camera, took us on a tour of said fence with me taking pictures along the way! Eventually dropped right next to a tout who walked me straight in - A a few years followed as a guest of the Jazz stage, mud sliding around with close friends, finding hidden pockets of joy including the piano bar and many many more. I was then lucky enough to become one of the official photographers for the wonderful Theatre and Circus fields where I spent several years having a hilarious, joy filled, side splitting time capturing the vast array of world class entertainment.......Kids then blessed my life so I've had a few too many years off but hoping to return in the not too distant future.”
You can see some of Ben’s pictures here
https://www.bengold.co.uk/i-love-glastonbury

Kevin Rait 1994.jpg — **Kevin Rait, 1994**

“It was 1994, I was 16 and just deep into my GCSE’s. I didn’t have a ticket and wasn’t planning to go, my friends who were doing their A-levels had a minibus and a responsible adult. 2 days before one of the guys going was told by the school that if he went he would be kicked out and not allowed to do a-levels the next year. Somehow I persuaded my parents to allow me to go and I bundled into the bus with 1 days notice. The next 3 days changed my life. The line up that year was insane. Orbital opened my ears to new wonderous sounds. Long before the mobile phone I managed to meet my dad who had driven for 4 hours at the agreed meeting point at midnight on Sunday and made it back to Kent for a 9.30am GCSE exam. Photos from that year and 95 were mainly rubbish long shots of a band from the middle of a mosh pit, so here’s one from 2000. These days we’ve had the bun fight to grab tickets, sometimes lucks in, sometimes it’s not. Dreaming of being back in my happy place in a couple of years time.”

Rvd Helen Drever.jpg — **Helen Drever, 1994**

"Many years ago, long before I became a vicar in beautiful rural Somerset, I spent my winters living in deepest hippy dippy west Wales and my summers working on the camp and festival circuit, with the Oak Dragon Clan. After an ‘unfortunate’ spell in a rather grubby London squat it was heaven. I lived half the year in a geodesic dome lined with saris’ and furnished with a futon, wool carpet, woodburner and entire flock of sheepskins. It is possible I may have neglected to mention this to my Bishop. One of my Oak Dragon friends had run the site crew kitchens at the Glastonbury Festival for many years and in 1994 I joined her and the Goose Hall kitchen crew. Back then it’s fair to say I wasn’t a regular church-goer but I was a very earnest Vipassana meditator and followed the five Buddhist ethical precepts scrupulously, the fifth of which was to abstain from all intoxicants that cloud the mind...this singled me out among my more hedonistic colleagues as the ideal crew member to run the breakfast shift. One morning not long after I had risen from the sleep of the innocent ready to fry 600 eggs, two of my friends returned from a night of relentlessly partying. They looked a little the worse for wear so I made each of them a cup of hot sweet tea… ‘have you seen the pyramid stage’ they asked... ’of course’ I said… ’no’ they said ‘have you seen it this morning since it burnt down’, ‘what are you taking about?’ I replied, ‘don’t tell me you slept through the whole thing, the fire engines and the emergency vehicles’ said Blue Dave. Well I wasn’t going to be fooled by these two well known jokers, I hadn’t heard a thing, obviously they were winding me up after a night on the lash. I was having none of it no matter how insistent they were. Eventually they gave up and went to their benders and to their beds...with everything set up ready for the breakfast shift and half an hour spare I decided to go for a short walk...in the direction of the pyramid stage... imagine my surprise to encounter its smouldering twisted remains... the joke was on me..."

Simon Russell 1994.jpg — **Simon Russell, 1994**

“Sorry for the quality of this picture, it's me and my friend Simeon meeting Michael Eavis at the entrance as he was welcoming in festival goers, we were 17 and this was our first Glastonbury so we were astonished to see the great man right there, so we thought we would ask him if we could have a picture taken with him. The film is 110 cassette format in one of those slim compact cameras from the 80s so it's a bit grainy!”

Stevie Holmes 1994-2.jpg — **Stevie Holmes, 1994**

“This is Fay, Fay has just woke to find her bags been stolen from her tent while she slept. Fay is also smug inside as she knows it was just full of dirty socks and pants.”

Katie Brandwood_pre 2000_Breakfast at the tent.jpg — **Katie Brandwood, 1994 (pictures below)**

“My Glastonbury story began in 1994 when I was 7-years-old and my sister was 4. Mum and Dad had been going since 1981 with CND, and couldn’t wait to take us as soon as we were old enough. They would take us out of school with the permission of the headteacher, and then take it in turns to look after us in the Kidz Field while the other would go and enjoy the music. If they both wanted to see the same band, they would plonk us down on a blanket with colouring books and crayons, surrounded by dancing crowds.
My memory of those early years is very hazy, but that’s not to say the festival wasn’t already embedding itself in my psyche and shaping my identity.
We would go almost every year, and each time my eyes would open up a little bit more to how incredibly lucky I was to have access to such a special place. For a painfully shy and socially awkward teenager, Glastonbury was a form of release and an escape from the trials and tribulations of growing up. We nearly always camped on Big Ground, where I would wake up to the poetry of the Pyramid Stage soundchecks (“one two, one two...yeeeeeah”) and go to sleep with the soothing heartbeat of the festival in my ears.
I didn’t care much for the music until I reached my late teens, and instead our days - and nights - centred around the alternative areas like Theatre and Circus, Field of Avalon and the Greenfields (or “Hippy Fields” as I used to call them).
I can still remember the visceral feeling of standing in a chilly field in the middle of the night, warmed by the throb of the crowd around me and the flames of some freakish, mind-expanding circus with its loud pumping music. For a child, this is powerful character-forming stuff.
From the hilarious and imaginative daytime walkabouts, to the gravity-defying aerial acts in the Big Top, to all the weird-as-hell late night spectaculars, Glastonbury always set a bar for quality when it came to the performing arts. Over the years I’ve often found myself using the phrase “very Glastonbury” to describe something that comes close to that experience. It’s a massive compliment.
The festival grew with me into adulthood, as more and more areas opened up and evolved. 2004 was the last year I attended solely with my parents, before entering a new era of independent festival-going. I couldn’t wait to bring my friends and to see the festival through their eyes. Glastonbury continues to inspire me creatively in everything I do, including a career in the arts. One day I would love to introduce it to my 16-month-old daughter, just as my parents did with my sister and me all those years ago.
From 2000 - 2009 I wrote a detailed daily diary, documenting my teenage and student years in full which, of course, included our annual pilgrimage to Worthy Farm. I’ve pulled out a collection of anecdotes, reflections and revelations to give a taste of my Glastonbury journey through the noughties.
For more of these, please follow my Instagram account @glasto_teenage_diaries.”

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Stevie Holmes Castle Cary 1994-2-2.jpg — **Stevie Holmes, 1994**

“Waiting for a friend at the station before boarding the bus to the site. We travelled light back then...”

Janetta Morton, 1994

“I nearly broke my leg one year...maybe 94... teetering on top of the high metal fence and jumping down off into the stone circle field! Then walking out through the gate, getting a UV stamp, getting all our stuff out of the car and waltzing back in again! After that, the following year we found a gap under the fence over a stream in the Orchard... and we did the same UV stamp trick, the festival was full of non ticketed folk selling stuff they got travelling in the winter selling on blankets on the drag through the green fields, or going around selling hash fudge, vodka jellies and mushrooms!”

Steve Andrews, 1994 (pictures below)

"I made my way up to the Tree Spirit camp in the Healing Field, which is where I was calling home for the next few days. I played two sets at the Maes Myrddyn (Merlin's Meadow) stage in the Field of Avalon, and both were a great success. I got the crowd responding enthusiastically to my songs and cover versions, and enticed a bunch of people up on stage with me to help me out with my interpretation of Stand By Me. I definitely made some new fans and enjoyed my performances. Even though the second one was after one of those sleepless festival nights I managed a suitably cosmically-charged and energetic fun-filled set."

The Treespirit photos are from 1994, the year I played the Maes Y Myrrdin stage. Treespirit were a tree conservation group from Birmingham that had a stall in the Green Fields every year. I used to pitch camp with them. I was wearing what became known as my "Alien lab coat." people said the writing on it looked like alien writing. I had been in Scientology a few years before this and had dyed the coat yellow and then had written a lot of slogans promoting Scientology and L Ron Hubbard on it. Because I had left Scientology but didn't want to get rid of my coat I altered the writing with a felt-tip marker so you couldn't read what was there before.”

Claire Wakers, 1995

“1995 was my first Glastonbury, "Ninja Bob" drove a big blue bus down with a load of us from Edinburgh. Worked for Greenpeace picking up litter and stayed a week afterwards. Weather was bliss not a drop of rain (as opposed to 1998 the first year of the mud, where we had to dig out the litter). Don't remember much about the bands but I think Page and Plant played, spent most of the time in the healing fields and drumming at stone circle. Was epic to go into Glastonbury town and see summer solstice at the tor, the chalice well and the red and white springs. Enduring memory of the festival was when a young boy pulled out a giant knife when he saw me walking through the traveller fields with a watermelon. And lots of magic folk in top hats. Great times. And Ninja Bob is now my hubby we have 2 little uns. And I have been back to Glastonbury town many times.”

April Cummings-brothers bar - 2000.jpg — **April Cumming , 1995 (pictures below)**

“The first of many and a big one because we travelled to Worthy Farm a full two weeks before the bands arrived. We weren't the kind of family who went on big holidays. We could never afford to travel abroad and we rarely went on big trips to see our family south of Carlisle. On the day our mum told us we'd be going to this magical place I was 11, my brother 9, and my sisters 7 and 5, and we'd lived a remote life in the Western Highlands - one that was surrounded by music and culture, but one that lacked much diversity of human contact.
Glastonbury was a true immersion into diversity. We arrived at the farm on a misty evening in June 1995 and put up our tents in a field near red gate where the dairy cows still roamed. The next morning we woke to find the mist still lying on the land - to pass the time we played football and waited for our mum to return from the Theatre and circus stage, where she'd be working as a chef for the crew. After a time we saw figures moving up the hill towards us - someone new had joined them. A comely, glowing woman with white hair below her shoulders, a slow but certain gaite, and a rosey open smile came through the mist with open arms to greet us. She seemed strangely familiar, and in that moment looked as though she had become part of the land. In truth she had as she was such a part of what made the Festival. That beautiful soul was Arabella Churchill - rebel child and soulful mother of the fields. She took us down and set us up in a nice corner of 'Plumley's Paddock'. There we met the people who would become our glastonbury family - who we'd return to year after year. Eventually my brother even married the daughter of one of our closest friends there.
In the days ahead a whole city grew out of the field - a functioning, autonomous community of creative minds, builders, performers, healers and activists. Every year we've returned as a family we've been nourished by the wealth of human relationships that grow organically when you're creating the festival. It's the fortitude of people like Arabella and Andrew Kerr - their eccentricity and their determination - that provided the root for such a beautiful place to flourish.
Glastonbury is not just a main stage - it's a whole community of experience spread out across fields and across decades, a history of politics and progress.My happiest Glastonbury memory is of meeting Tony Benn, our wonderful and loving Labour leader who never was, in 2003. The man who supported Jeremy and gave us inspiration.
As a trade unionist and activist he was my bright light in a few very sad and desperate moments in our country's politics. I went to see him in a tipi in the LeftField. There he was, with his pipe and his endless rounds of tea - frail but still driven by righteous indignation. We sat as a crowd, asked him our questions, connected and laughed.
Tony loved Glastonbury because it was, to him as it is to me, a place where we can talk about how people can change the world for the better, and think about how we can live our principles every day and support each other. That's what Glastonbury is about. Connecting with people and sharing your hope.
Tony told me that day - as long as there are people working together with hope and a shared belief in human goodness, the principles of solidarity that underpin our movement and that are so present in the Leftfield and at Glastonbury
will never falter. We need to believe that gatherings like this mean something, to us and to the people around us. That's what nourishes our souls.
From thousands of miles away in Australia, as a jaded but still hopeful trade union organiser, I send up my heart to Somerset every June and hope for the day when we're once again dragging our hope-filled carcasses through the mud, scrumpy in hand, towards the burger van disco at 3am, to later pass out in the (incredible) permaculture garden at sunrise with a wizard clutching a tray filled with hash truffles.”

Brian Jones, 1995

At a lockup near what's now Pedestrian Gate C (PGC), Jan, Pete and I were on sitting in the sun next to our portacabin, when we saw a man and woman walking along, having an annimated conversation. As they drew level with the lockup, the man, who had large rings on his fingers, swung his arm and punched her straight in the nose. She screeched, blood all over her face and chest; the man wandered off into the festival, we rushed out to assist her and radioed for the medical team. They came quite quickly, cleaned her up, and took her off to the medical centre.

About 10 minutes later, the man re-appears walking towards the PGC. “I'm going to follow him”, says Pete, and follows the man as he goes out of PGC, crosses the road into a car park, where he meets up with a group of about 20 of his friends, all standing round a trestle table, apparently selling small cartons of fruit juice, behind their black windowed BMW.

Pete comes back, explains the situation, and takes me to see them. As we're coming back, a police van comes down the road, and Pete says “I'm going to tell them, you go back to the lockup”. Pete stops the van, explains the situation, they follow him to the stall, where he identifies the man who is then arrested and taken away, with Pete, in the police van.

Pete's away for so long, that we begin to wonder if he's been arrested, too,

as he was already wanted for unpaid fines arising from anti-nuclear activities.

When he eventually returns, the full story came out: the woman explained to the police that she had bought drugs off the man and his friends, but didn't have the money to pay for them, he'd suggested she cleared the bill by providing sex, he'd punched her when she turned his suggestion down, but she wasn't prepared to press charges against him. However, when the police had searched him, they'd found a small quantity of drugs on him, so, unable to charge him for the assault, they charged him with possession.

**Jaki Miles-Windmill (photo by Chris Yuill)**

“A friend (6'6" luckily) came back 2 hours later after leaving for the toilets (the old ones with a piece of metal underneath balanced over a long pit) wearing weird, clean clothes and a haunted expression. Toilet floor had fallen into the pit when mud gave way at the edges. Luckily his head and shoulders remained out of the shit. He'd been thoroughly sanitised in the First Aid tent. Mid 90s.”

Mark Sutherland higher res.jpg — **Mark Sutherland, 1995**

“Me at 13, Glastonbury 1995. Jungle Book on in the outside Cinema, end of the film where the girl is tempting Mogly to the village. A guy screams out “don’t do it Mogly, she’ll only fuck you over!”

Lee Midwinter 1995-3.jpg — **Lee Midwinter, 1995 (pictures below)**

Pic1 - The high level security fence taken out the night before. It used to be carnage, people were breaking in everywhere. I always bought a ticket, this immediately made most people think you were a bit of a twat... especially when the fence looked like this all weekend! None of my mates had a ticket and they managed to drive their car in! HahaThis was taken next to the Stone Circle.

Pic2 - Had to pitch the tent outside the festival due to no room even though I had a ticket (see last pic)! This was our second attempt at finding somewhere. We eventually found our mates and camped with them by the NME stage (Now called Other Stage). Its not me in the pic, its a mate. Didn’t do selfies back then so sadly I have no pics of me at Glastonbury in 95:(

Pic3 - Camping in the NME stage field. We were a lot closer to the stage than it looks in this pic. When the bands finished people would just pour out amongst the tents. No camping there nowadays!

My friends and I travelled in separately. We arranged to meet at ‘The Meeting Point’ along with about 30,000 other people. Mobiles not as popular then (there were actually onsite payphones with massive queues!) so people just put post-its on a big wooden frame (to add to the sea of other Post-Its). You would then just walked around screaming out your mate’s name along with all the other lost souls.By some miracle the plan actually worked and we met (after about an hour).
Pic4 - Backstage area at the Circus Field

**Stevie Holmes, 1995**

“I used to wrap my hair in wool, and for Glasto 1995 I went full on rainbow stripes, rows of coloured wool extensions, meant I didn't have to worry about washing my hair for a week, they didn't have stuff like spray in shampoo back then!
I was so eye catching people working there kept offering me job a doing hair, but this took me 8 hours to do so I said no ta, I have fun to have thanks!
I miss this hair but at 47 feel a bit old for it now... Perhaps...”

Debbie Gibbs 1995-13.jpg — **Debbie Gibbs, 1995**

“Our first Glastonbury 1995 ....... My sister Nikki Gibbs
had just left school, finished her GCSEs, we chucked it all in my car and headed down to the farm, with my bestie Jane Elizabeth Nicol
& Emily. The sun shone, the band's played, (Pulp headlined) we had an incredible time. We were young, free and single, not a care in the world, we had each other and that's all mattered then and now. We also visited the farm in 97' now that's a different story all together and one for another day!”

Sian Davey-1.jpg — **Sian Davey, 1995**

“My first Glastonbury. I was 24 living in Bristol. I caught the train and hung out with a bunch of people on there, one of them gave me 2 strawberry acid tabs. I think I was fairly green at the time because I didn't know what they were.
Arriving at the festival I was with a crew from Bristol, I didn't know them that well so I was determined to find Paddy. This was pre - mobile phone days so I sign posted religiously the whole site, everywhere. The notes wrote 'meet me here on the hour.' I still have one of those handwritten notes. I walked and walked miles posting these up. It was typically torrential rain and my boots kept being sucked up into the sticky mud - and then I tore the anterior muscle in my shin. It was painful, but love is a determined thing. At 1pm i went to the meeting place the Red Cross Tent notice board not imagining that he would be there. But he was. He was there. I hugged his friend Yvonne who had found my note and Paddy and I went off to the festival. I pulled out the strawberry acid tab and we took them. I remember so clearly I had no idea what I was taking. But what followed was the funniest 24 hours of my life. We didn’t stop laughing. Paddy would say to me don't speak to anyone because it won't sound like you think it will. So we arrived in the cinema field and I asked if there was room for me on the bench and I was told there wasn't one.. and so on. We went to the travellers party at the back of the site and I was enveloped in gooey, warm, soft pink marshmallow. We became the most perfect party companions ever.
Paddy and I separated 4 years later. Two years ago I went to see him in his hospital bed for the last time, he had a brain tumour. He died that week. That muscle injury still hurts like hell at times and I'm always transported back to that exquisite weekend with my first true love.”

Cindz Shotton-1.jpg — **Cindz Shotton (pictures below)**

“My first Glasto was 1997 a Sunday! I was pregnant with my daughter and it was when the fences got opened on the Sunday that was the I first time I got to experience the magic. We went back the following year as punters outside the fence with our baby girl who was only 5 months old and it was very muddy. I went out only the once with her and her dad cause I was petrified that she would end up in the mud! (I can’t find the pic I took of her and her dad in the mud) After that we went back every year it was on as my late partner used to put up the Harris fencing, we then went on to bin painting with the lovely Hank which was amazing had some of the best times with him. We then worked with Tracy Harrison and the hygiene crew. We camped with some amazing people who grew to be our family. 2009 was the last time me and the kids went together as we lost their dad to cancer and I lost the magic! My daughter has been back tho and last year she had the best time. I had my ticket for this year luckily I get reserved for next year. I can’t wait to get back in those magical fields hoping the magic comes back to me.”

**Tanya Cooper, 1997**

“My only image of me at Glastonbury. It was 1997. Very messy, and lots of fun. My sister Ruth Stokes lost the car keys and we had an extra day there raiding all the abandoned tents. People leave the craziest things! We ate and drank like Kings until my Dad drove all the way with the spare car keys! My best memory was when everyone started dancing spontaneously at the stone circle at sunset. Very spiritual and beautiful!”

**Jimmy Green, pic by Paul Tyler**

“Muddy late 90s. Forget which year, we all piled down in his bosses hired BMW. Had to be dragged out by a tractor. Farmer was making a fiver a pop, had to stop at a garage while my mate jet washed the mud off it. Even tho it was muddy saw Radiohead play OK computer I think, it was either that or the proceeding year, or possibly 2000. Honestly, can’t remember the gigs but it was a mudbath!”

Bex Smith 1997-1-2.jpg — **Bex Simon, 1997**

“1997 the first proper muddy year I had ever experienced. Four of us sharing a two man tent. When it came to sleeping, we couldn't get our boots off because they were so caked in mud, so we would wrap bin bags round them and sleep in a spoon position facing one direction and shout 'change' to shuffle round and face the other way, it was such a squash.
'Pick your feet up you're making me muddy' was what we kept saying to each other and seemed to find it funny every time.
Some how I managed to end up in mix mag, have no memory of this probably due to the amount of shandies that day.”

Antonio Pagano_Glasto '98 #2 ©Antonio Pagano (1).jpg — **Antonio Pagano, 1997**

“In 1997, one year after I moved here from italy, it was June and suddenly got a call from the main Italian news paper (La repubblica) . They asked me if I wanted to go to Glastonbury festival ...and I said "Glasto What?"... Had no idea of it , I knew Reading festival, but no idea about Glastonbury. I obviously said yes...Prepared my camera bag and found myself on the way there with train and bus. I litterally went there with just my camera bag ,wind jacket, training shoes , no tent and no any plan to stay more than one day.
Anyway once there, a hell of Gods know how much rain. I stayed there for 3 days, I ended up sleeping on a table in the press tent by sneaking in at night for few hours and wrapping myself with newspaper. During those 3 days I was walikng between stages to accomplish my mission with my training shoes wrapped in plastic bags ...I will never forget.
You get to those extremes you would not think in Europe , and I could have said , that's it , I will never be back.
Contrary to that, since then I've been back between 10 and 15 time and not only as photographer but also as artist.”

Clare Pief 1997.jpg — **Clare Pief, 1997**

“Ian & I met in May 1997, and we both had tickets to Glastonbury but with different travel plans with our friends. We arranged to meet at the Kids area on the Friday afternoon, and we somehow managed to do it, despite the lack of mobile phones. We spent the next few days having just the best fun, mostly ankle deep in mud, happy and witness to some amazing music, people and so many people just having the time of their lives. A highlight was watching Radiohead perform their seminal and astounding headline set. Ian and I got married in 2003, and we would love to go to Glastonbury in 2023 for our 20th wedding anniversary, and bring our teenage daughter with us too.”

Tom Moorcroft, 1997

“I lost my boots in the mosh pit on the Friday night, my only pair, and spent the rest of the weekend barefoot in the mud. The boots in question were wellies, cut off to be ankle high and then sprayed gold. I had just worn them in the school play and thought they would be perfect for Glastonbury. Lasted one day.”

Ellie Fazan, 1997 (pictures below)

“The first time I went to Glastonbury was in 1997 and I was 15. I didn’t really even know what it was but I’d seen an advert for it in the back of a weekend paper that I used to frantically scour incase any bands I liked, or rather any bands at all, came anywhere near where I lived which was in Devon. Sometimes they did come to Exeter, an hour away, and my poor Dad would drive me there and wait a suitable distance away in the car with a book while I moshed around inside and lurked by stage doors outside.

But an actual festival. This was adventure calling. This was too much to pass up no matter what the challenges. I could feel the butterflies rising. I tore out the page out and showed it to a select gathering of friends in the cloak room at school the next day. It turned out my much cooler friend’s older brother had jumped the fence one year and said it was great. The festival started the day after our final GSCE. It felt like a sign. A symbol of freedom. Music. Boys. Warm beer and weed. The rest of our lives were calling us.

I was so nervous I hardly dare ask my dad. What if he said no? What if he insisted on coming? But to my incredulous surprise, without even blinking, he said yes. To his credit he’s always been the person in my life who packs me off on my adventures. Have a good time, he says. Send a postcard. Nay fuss.

I remember the tickets went on sale at 11am and I’d made posters by the upstairs and downstairs phones, reserving my time slot. I dialled up the number from the ad which was now so tatty from being folded and unfolded in my pencil case and I called and called and called and I couldn’t get through and on the radio it said tickets were selling fast. Eventually I phoned the operator and burst out crying and she patched me through on the next line. I explained very politely to the sales person that I wanted to go with four friends to celebrate finishing our GCSEs and when it came to paying she said cheque or cash on the door? And my dad came on the line and got the details and sent off a cheque and we paid him back waitressing in cafes and the tickets arrived in the post. It was £72 each.

That was one of the last years before the fence and before Kate Moss endorsed the festival with her denim hot pants and Hunter wellies and way before VIP areas and fancy camping and prosecco bars and pampering stations.

We wore knitted flares and walking boots and my dad actually made me take gaiters which I wore under my flares so no one could see them. It poured with rain for the entire weekend, our tent flooded, my flares were sodden, we watched Radiohead and were swept by the crowd quite literally and were thrown in waves of people right at the front, so close I saw a plectrum fly out of the bassist’s hand and be replaced by the stage hand so quickly he didn’t miss a drum beat, ate bad fried food, and awkwardly hung around the fringes of rave tents while older cooler kids danced the night away and I remember thinking, when I’m grown up I want to do what they do. It was only a few years ago when watching Glastonbury sets back on tv that I realised that I’d seen that Radio set. It was the most exciting thing I’d ever seen. Mainly I fell in love with Travis who sang “Why does it always rain on me” to an empty muddy field while we shivered and ate penny sweets.

I also smoked some hash of a beer can and rolled around a in a tent with a boy and even though neither of us took our trousers off, for weeks afterwards I thought I was pregnant. And also my friend told her pen friend, who was friends with my pen friend, and my pen friend who – for some reason remember – was marked by the distinction of having her appendix on the left side, and being in the British Medical Journal – was so appalled she never ever wrote to me again.

That was 24 years ago. I still have my t-shirt from that year. This year would be the festival’s 51th birthday. I hoped so much it would go ahead. Not just because of Glastonbury, but because of what it represents. Only much like everything else this year, it’s been cancelled, and it makes me fear for another lost year and all the people and bands and musicians and events and stage hands who won’t come back from this. And all the teenage girls who won’t get to see them.

And over the last three decades Glastonbury has become a cultural institution for my family. We've made friends, met loves, got lost, been found, basked in sunshine, sheltered from rain. And discovered oh so much music. It’s here I first discovered Christine and the Queens, completely by accident as I wove from one unknown place to another, French duo Justice, on a chilled Sunday that turned into a marathon. It’s not just about music, either. Everywhere you look there’s something new to uncover. There are circus tents; healing fields for a revitalising sauna or massage; lectures and talks, creative workshops, and even cinema; interactive sculptures growing into mini villages with secret pop up events; and even mouth-wateringly good food. On one adventure I ended up sitting behind a waterfall talking to a stranger. In another in a hole in the side of a hill. On yet another down a rabbit hole. And then there’s the magic of the stone circle. The magic of it all.

A few years ago, without a ticket and heartbroken, me and my friend broke in in a frankly ridiculous extended 24 hour blag. Our quest gained so much momentum that Hugh Jackman, who was staying at nearby Babbington House, offered to smuggle us in in his helicopter. Unfortunately we didn’t hear about his offer until after the weekend, by which time we’d used as much luck, charm and cash as we could muster to dazzle the locals and squeeze past security. To celebrate victory, instead of driving home on Monday, we spent the day lazing by the pool of Babbington House on giant beds and knocking back bloody marys. How my 15-year-old-self would hate me.”

Stevie Holmes 1997.jpg — **Stevie Holmes, 1997**

“1997 was the epic muddy year - this was the year my german para boots (fashion standard issue Glaso in the 90's) and they died due to so much mud, soles flapping off, had to go seek wellies. This is before cool wellies like they wear now - LITERALLY the only pair I could find to replace my Para boots were men's size 10 (I'm a 5) - worn with about 6 pairs of socks that's how I had to trudge through the festival.”

Seb Patane 2-2-2.jpg — **Seb Patane, 1997**

“You might not believe this but I actually played at Glastonbury once. When I was at St Martin’s I was in a performance art group called ‘The New School of Pretension’, together with Christopher Owen and two more. We made homemade loops of things like Bowie, T Rex, Stereolab and Add N to X and mimed to them pretending to be electro/rock stars. For some reason people liked it and we were asked to play the ‘art’ tent in 1997. It was one of the muddiest years ever, when Radiohead headlined. I was so scared of going on stage that I downed half a bottle of Southern Comfort before so I was trashed and I don’t remember much of the performance, only that there were about 10 peoplein the audience. It was so grim, wet and depressing that we were almost crying all the time. We were supposed to play 2 nights but the morning after the first one we made a runner, leaving just a note for the organisers instead of our tent in the ‘VIP’ area which simply said ‘sorry’.
Reply to @mrdavidlock – it was surely an experience but the insane amount of mud made everything a misery. It was like “oh look Stereolab are playing over there, should we go? Nah” because walking around was torture. The only highlight was Radiohead’s gig, which I think lifted the mood a of a lot of people. In terms of our ‘gig’, it was very short and very unmemorable. Practically no-one was there and those few were pretty bemused by our ‘act’ I seem to vaguely remember. Back in the tent we were all pretty depressed and fucked off about the whole thing. Our ‘VIP’ area was also next to the dance tent which kept us awake all night. All in all pure, utter misery.”

Rebecca Galbraith 1997-4.jpg — **Rebecca Galbraith, 1997**

Glasto 1997- mud year! Rained and rained and rained. As a good girly guide I brought canned food. I was very glad I did as my jeans got stolen while we were sleeping with my money and ticket in the pockets!!
Fortunately my mother always taught me to put emergency money down my bra. I had enough for the ticket home and ate canned goods for the rest of the festival.

Victoria Jackson-7.jpg — **Victoria Jackson, 1997 (pictures below)**

“It was an absolute mudfest. I was 18 and it was my first glastonbury with my boyfriend, my older brother (who had been going since the 80s), his wife and a big group of friends and family. I had no idea what to expect as it was my first ever festival. We didn't let the weather put us off (so cold and the rain never stopped) and to this day, its one of the best festival experiences that I've ever had. The pictures in the mud soup were in front of the other stage. I think it was Placebo that were scheduled to play that evening but the mud was that bad that the stage was sinking so there were delays with them coming on stage. We got drunk on tequila while we waited - thats whats in the bottle that I'm holding- and ended up just sliding around in the mud. Everyone around us gave us a really wide berth as you can see in the pictures. Still the best festival ever and can't wait to get back there in 2022!”

Helen Bosworth 1997-3.jpg — **Helen Bosworth, 1997 (pictures below)**

“I went down there with my best friend Alison on the coach from Bradford, completely un prepared for the mud bath that awaited us!
I remember getting off the coach and having to go buy Alison a pair of wellies while she remained rooted to the spot in her sparkling white
adidas shell toe trainers. The mud was something else that year, we were devastated we didn't get to see Kenickie because the stage had
sunk and wandered round the rest of the day despondent, covered in glitter! I remember it being such hard work walking from one stage to another
and falling asleep on the comedy tent floor because it was the only place you could sit down. We basically went pretty feral for three days, eating doughnuts
for breakfast and cider for most other meals...luckily
Alison had been sensible enough to bring the wet wipes proffered by my mum and disdainfully turned down by me so we did at least try and get clean.
We randomly bumped into her friend Simon from Uni who is in the photos, his tent had basically floated away by the third day.
There were some beautiful moments though, Radiohead on the main stage will forever be one of the most magical gigs I have ever been to,
when they played no surprises and the fireworks went up in the distance it was so special. I still can't hear that song without a shiver going down my spine.
Lastly I remember getting on the coach to come home looking and feeling rather the worse for wear, early onset trench foot setting in, my docs never recovered
fully and went mouldy in the garden as my mum wouldn't let them back in the house.”

Rob Barker-1998 Me and Anna 2.jpg — **Rob Barker, 1997**

Glastonbury is one of the most important places in my life. It’s a beautiful utopia, even when it’s a muddy hellhole, and it shows how wonderful us humans can really be.
I first fell in love with it watching Channel 4’s coverage in 1995. I was 16, was finishing school and had just got into Britpop. Pulp were my favourite band so seeing them storm Worthy Farm looked spectacular. I had to get there.
My first visit, then, was after a fallow year. 1997 unfortunately was one of the muddiest years. I remember sitting in my tent the first night, after putting it up in hellish conditions, and wondering what the hell was to come. The Other Stage nearly sank and I learned it was important to move your feet a lot lest you become trapped in sticky mud as it dries. Sadly, I was to do that a lot over the next 17 years. I lost my sixth-form friends (no mobiles then) and watched Radiohead alone. It was brilliant.

Simon Russell.jpg — **Simon Russell, 1997**

“I was working for friends Ian and Michelle who forged and sold ironwork sculptures at Glastonbury Greenfield's.
This was their bus which they lived in over the duration of the festival season and we used as part our base over the 10 days we were there.”

Janetta Morton

“In a very muddy year...maybe 1997/8 ..early year of there being a 'dance' marquee, it got so flooded with liquid mud up to people's knees, that they sent in the 'poo sucking' machines to clear it, had to be shut afterwards as some bright spark pressed spray not suck and liquid excrement everywhere! .. had to be disinfected ..I did not witness..best classic festival rumour though. The same year we watched bands on the Other stage from the railway track as it was impassable. The reflection from the stage onto the surface of the liquid mud looked like a space ship had landed in a post apocalyptic landscape with a few mud drenched zombies dragging through it and a man sat on a blow up plastic sofa bobbing along.”

Brian Jones, 1998

“I used to enjoy the midnight to 8am shifts; a busy hour at the start, then quietly watching the site wind down, some bizarre conversations with festival goers worse for wear, dawn, then watching the army of litter pickers transform the arena ready for the next day. On one occasion, about 2am, a campsite steward brings a bloke to the lockup, for me to explain the system to him. He wanders off with the steward, comes back, wanders off again, then comes back and books in his small “day pack”, before wandering off again.

The steward returns: “Did that man book his bag in ? I hope so, because he told me that he had a couple of guns in it”. Having re-assured the steward, and discussed it with our co-ordinators, I opened the bag ... and yes, inside were two handguns. Following a further discussion, it was decided that we would report it to the police, and shortly afterwards, the police turned up (sensibly, low key). They identified the pistols as BB guns, legal but totally inappropriate for a festival - if someone waved one, most people wouldn't pause to examine it ! The police told us that the owner could collect them from the festival police compound.

We were a little concerned about how the owner might react when he came back for his bag, but he was actually fine about it.”

Royston Naylor 1998.jpg — **Ian Anderson, 1998**

“Arrived Wednesday 1998 stewarding at jazz stage. Rain that meant business. All stuff and tent stolen. Went to car, had been broken into and robbed. Got in car and went home :) enduring memory of plastic bags on feet and constant drip.”

Make It

Joe Stacey 1998-6.jpg — **Joe Stacey, 1998 (pictures below)**

“I went with a small group of still very close friends from our base in London. For most of us it was our first time at the festival and of course what was to be an adventure in music became one of thick wet sticky mud! I don’t remember any of the bands particularly but I do remember us standing in a field in torrential rain with thousands of other people watching England play in the World Cup. I loved the spirit of Glastonbury, the freedom, even the spirit of endurance brought about by the mud (getting anywhere in that mud was an epic challenge). And then there was everything else that happened, from staying up all night seeking out anywhere dry enough to sit and have a smoke (simple pleasures) to the lows including two of our tents being ransacked and contents dragged into the mud, and the toilet truck emptying waste into the dance tent!”

sarah willcocks-3.jpg — **Sarah Willocks, 1998**

“The rainbow umbrella shot was taken in 1998 after the Foo Fighters played. It was absolutely hammering down during their set & I was down the front getting absolutely battered, worth every second!”

“In 1998 I was smuggled in by hiding in a teeny gap in the middle of cartons of soya milk, in a truck that was full of chai tipi crew. My daughter had to pretend to belong to one of them! Standing up on a front seat, waving to the crowd!”

Janetta Morton, 1998

My best moment was in 1998 - making love under a blanket in the Kings Meadow with Fred!!! We were handfasted that year and together for 23 years!

Suzi Underwood, 1998

**Malcolm Green, 1998**

“I built a big costume to get in free - it worked! I was with the Jackson five, we took the security a table and chairs to gate three one year and they let me use the gate instead of going through the turn styles. It saved me a lot of time. Then I saw about five people outside looking up at the fence, tired and lost with all their camping stuff on their backs. I asked if they wanted to get in! Come with me… we went to my gate and the grateful security let me in, then went to shut the gate on my new mates. I said “they are with me” and they got in. This would not happen nowaday's! My reward was a can of Stella. When I opened it it went of like a hand grenade because they had been carrying it for hours trying to get in!”

Stevie Holmes 1998.jpg — **Stevie Holmes, 1998**

“This was 1998, and it was when people started having mobile phones at the festival - way before charging stations and phone cameras, and the signal was terrible, you would send a text to say 'meet you by the Brother's Bar in an hour, it wouldn't arrive until 2am so phoning and hoping you could get a connection was the only option!”

Steve Andrews, 1998 (pictures below)

“I will always remember Glastonbury Festival 1998 as one of my best performances anywhere and ever. This was because, although I was really tired after a more or less sleepless night due to the awful weather conditions, I performed such a great 45-minute set on the Wise Crone stage that I had an encore for it. I closed with my cover of Stand By Me and the surviving photo I have, shows that somebody did! I had had bands earlier in my career but they hadn't lasted, though I loved the freedom of being the singer and not having to play an instrument, so fronting a band was something I thought was something I would want again. However, getting an encore for my set in 1998, under trying conditions, and armed only with my semi-acoustic guitar, made me realise that being a solo act worked really well for me.

The same year I had a terrible experience getting home to Cardiff. My driver to the festival was a young guy called Oliver and when he had dropped me at the festival on Thursday, all was fine and the ground was dry. The massive crowds had not arrived by then either. Oliver had never been to Glastonbury before and was astounded by the size of the site. He wanted to go back to Cardiff to see his girlfriend, and of course, I couldn't stop him, so we arranged a meeting point, which was going to be on the right hand side of the Jazz Stage. I warned him that it would all look very different by the time he returned to collect me. He said he was sure it would all work out and he would look for me there and left. Over the weekend the rains came and the fields became seas of mud. At the time we had arranged at the meeting point we had decided upon it was all now looking very different. I waited over an hour for him and gave up. I thought maybe he had got stuck in the traffic. I decided the only way I was going to get home was to hitchhike. I made my way to the exit point and remember seeing the long line of fellow hitchhikers and a couple of girls with a sign saying PLEASE HELP US! I started walking on and eventually was really lucky in getting a lift to a roundabout outside Bristol. It wasn't that lucky really though because I was stuck there for ages. There were a couple of smartly dressed young guys already there and I asked them how long they had been waiting. They told me over an hour, so I thought what chance have I got with mud splattered all over my clothes and guitar case and bag? I took my place behind them but then my luck changed again because a muddy car pulled up that had obviously come from Glastonbury. A girl got out and asked if I had any money. I had some I told her and asked why. She said if I would pay the toll for the Severn Bridge that they would get me back to Wales. I'll pay it I said, and jumped in. It turned out they were not only short of money but short of petrol and didn't know how they were going to make it back to Pembroke, which was much further. Because of this they couldn't take me to the motorway exit I wanted at Cardiff but left me at a service station at Junction 33. By then it was dark and there wasn't much traffic calling in at the services. AlI I could do was walk, and I was thinking how crazy this was that after such a successful performance on stage at Glastonbury I was now in this awful situation. But I kept going and finally made it home where I collapsed into bed after the ordeal of getting home. Oliver phoned me the following day to say he was terribly sorry but he had been stuck in traffic and had taken two hours getting back into the site. He had found my Treespirit friends and they said I had gone.”

Steve Streetly, 1998 (pictures below)

“Here are two photos from 98, i never had much luck with the weather.”

Tor Webster

“My first Glastonbury Festival was 1998 I was a 21 year old film student in Farnham, I was friends with a young family that invited me to go with them and another family. So I just went along for the journey. They were seasoned Glastonbury goers and knew the drill, so, after we had performed a military style operation through a hole under the fence at the dead of night with all ten of us including kids under 5, we made our way to the camp that the dad had set up for us. We were their pretty early and one thing that stood out for me is was the sheer mass of everything , It was amazing to see this sea of tents that came in from nowhere fill the space around us.I don’t remember much from that first time, mostly hanging out at the tent drinking cider and following our group to various random events, mostly for the kids, I don’t even remember what bands I saw that year, I think I saw Portishead. Then I remember being just as amazed as how quickly the tents around me disappeared.

My 2nd Glastonbury was the year later, 1999, it was a whole different experience it was just me and a mate from college. We got there and paid a scally £10 each to squeeze dangerously through a gap in the iron wall that he had wretched open with a crow bar, I was pretty freaked out as I squeezed through as if the crow bar came out I would get squashed and arrested, but there was no wimping out because I had thrown my bag over the fence. We got through and I thought I was in, but I found out there was a Harris fence to climb over also. So I ran and clumsily throw myself over that too, I realised the the local news were filming us so we ran. My parents had moved to Glastonbury town that year and I found out, when I got home, that my mother and sister had seen the back of me on the news running away from the fence, they knew it was me by my run.

My mate and I had quite a marathon time, in complete contrast to my first we went from band to band fuelled by cider, at one point I fell asleep in the crowed in front of the then Jazz World Stage, we spent most our time trying to figure out who the band on Jazz World, I generally didn’t have a clue my friend seemed to know a lot more, I just went along with it. I do remember seeing REM, Manic Street Preachers and Kula Shaka which became one of my favourite bands of all time.”

Royston Naylor-10.jpg — **Starcus Baal, 1999**

“I was in the piano bar trying to get someone to play some Carol King on the piano for me to sing to, when Michael walked in. Everyone started shouting “We love you Michael’ and he raised his hand with thanks as he started to turn to walk back out, as no-one was playing the piano. It was just after his wife had passed. So I started singing ‘You’ve got a friend’ A Cappella. He stayed and listened to the whole song. Everyone applauded, it was a magical moment.”

Lys RESIZED-4.jpg — **Lys Wild, 1999**

“I spotted a man walking so gently and fluidly on the ground. He seemed to sink into the earth with every step, contemplative and kind in his manner and look. I stood up out of the pose and turned away, the next thing I know the same man had come up to me. He took my hand and said, ‘your dancing last night really gave me some peace. You are always welcome at this festival, thank you for what you bring’ I was speechless and open mouthed and a little confused, until a friend touched me on the shoulder and said ‘that was Michael Eavis, he lost his wife this year.’ What a blessing.”

Ann Cook 1999-1.jpg — **Erica Vaughan, Glastonbury 1999**

“The first totally dry year for some years... I was very excited to be going but nothing could have prepared me for the amazing rock star experience the Glasto gods had in store for me.
Hole were one of my favourite bands so I had gotten to the front of the crowd early. Courtney Love picked me and about 8 others to share the stage with them for the last half of their set. I could not believe it! I was sat directly behind Ms Love so close I could hear her unamplified singing. It was goosebumps and I could not sit still bouncing around and singing along. Completely out of this world!
Then... very late on the Sunday evening and I was heading back from the stone circle when a woman hooked her arm through mine and asked me to come to a party with her. Despite being super tired I said OK and let the stranger lead me to the backstage camping area. After negotiating with the security guards she led me to a gathering of people sat around a fire. Perched on an old sofa I shared a cigarette with someone called Joe who it turned out was the partner of the woman. I chatted with people and drank beer and found out that a lot of the people including this guy Joe were musicians and had played on the main stage. As the sun started to rise I listened to Joe sing a rousing rendition of wima way with a giant piece of card. Joe and his partner offered to give me a lift home but my phone battery had died so I couldn't get hold of my mum who was collecting me. I thanked them for a great time and headed back to my tent where I was greeted by friends curious to know where I had been all night. I started to explain the events of the night when a friend pulled out a copy of the Glastonbury Express newspaper, pointed to a musician and asked me if that was who I had been partying with. My friend started to chase me around the tents trying to attack me for it turned out I had been hanging out with his idol the one and only Joe Strummer, frontman of the infamous Clash.
Not only did I get to hang on the Pyramid stage with Courtney Love and Hole, I also partied with another music legend. The Glastonbury rock Gods were shining down on me and really spoilt me that weekend. Magic really does happen at Glastonbury. If someone had told me beforehand what I would experience during that festival I never would have believed them. It gives me goosebumps just remembering. Thank you Glastonbury. You have a very special place in my heart.”

Goldie Ruffles 1999.jpg — **Goldie Ruffles, 1999**

“I worked as a nurse for Festival Medical Services for several years during the nineties and early 2000s. We were recruited mainly from local Accident and Emergency Departments. The level of medical cover on the site is amazing. I saw it change from a portocabin in the 1990's to the field hospital it now is. We were required to do two eight hour shifts, so we were free to enjoy the festival for the rest of the time.
The picture shows me in the entrance to the medical tent triaging the queue in 1999.”

Chris Yuill-3.jpg — **Chris Yuill, 1999**

“My Glastonbury Story is the Glastonbury Moment, where something occurs in the festival that elevates you above the alienation, frustration and tedium of the everyday. Just for a few seconds all is perfect and wonderful, and just how you want life to be like all the time. It is a moment that you can’t anticipate or force into being. It just happens in the mad spontaneous rhythms of the days that you are there. The moment can be a random conversation with a stranger that leave you thinking about your life in a new way, a feeling of community with everyone around you or the best cup of tea you’ve ever had in your life. It can be anything. All that matters is that feeling. For me the Glastonbury Moment usually occurs as the sun sets over the valley. It is a particular quality of light, as golden orange as a pint from the Cider Bus, that is part of the festival as much as the music, the mud and the mayhem. In 1999 I was trying to choose something from a food stall. The guy working behind the counter and I started talking as we watched the sun set. He said, that’s why I come here very year, don’t care about how much money I make. I just want this moment. I didn’t take a picture of that occasion but it is clearer in my mind than a picture can be. But here’s some other pictures where I experienced that Glastonbury Moment.”

**Gary Taylor, 1999**

“A group of us who attended Palmers College in Grays booked and went in 1999. We pitched up at the the top of a hill so we had great view looking down over the festival. This was pre mobile phones, I still have the BT card I bought to make calls. I somehow managed to lose our group for REM who headlined Saturday night and so ended up watching them on my own, and couldn’t find the tent I was meant to be sleeping in until the next morning, so ended up sleeping in a bag tent with another group. Ash were great for crowd surfing, and Billy Brag to get things going with the Milkman of Human Kindness. Luckily we didn’t get much rain as the previous years looked terrible for weather. Every year since I’ve wanted to go back but tickets are so hard to get hold of now. I started full time work the week after this and haven’t seen some of the people we went with since that weekend which is a great shame.
By far the best festival I have been to, magical place.”

Joanne Dear 1999 - Fay & Jean Glast 2000.jpg — **Joanne Dear, 1999**

“My sister Jean & I went in 1999 and bumped into my Brother Paul (who I've introduced on Insta) with his three kids, who were 13, 11 and 8 at the time. On the first night someone stole two boxes of wine and my elephant blankets, I brought from India, from our tent. It didn't dampen our spirits and we sourced more wine and blankets while keeping a beady eye out for the unusual Indian blankets, in case we spotted the sneak thief. We had no phones this year and it was fabulous bumping into random friends, especially Deuce at 3am in the Green Field, as he'd just popped into my head! Spent lots of time in the Hare Krishna Tent chanting and feeling on top of the world. Cherished memories.”

“My mate & I took all of our drugs on the way down on the coach. We were 23 at the time. When we arrived with no ticket we went straight up to to the guy on the gate and said how do we get in? The guy said “if you give me a blow job I’ll let you in” I said yeah sure. He let us in. As soon as we got the other side of the gate we legged it!! Muppet”

Anonymous, 1999

A Glastonbury Romance: Glastonbury 1999, My friend and I were both working at the festival, me in the beer tent and she was with Ecotrip. Making cakes, I believe. On the Saturday night we arranged to meet after work, get tarted up and go out looking for trouble. We walked up to Avalon and found the Doctor Who café and sat down. We started talking to the guy sitting beside us and I gave him a shot of vodka from what he swears was a perfume bottle but was actually a flask. We arranged to meet up the next night and my friend gracefully bowed out. The guy Rob Corbin and I are still together, 20 odd years later and are married and happy. We celebrate our anniversary on the Saturday night of Glastonbury and usually go to the exact spot where we met and have a snog.

Linden Corbin, 1999

Stevie Holmes 1999-2.jpg — **Stevie Holmes, 1999**

“This is in the dance tent 1999 - I'm the one in the bright orange sarong with the belly out (very nineties!). This photo came about as I always carried an immense polaroid camera around with me at Glasto, and someone spotted it and all wanted in on a mega 'selfie' before selfies existed as we know them!”

What’s your Glastonbury Story?

Contribute

Sophie Tanner, 90s

Adi Guru Dasa

Seán Miller

Steve White

Bruce knight, 1990 (pictures above)

Greg Limna, 1990

Simon Laken, 1990

Anonymous, 1990

Ben Hardcastle, 1992

Brian Jones, 1992

Mandy Borsberry, 1992

Emma Marston, 1992

Stephen Armstrong, 1992

Scott Williams, 1992

Sean Miller, 1992

Andrew Brannan, 1992 & 93

Kath Watson, 1993

Sam Wilkinson, 1993

Martin De Heaver, 1993

John Novis, 1993

Jem Maynard Watts (aka Thomas Trilby)

Malcolm Green, 1993

Karen Hughes, 1993

Karen Lee-Moss, 1993

Victoria Marsden 1993

Ben Gold, 1994

Kevin Rait, 1994

Helen Drever, 1994

Simon Russell, 1994

Stevie Holmes, 1994

Katie Brandwood, 1994 (pictures below)

Stevie Holmes, 1994

Janetta Morton, 1994

Steve Andrews, 1994 (pictures below)

Claire Wakers, 1995

April Cumming , 1995 (pictures below)

Brian Jones, 1995

Jaki Miles-Windmill (photo by Chris Yuill)

Mark Sutherland, 1995

Lee Midwinter, 1995 (pictures below)

Stevie Holmes, 1995

Debbie Gibbs, 1995

Sian Davey, 1995

Ru Davies, 1995

Cindz Shotton (pictures below)

Tanya Cooper, 1997

Jimmy Green, pic by Paul Tyler

Bex Simon, 1997

Antonio Pagano, 1997

Clare Pief, 1997

Tom Moorcroft, 1997

Ellie Fazan, 1997 (pictures below)

Stevie Holmes, 1997

Seb Patane, 1997

Rebecca Galbraith, 1997

Victoria Jackson, 1997 (pictures below)

Helen Bosworth, 1997 (pictures below)

Rob Barker, 1997

Simon Russell, 1997

Janetta Morton

Brian Jones, 1998

Ian Anderson, 1998

Joe Stacey, 1998 (pictures below)

Sarah Willocks, 1998

Janetta Morton, 1998

Suzi Underwood, 1998

Malcolm Green, 1998

Stevie Holmes, 1998

Steve Andrews, 1998 (pictures below)

Steve Streetly, 1998 (pictures below)

Tor Webster

Starcus Baal, 1999

Lys Wild, 1999

Erica Vaughan, Glastonbury 1999

Goldie Ruffles, 1999

Chris Yuill, 1999

Gary Taylor, 1999

Joanne Dear, 1999

Anonymous, 1999

Linden Corbin, 1999