Glastonbury is a weird and wonderful place at the best of times, but it gets weirder and wonderfuller for a long weekend each summer as Worthy Farm opens its doors to the world again. The festival runs from 21-25 June this year, so in celebration of that, here are a few fascinating facts to casually drop into conversation while standing in a mud bath in front of the Pyramid Stage with friends (or watching from the comfort of your sofa with a cuppa in hand and your wellies nice and clean in the shed).
1. The first Pyramid Stage (built in 1971) was modelled on the Pyramid of Giza, built at one tenth of the scale of its namesake. It was built to be on the Glastonbury Abbey and Stonehenge Ley Line to benefit from the line’s auspicious energies.
2. Glastonbury has had many monikers in its time but since 1990 has been known as Glastonbury Festival for the Contemporary Performing Arts as Michael Eavis felt invoking theatre was more likely to get the event a licence from the local council.
3. In 1999, co-founder Jean Eavis died and a giant wicker angel was ceremonially burned at that year’s festival. REM dedicated their rendition of ‘Everybody Hurts’ to Jean that year.
4. The wettest Glastonbury was in 2007 when 60.1mm of rain fell in a single day…
5. …And the highest wind speeds recorded at Glastonbury occurred in both 1985 and 1987 when gusts reached 41mph. Hold onto your tents!
6. Free milk from the farm was available at the first ever Glastonbury event in 1970. Worthy Farm still produces more than 10,000 litres a day and you can still buy the milk from the trucks that drive around the festival.
7. Each year there is a secret stage called The Underground Piano Bar, which appears on no maps of the festival at all. You just have to find it (or find someone in the know).
8. Glastonbury Festival has a Guiness Book of Records mention, not for its music but for a World Record in juggling! In 1984 826 people at the festival juggled at least three objects simultaneously, managing to keep 2,478 objects in the air at one time.
9. Glasto 1987 is still fondly remembered as The Year of the Trouser Thieves. Many pairs of trews were nicked from tents overnight and later turned up in a ditch, but the trouserless masses emerging from their tents in the morning was a sight to behold.
10. It’s not all about the music. Glastonbury has also hosted The English National Ballet, the Dalai Lama and The Wombles over the years.
You can read more about summer festivals in our feature ‘Best of the Fests’ in our June issue, in shops now.
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