Biography
Don your wellies and join ICONS on a joyous mudslide down Glastonbury Festival’s memory lane of fun, madness, mayhem and MUD!
The Basics
For many, Glastonbury Festival is an unsurpassed rite of passage and as big a deal as going on holiday with your mates for the first time. Indeed an equal amount of military precision planning is often required! Do NOT forget to bulk pack loo roll and tea bags and a pair of wellies, oh and a tent might come in handy...
A Fine Foundation
Worthy by location, worthy by nature, the festival’s ethical and charitable credentials have long been a top priority. As soon as the festival had the means to, it started ‘giving back’. Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid have been beneficiary charities for well over a decade and prior to this, the festival heavily supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Smaller local charities have also benefited considerably from the festival’s proceeds for a number of years.
Celebration for the masses
Glastonbury Festival emerged as an egalitarian countercultural celebration of youthful hedonism and the best in British music. The festival played a key part in the legislation of mass gatherings, and continual attempts were spearheaded by the Conservative Party to put an end to it. Thankfully, Glastonbury Festival survived and went on to become one of the largest and most exciting greenfield music and performing arts festivals in the world.
Glastonbury Festival over the years…
"One of the main reasons I started the festival was because I needed a way of re-paying the loan I took out to fully own the farm. I also wanted to bring something else to my life besides milking cows – a bit of glamour if you like!" (Michael Eavis)
1980 – 1989…
Although the festivals during the 70s saw the organisers suffer a financial loss, Michael Eavis was undeterred and forged ahead with organising a large-scale event that would raise funds for the peace movement, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The now famous Pyramid Stage was built out of telegraph poles and ex-Ministry of Defence metal, with CND chairman Bruce Kent and historian E.P. Thompson being among the first people to address the crowd from its lofty platform.
1990 – 1999...
Glastonbury Festival continued to snowball into a huge success of an event and the 90s saw massive innovations, including one of the biggest dance music marquees in the country. The festival moved with the times and duly welcomed some of the UK’s best dance MCs.
2000 – 2008…
The following years saw Glastonbury Festival emerge as the biggest and best musical festival in the country. Security was upped, with a massive metal fence erected in 2002, and Michael Eavis continued against all odds to keep the festival's licence. Environmental and ethical issues became increasingly high on the festival's agenda and a number of initiatives were put in place to ensure a greener Glastonbury. The rain continued to pour on proceedings, however, but despite an incessant downpour in 2005 (a once in a hundred year occurrence no less) festival-goers' spirits remained high.
