Fave Glasto memory/moment?

[onefivesix]

Hi glasto fans,

I'm writing my BA dissertation about glastonbury festival and would love to include some of your favourite memories or moments from the festival - it doesn't matter if its about the music or the atmosphere just whatever sticks out in your mind!

you can always email me on jen_smith_156@hotmail.com if you'd rather not post

you'll be helping me finish my degree and also would be lovely to share our experiences

thank you!

J x

[stinkywitch]

ohhh I have so many..............in 2009 it was one of our groups birthday on the wednesday, we sat at stone circle and about 100 strangers sung happy birthday to him, it was very very funny when we got to the "happy birthday dear..........." because only a few of us knew his name. We also started a mexican cheer that went all the way around the site. it took a few attempts but we managed it.

in 2007 we took our kids for the 1st time (aged 8 and 10) We learned to play the didgeridoo and also how to make stone age axes, We got seperated from hubby as Paul Weller was on the pyramid stage and when we finally found each other he was singing "You do somthing to me" and now every time i hear that song it brings a lump to my throat. My 8 yr old daughter (now 11 yrs old) is a massive Lily Allen fan and we allowed her to sing along including the swear words. We said she could do it again in 2009 but we regretted it when she started singing F$%k You at the top of her voice.

Again in 2009 when we took some friends who had never been before, one was on the phone to his wife as we got to the top of the hill of death on day 1, he was just stood at the top with his mouth wide open while his wife thought somthing was wrong cos he stopped talking all he could manage to say was its foooking enormous babe.........

[Hash4Cash]

in 88 i sold an 1/8 to a clown in the circus field, which he hid in his red nose.

[whatme]

We also started a mexican cheer that went all the way around the site. it took a few attempts but we managed it...

this was sooo good.

I remember meeting the nice H4C in 04 i think it was,
he let me roll a smoke, so i opened his tin upside down and spilt the contents of the grass in the Grass lol.

Also the very large naked lady at the bandstand in 03 (i think) pleasuring her self. Even got a photo of it

Also the same year, had done loads of acid and i remebmer jumping into a lorry that was parked up thinking i was at work then being dragged out by the driver and me mates stood around laughing there heads off.

and this is just a few without even mentioning the music

[stinkywitch]

this was sooo good.

I remember meeting the nice H4C in 04 i think it was,
he let me roll a smoke, so i opened his tin upside down and spilt the contents of the grass in the Grass lol.

and the very nice H4C even went back to his tent for more supplies the next day so we knew we had been forgiven. looking forward to meeting up with him again this year.

[Hash4Cash]

[GlastoN+1]

standing in the crowd watching neil young! so many amazing moments, him walking on and ploughing straight into hey hey my my, feeling completely in awe whilst needle and the damage done rung out, the 4 (or 5 cant remember) fake endings to rocking in the free world and the highlight for me, the entire crowd joining in for the epic chorus of a day in the life, 'AAAAAHH, AHH AHH AHHHHHH, AHH AHH AHHHHH, AHHH AHH AHHHHHHH!!'

amazing.

[Mart44]

I have to say ditto to the above re Neil Young. I grew up listening to his music and have loved his integrity and stubborness to play exactly what he wants to play throughout his career. He put so much energy into that performance last year. I was in heaven ! One of my younger friends who was at Glasto last year for the first time and who had NEVER heard any Neil Young was knocked out too - he kept saying who is this Rock God who is this Guitar Legend, how have I missed him all my life ?

In about 1991 (?) - when Glasto was scorching hot the whole weekend - we found some respite in a tent somewhere and collapsed on the grass along with a load of other over-indulgers, st*ned hippies and people flaked out asleep. There was a classical orchestra on the stage about to start playing all in full evening dress. The conductor walked on stage, looked at the crowd and burst out laughing - "You dont look like our normal audience" he said as he raised his baton and off they went.

Late one night wandering back to our tent after seeing Oasis headline, we were knackered after a long day of 'partying' when we heard some loud music coming from a small tent. There was a french punk folk band called Les Negress Verte playing - it was packed, hot & sweaty etc but we had an amazing time pogo-ing the night away. For me this is one of the secrets of Glasto - finding little gems that you have never heard of or expect to see !

[GlastoN+1]

I am young aswell only 16, glasto virgin until last year but a big fan of young all the same. All my mates missed him sayinig 'well ive never heard of him, so whats the point'. lol they have no idea. and yeah totally agreed theres some great little tents dotted about, the boudoin tent on pennard hill was a great one will stop back there again next year for some late night/early morning tomfoolery.

[Growing0]

A choice of two for me, both in 1981 if I remember right. The first was when I flaked out in the mud outside the cinema tent after watching Airplane. I was woken up in the morning, to find someone had put a donkey jacket over me, by a bod checking to see if I was ok. He left a small cigar and a brew of some description and wandered off into the sunrise.

The second was the first year the Police were allowed on site. I had just finished rolling a small cigar whilst watching a couple having a domestic. They were so far gone they had to keep asking each other, and occasionally the audience, what they were arguing about. Having lit up I stood up next to some bod for a better view and was just about to pass it along when the blokes radio went off. He just smiled and wandered off.

[Hash4Cash]

in one very hot year in the early 90's i was more mashed than spuds in a Sheppard's pie and fell out of the urinals at the bottom of the acoustic field and passes out.
Later i awoke to a small group giggling at me, at first i didn't realize why they were laughing but then to my horror i found i had not put my old man back in and it had been fully exposed to the midday sun and it had become burnt. I popped him back into his house and went to medical to see what they could do about it.
A very nice nurse called Rachel applied some cream to the stinging area that got bigger with every application.
I ended up sleeping in her tent that night.

[Mandypants]

in one very hot year in the early 90's i was more mashed than spuds in a Sheppard's pie and fell out of the urinals at the bottom of the acoustic field and passes out.
Later i awoke to a small group giggling at me, at first i didn't realize why they were laughing but then to my horror i found i had not put my old man back in and it had been fully exposed to the midday sun and it had become burnt. I popped him back into his house and went to medical to see what they could do about it.
A very nice nurse called Rachel applied some cream to the stinging area that got bigger with every application.
I ended up sleeping in her tent that night.

oh my! weren't you a bit sore when you were ermm *sleeping* with this nurse? Sounds like a blokes dream come true mind you, having cream rubbed on his willy by a cute nurse lol!

[Hash4Cash]

yea we did make some intresting grunting noises that night.

[richhall]

When I first got to the top of the hill of death last year (Glasto virgin) on the Thursday and looked across the site all you heard from us all was - wow how bloody big!.

I also remeber the Friday night - Sat on the top of the hill of death looking down at all the lights and stages with the fire stuff going off in Arcadia to my left. It was an astounding sight.

The whole vibe of the site and friendliness of people was a real pleasent supprise after years at Reading etc!

Oh and discovering Brothers Cider and Pieminster at the Jazz stage

[GlastoWatch]

A very nice nurse called Rachel applied some cream to the stinging area that got bigger with every application.
I ended up sleeping in her tent that night.

Isn't there a law against medical staff seducing vulnerable patients?

You go there for medical treatment, and some sexy nurse takes advantage, it's just not on!

[Hash4Cash]

Isn't there a law against medical staff seducing vulnerable patients?

You go there for medical treatment, and some sexy nurse takes advantage, it's just not on!

so who should i complain to?

[onefivesix]

thanks for all the memories guys - not sure if I can put the one about the handy nurse in my dissertation but enlightening all the same!

[Mandypants]

The whole weekend was just a million moments, I'm not sure I can choose a favourite! I loved the feeling of peace that I got when wandering round the healing field, it just compelled me to tread quietly and feel more relaxed.

The drumming workshop was ace fun, stuff like that is usually just for kids, so I loved grabbing a stick and whacking noisy things

I had a constant urge to keep moving, I wanted to see and hear and experience everything all at once, I didn't want to rest in case I missed something. It was just so colourful, so happy, so exciting, I was in my element!

The size of the place amazed me, the first sight of the Pyramid made me tingle, sitting at the stone circle felt so cool, the weird and wonderful stuff that was everywhere, from the industrial metal of Trash City, to the green and natural creations of the Permaculture and Green Fields.

I could go on for hours about all the things that made me smile, the things that made me go WOW, the things that made me feel so happy, it's just an amazing place!

[dinkyxox]

love it ha ha ha

[garym01]

mine was 97' my first glasto, a real wet one, but my friend and i wandering on the Saturday night got asked by some random asking for a torch.

Said he needed to find his wallet in this big trench coat.

Turns out not so random it was Joe Strummer...

[guidarufino]

It's not easy to pick one but I think probably my highlight was last year on the Sunday. I was feeling kind of spaced out, tired, hungry etc and as it was my last day, decided to just go and have a bit of a wander about on my own. So I just kind of wandered around totally at random and the following things happened to me on my walkabout.

I met Michael Eavis and got to shake his hand and give him a hug and take a pic with him.

On the way through the Healing Field (my favourite place at Glasto) I stumbled upon a big group of hippies who were walking through the fields making sweet sweet music and joined in.

Whilst in said group, I got chatting to a really sweet young Irish hippy so we ended up sitting down for an hour or so, sharing a smoke and generally having a lovely chat.

Then I wandered off again completely at random where I finally found the Hari Krishna tent which I'd been looking for all week.

Where I then completely randomly bumped into two of my friends.

So we went down to Pyramid to get a good spot for Stevie Wonder.

When I then bumped into another 4 of my friends, again completely at random.

Then I watched Stevie Wonder and I really couldn't have asked for a better end to the week.

I got back to my van, had the biggest fattest smoke of the week so far and slept like a baby for 8 hours! Best day ever!

[tort]

There have been so many but the one that still brings a lump to the throat was back in 2000. I only went with one other mate that year and he decided to crash out early on the Friday night so I bumbled off on my own & ended up at the Stone Circle.

Right at the very top of the field there was a batucada band who I’d seen play in the Cabaret Tent earlier in the day. They were phenomenal & had a crowd several hundred strong dancing around them while the first glimmers of daylight appeared in the Eastern sky.

Several times they threatened to call it a night but the crowd wouldn’t let them go and eventually they agreed to play until sunrise. The crystal clear sky gradually changed colour from maroon through every shade of blue to a deepening orange glow and as it did so the band’s leader gradually built up the sound until the very moment the sun peeped over the horizon when he briefly stopped the band for a single second before the whole place just exploded with drums and whistles and cheers. Simply magical!

[KarenEH]

My first year was only 2009 and I wished I'd done it years ago!

First memory - having a cup of tea by the tent when my nephew txt with the news of Micheal Jackson's death, no-one in nearby tents believed us.

Second memory- loving Blur on Sunday night, Damon Albarn in tears, a huge moon overhead and chinese lanterns flying across the sky- pure magic!

Third- coming across the fire show in Arcadia just as the heavens opened and lightning lit up the sky!
An amazing start to my first Glasto experience- number 3 coming up!! Woo hoo!

[Lou's other half]

I'm sure most will agree that nothing compares to your first encounter with the farm they call Worthy. For me it was walking with a couple of friends down from the main road after being dropped off by another friend's mum. We walked down a road that is now, I believe, closed off for the duration that runs through the heart of the village. It was weird but wonderful walking through this completely deserted, archetypal English countryside with a thumping reggae beat in the background!

And then round a corner and there it was. More friends on gate duty welcomed us and in we walked. Just a couple of fields back then and nothing more than the normal barbed wire fence you'd find on any farm - just there to keep the cows in, not us lot out. The old Pyramid - Mk 2, the one that burned down in '94 - with a laser beam coming out the side and pointed at the Tor. Spent the weekend in a scrumpy-induced haze. Hawkwind, New Order, John Cooper-Clarke and lots of good friends. I've been completely in love with the place ever since!

Since then, well there's too many highlights to list them all! Some have been planned (Radiohead '97 say), some not (early hours of Sunday morning '08 in the Arts Cafe hearing the single best performance I've heard in 30 years by a girl called Jo singing Sweet Thing and Will You Marry Me? to an audience of about 12 - and then spending the whole of the next evening there with her and her friends.)

The best moments tend to be the unplanned ones - can't wait to see what this year's will be!

[stardustjunkie]

My best moment would have to be last year when Florence's mic stopped working. Everyone in the crowd was singing the lyrics instead of her, and it was just incredible. The whole audience united and screaming out the same song and cheering her along.

I also loved sitting at stone circle, watching the sunset and everyone cheering. Was great!

[Fat Pat]

Most memorable moment would be walking away from the pyramid stage in 2007 after the killers headlined, someone started a random version Bohemian Rhapsody,next thing there's full on sing song going from beginning to end.

Happy Days!

[theandyevans]

One of my most funny moments was ina urinal when the trough was at a werry sharp angle I was at the shallow end when a lad came in burstin for a wee & just couldn't reach and endded up pushing everyone to the right just so he could reach.

[Glasto-worker]

has to be well over 20 years but cant lock down the year. { so somewhere near 1987 }

For a kick off the site was a lot different then so God knows where the Samaritans area was - anyway my Mates and I were wandering about late at night and we came close to the Samaritans area - at that time there was a tent and a few straw bails sitting outside. { and it was a dry night }

There was one guy chatting to another but they kept grabbing each others arm and both saying ' but you listen to me '

What I think happened was that Punter A had sat down and soon after Punter B sat down and each thought the other was the Samaritan but it was clear to me they were just two very stoned Punters- it was very late and I could not see anyone inside the Samaritan tent.

It completely cracked us up and had to be the funniest thing I have seen at Glasto in any year .

They both appeared happy to speak to each other but clearly they would be a lot happier if the other listened.

It really cracked us and we ended up in tears

We walked past them and went into the Reggae Tent { hence how I can work out the rough year as I know the Reggae Tent was not permitted to open a few years later as they did not have a license } and once we could not breath any longer { you have to have been in the Reggae Tent to know you did not need to buy anything } we left but the two Punters had gone - still could not see anyone official in the Samaritan Tent so cant say what happened to them but it may be they left because the other would not listen.

[robbieflash]

I'm a little like GlastoN+1, first year last year and all that. And H4C, we'll have to meet up at some point! Sounds a laugh.

Few special moments for me though:

- Thom Yorke, Special Guest. For 3 reasons. One, the crowd singing back after the song had finished and hearing eachother echo was one of the most beautiful special moments of my life. 2, by accident me and a friend somehow managed to have a brief conversation with Emily/Michael/Thom just before he went on! 3, i just remember getting a text off a mate confirming him to be the special guest, sitting their clutching my phone and thinking how i should tell the next 10 people around me to pass it on.

- During the football match last year when the site was almost deserted was lovely, especially everyone sitting down as we watched Alessi's Ark in the Queens Head.

- I remember walking back after passing out on stone circle on the very early hours of monday morning and thinking the entire place looked like a nuclear site, almost Chernobyl reminiscent! Like everyone had dropped everything and run, and the thick fog that surrounded everything. Mental.

- At some late night wondering moment, i remember me and a friend stumbling upon a bus, and then a shop that sold blankets, brought a blanket, then found another tent with little acoustic performances, beanbags and about 10 people drinking herbal tea and sitting round admiring. Beautiful moments.

[stardustjunkie]

This topic is really making me smile

[glastomad]

Been thinking bout this for a while it so hard to get it down to a few
-First year first day walking round aimlessly with my mum (her first time to) taking it all in, when a group of people surround me pretending to be ostritches with their hands in the air being their heads making me join in. It thought 'fuck it mite as well' and ended up doing the same to people like me for a good hour!
-Jay Z in 2008 most definitely living up to all the hype surrounding it and holding up my phone during 'encore' with my fuming sister on the other side, still never forgiven my for it
-Crowd surfing 3 times over the front barrier at the verve then somehow meeting up with my two mates who did the same after as I had all their phones
-The night Jacko died (I claim to be one of the first to find out he was dead, I happened to be listening to 5live on my radio just before it was announced) whilst everyone was shouting bout him dieing, two random blokes me and my mate were walking past got us to join in with them dancing round a candle stick 'channeling the spirit of kery katona' (they didn't know why either ahaha)
-Stevie Wonder ... utter legend

[amcminn]

Wow, some amazing experiences on this thread! Definitely a great read. I have only been to Glasto once in 2009, and have been lucky enough to get a ticket with a few of my mates this year. What can I say its an amazing place. For us it was as much the journey to Glasto as well as the festival itself. I was driving from Belfast and the Sat Nav. directed us down every back road Wales had to offer, making the journey twice as long. But as there was 3 of us, and we happened across a road sign of a place called ‘Three Cocks’, it made the extra driving totally worth it, definitely a photo with me and my two friends and that sign pointing at us is priceless. Finally getting to the car park, and drinking as many beers as I could for preparing for the long walk, and just meeting loads of people and having fun before we even got in was amazing.
If I had to pick a personal favourite moment in would be walking up in the Hare Krishna tent, in a total drunken haze, singing away with everyone, realising my friends where not beside me, panicking only a little as I was wasted and the music just made everything feel great. Then looking across the tent and seeing one of my friends in the exact same state. Absolutely brilliant, I’ll definitely be heading back to the Hare Krishna tent this year for some comforting music and chanting. Such a weird and wonderful experience, that just echoes Glastonbury. The festival is like walking into a world where everyone wants to be friends, get to know each other, share stories, have a laugh and ultimately have a good time. If only outside the festival could be the same!! Glasto 2011 is going to be Awesome!!

[stinkywitch]

We sat opposite this guy one morning in 2009, just outside the accustic tent next to kidz field.
I was sure he was unaware of his painted face but whatme and responsible adult aid he had to know. After an hour or so I had to ask him and he was totally unaware, we even had to take his pic just to show him what he looked like. He then said he was not going to sleep before his mates every again!

[RickySSmith]

The festival is like walking into a world where everyone wants to be friends, get to know each other, share stories, have a laugh and ultimately have a good time. If only outside the festival could be the same!!

I cannot agree with this more! This is pretty much how I describe it to people - if there was a place in the "real" world like Glastonbury I'd move there tomorrow... actually right this second - even if I had to walk!

Best moment of the festival for me? There are tons, which considering I've only been twice is quite amazing - Bruce Springsteen in 09 probably has to be THE one though, every time I watch back that performance of Dancing in the Dark it just sends shivers down my spine, was absolutely incredible. Was watching Springsteen's set with some of my best mates, we were all really happily drunk, dancing and singing along... THEN Dancing in the Dark started playing and everyone just went absolutely mental, probably the happiest moment of my life actually. Not really because of the song, or the fact I was drunk or anything like that, I think it was just the fact that I was with thousands and thousands of other people who were all just having such a great time - me and my friends must have started talking to everyone who was anywhere near us that night, and it was as if we had known each other forever - that's probably what I love about Glastonbury the most!

Other moments of note - (previously recounted story) when me and two friends stumbled across this random pizza place that made fresh pizzas, and my friend fell madly in love with the girl behind the counter, who has henceforth been known as "Pizza Girl" - we sat down on some logs inside with two people who were sat there already, and had an absolutely hilarious time coming up with chat-up lines that my friend could try out on "Pizza Girl" - all of which would have been completely and utterly useless but at the time were the best most hilarious and cringe-worthy chat-up lines probably ever created.

I don't think I've ever had a fit of the giggles as much as when my friend made a suit out of black bin bags, I'm pretty sure it was the first or second night back in 2009, we had set up camp - had a little explore; got back to our tents and the heavens opened in an almighty storm which was great fun to watch from the porch of my tent (love a good storm) then our friend came waddling out of his tent wearing this creation -



All of us were on the floor in hysterics