Talk:Glastonbury Festival

biggest greenfield festival
this statement is false ie zwart cross in NL hosts 240.000 people! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.104.185.6 (talk) 18:55, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

Zwarte Cross may be bigger but Glastonbury admits all festival goers for three days and only counts them once. Some other festivals admit people on a daily basis then add up the figures so that some people who go in for more than one day count more than once. What system does Zwarte Cross use? Britmax (talk) 19:12, 22 March 2015 (UTC)

This so called festival is is a middle-class bourgeoisie opportunity to pose.2.27.57.177 (talk) 18:00, 24 July 2015 (UTC)

You are 100% correct. 78.151.30.73 (talk) 13:57, 28 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Have you ever been there? Britmax (talk) 07:22, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

No blacks in the audience
Glastonbury's clientele (audience) is almost exclusively white and middle class. You won't see any black faces in the audience. There are some black acts though; this is a positive thing (in my view).

Should we add this information to the article? If so, how can we?

The English class system is alive and kicking. 78.149.211.10 (talk) 03:55, 25 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Re Glastonbury, do you mean recently or over the course of the last forty odd years? because if you think that you're wrong. Anyway, if you can find a reliable source that says this it can go in. Britmax (talk) 07:20, 25 May 2016 (UTC)


 * By the way, the source you used claims that you can tell that the entire audience join along with The Feeling's version of "Video Killed The Radio Star" not knowing that it is a Trevor Horn Song. Well this was 2008 and I was there and I am well aware that this was a hit for The Buggles in 1979, thank you. What other smug generalisations would you like? I could read it all and find some. Britmax (talk) 07:37, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I have read it all now and that's not entirely fair, they do make some interesting points about the way the festival has changed over time. But it is still not a reliable source for an encyclopedia. Britmax (talk) 08:01, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Here's another source. The bloke makes the same point about Wimbledon tennis club.http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/lifestyle-opinion/theyre-hitting-wrong-notes-glastonbury-7346961

I don't know about smug generalisations. The only smugness I've seen emanates from the white middle class kids at Glasto, but that's my POV of course. Incidentally I am white and middle class and English, for what it's worth. I do try to be unsmug, even if I don't always succeed. Cheers. Wythy (talk) 15:19, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Read my remarks again. I was talking about the "source", not you. Britmax (talk) 18:02, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * As a 30 year veteran of Glastonbury Festivals I would agree with the comment about there being few black faces amongst the festival goers and that the source given does not meet the reliable source guideline. This article by Peter Collins in Wales Online may be slightly better (and makes the same points) but I'm finding it difficult to find any really good sources which could be cited for the claim.&mdash; Rod talk 18:50, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm not a thirty year veteran. The first time I went was in ninety eighty fi.. never mind. Britmax (talk) 19:39, 25 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I first went in 1982 & lost count somewhere in the late 80s but checking makes this year my 30th visit (as either punter crew or performer). It has certainly changed in that time, but finding the sources to back up the descriptions of those changes is more difficult.&mdash; Rod talk 20:45, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello Rod. Of course your opinion is not NPOV. But given your experiences at Glasto. would you say the sources are correct in their views on black faces at the festival? Cheers. 78.149.211.10 (talk) 21:02, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

In addition...using the Duck test, the audience do appear to be nearly all white, middle class Brits (if not actually English and Welsh). Wythy (talk) 21:07, 25 May 2016 (UTC)


 * We don't go by what they appear to be. One of the "sources" is described as an opinion piece in the header and the other is the one that thought that no-one in the audience knew that The Feeling's version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" is a cover on the basis of nothing whatsoever. If this is the quality of your "evidence" I am not impressed. Britmax (talk) 18:36, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

It looks like the OP has been spending too much time watching Adelle from the Cider Bus. Try going to Silver Hayes or West Holts or wandering around the site a bit, and there are plenty of 'black faces'. There's even bloody foreigners. The audience may have changed from crusties to the cleaner middle classes, but you'll find even black people in the middle classes these days. 80.43.241.94 (talk) 15:28, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

1990s: 1992 was the first year that the new age travellers were not initially allowed onto the site free;
1992 was the first year that the new age travellers were not initially allowed onto the site free.

Can this be somehow rephrased, reframed; the 1990 festival was the final year IIRC that the 'travellers' had a field alongside the main festival, with open access into the festival. But there were also bands and performers that played in the travellers' field (e.g on Wango Riley's stage) and perhaps also by that time sound-systems such as Spiral Tribe.92.40.12.161 (talk) 01:27, 30 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't know the details but those years would be right: the "Battle of Yeoman's Bridge", the occurrence that led to the divide with the travellers, happened after the festival in 1990. They then had a rest year in 1991 and returned in 1992. Britmax (talk) 09:41, 30 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Kind of adds up. "We are in business to make money" was the mantra at the time. And "Greed is good" and so on. 78.149.214.161 (talk) 00:49, 23 June 2016 (UTC)
 * I don't see the relevance. If you think it was about money you may have to read up on The Battle of Yeoman's Bridge. Britmax (talk) 18:18, 18 July 2016 (UTC)

It's true that initially they where not allowed onto the site for free, Eavis was not happy with the travellers and said that "if they wanna come they pay". But in reality there was a big traveller field with a long gap in the fence into the festival. In 1993 the fence went around the whole festival without gaps. So 1993 is the first year without the traveller field. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.149.252 (talk) 05:52, 24 July 2020 (UTC)

The West Country Challenge
Would you like to win up to £250 in Amazon vouchers for participating in The West Country Challenge?

The The West Country Challenge will take place from 8 to 28 August 2016. The idea is to create and improve articles about Bristol, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, like this one.

The format will be based on Wales's successful Awaken the Dragon which saw over 1000 article improvements and creations and 65 GAs/FAs. As with the Dragon contest, the focus is more on improving core articles and breathing new life into those older stale articles and stubs which might otherwise not get edited in years. All contributions, including new articles, are welcome though.

Work on any of the items at: or other articles relating to the area.
 * Core articles
 * Missing article hotlist
 * Missing photograph hotlist

There will be sub contests focusing on particular areas:
 * Bristol (Day 1-3)
 * Cornwall and Scilly (Day 4-6)
 * Devon (Day 7-9)
 * Dorset (Day 10-12)
 * Gloucestershire (Day 13-15)
 * Somerset (Day 16-18)
 * Wiltshire (Day 19-21)

To sign up or get more information visit the contest pages at WikiProject England/The West Country Challenge.&mdash; Rod talk 16:33, 18 July 2016 (UTC)

Coachella
Is this festival's attendance of 198,000 in 2015 a fair comparison with Glastonbury, or is Coachella actually two festivals that take place on consecutive weekends on the same site? Britmax (talk) 23:04, 9 November 2016 (UTC)
 * I think that's an unfair comparison. The difference could be explained in a footnote, but that would probably lose much of its point. Martinevans123 (talk) 23:12, 9 November 2016 (UTC)

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Television
Is there a reference to the fact it was first televised in 1994. I am fairly sure some of the performances from  the 1982 festival were televised albeit not live. I would need to dig out my video tapes to check the date and it would be original research. 1994 might be first live TV.

80.3.80.20 (talk) 20:07, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

I believe that at least Judie Tzuke and the Climax Blues band were filmed, possibly more. 2A00:23C6:54B2:8401:649C:5AA5:5837:2391 (talk) 21:18, 25 June 2021 (UTC)

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the sound/amps - 1971 festival
I was there, and I can tell you that the music portion of this concert was somewhat hurt by the bad sound. The brittle sound of the attending recordings of some of the artists are not entirely due to limitations of the recording equipment - there were lots of complaints among my fellow grass-sitters that the sound was terrible. Loud, but badly distorted at times. I have not run across a book that covered that aspect of the festival, but if anyone can find a news report or some other document of this fact, it should go in the article. I've been to many other open-air shows, and this was by far the worst sounding. 50.111.25.206 (talk) 16:30, 19 September 2018 (UTC)

Source incomplete
In the organization section it says:

Glastonbury Festivals Ltd donates most of their profits to charities, including donations to local charity and community groups and paying for the purchase and restoration of the Tithe Barn in Pilto

but the BBC Source only talks about the barn nothing about the fact the Glastonbury donates most of their profits. So citation needed — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.205.131.169 (talk) 04:23, 31 May 2019 (UTC)

2019: anyone else going?
Have just started a project page to encourage others to photograph acts, especially those for which we have no image on Wikimedia Commons. The page is Glastonbury 2019. Sort by Start, then by Day, to get a proper chronology. Others are welcome to add more, including redlinks too for acts without an article - some will not (yet) meet our notability criteria, but hard to see any downside in having their images on Commons. Edwardx (talk) 14:13, 19 June 2019 (UTC)
 * I will be there and trying to contribute some pictures. If others are going to be onsite it has been suggested that we could do a "meet-up" perhaps in one of the bars. If anyone esle is up for this (as well as helping to get the pics) could you suggest a time and place which would be best to meet?&mdash; Rod talk 19:39, 21 June 2019 (UTC)

Come again?
Glastonbury was heavily influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with the Isle of Wight Festival (1968–1970), which featured performances by The Who, amongst many other artists.

I'd take issue with this line. 1) it implies IoW was a free festival with hippie ethics, which it definitely wasn't. At Shepton Mallett, there was an impromptu campground 'free stage' with Pink Fairies and Hawkwind playing off a flatbed truck, then there was Phun City, then Pink Fairies and Hawkwind also set up in the campground at 1970 IoW. Could be better worded, possibly just breaking up into 2) If we are going to mention any names from IoW, surely Jimi Hendrix should be included.

Personally I'd also mention Pink Fairies in the 1971 line up. They were a draw, and featured on the LP.

I have done an edit. Ultimately I decided the whole 'hippie ethics' didn't need to be in 1970, and just moved the ref up to the same copy already in the lede.Wwwhatsup (talk) 05:20, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

Inserted the When template in 2000s section
It says: "the largest legitimate attendance to date". Does that mean until 2007, or all time? I think that needs clarifying. KaraLG84 (talk) 14:21, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

Bro Van 117.20.113.199 (talk) 20:01, 28 December 2023 (UTC)