Hard Work, Music and Sunburn at Glastonbury Festival

Well that's Glastonbury Pilton over and done with for another year.

It was good (and suprisingly dry!), always exhausting but still a great weekend.

 

Quick word of warning - this post is rather picture heavy!

 

The Rolling Stones

 

 

I meant to post these pictures a couple of days ago but as well as returning to a tip of a house, I also seem to have brought back with me mild sunburn, bad hay fever, a sore throat and an annoying cough - not good.

But hey ho, it's only once a year, blistered feet and a shattered body more than make up for all the cool things to discover and fab bands to see.

Luckily my three shifts working in Pilton village were fairly uneventful - a few lost walkers, some celebrity helicopter watching and a bit of chicken herding was about as exciting as it got.

 

Sunday lunch? - The entrance to one of the farms on our lane

A very exciting luminous green caterpillar! - Noughts and crosses to while away the hours

A couple of the smart houses we help look after in Pilton village

 

 

During the weekend we managed to see...

Friday  - Oysterband, Toro Y Moi, Bastille, Dizzie Rascal, Arctic Monkeys, Portishead and Shooglenifty

Saturday - Elvis Costello, KT Tunstall (and Shlomo!), The Proclaimers, Steve Winwood and the Rolling Stones

Sunday - Rufus Wainwright, The Congos, Kenny Rogers, Vampire Weekend, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Mumford and Sons

 

 

Vampire Weekend on the Pyramid Stage

The Proclaimers doing '500 Miles' on the Acoustic Stage

Mumford and Sons on the Pyramid Stage

Shooglenifty on the Avalon Stage

Dizzie Rascal on the Pyramid Stage

KT Tunstall on the Acoustic Stage

Mumford and Sons on the Pyramid Stage

Rufus Wainwright on the Pyramid Stage

 

 

My highlights were:

 

Rufus Wainwright - such a great performance, a good mixture of upbeat and melancholy songs and he was really really enthusiastic interacting with the crowd. He also gave off the (really sweet) impression that he was just overwhelmed and amazed that he was actually performing at Glastonbury!

 

KT Tunstall - a fab atmosphere in the tent and her cover of The White Stripes 'Seven Nation Army' with Shlomo was just brilliant!

 

Shooglenifty - late night Scottish fiddle music which you just had to dance to (even my 60 year old father was dancing!). They were the reason we didn't get home til 2am in the morning...

 

 

We also saw lots of weird and wacky sights...

 

Tents, tents and more tents - Polar Bear for auction (he's actually an animatronic model from a Carnival float last year) - William's Green totem pole

Henry the Hoover playing the sax - Arcadia - Some of the stalls near the West Holts stage

 

Two showman's caravans hidden away in the Crossiant Neuf area

 

The Pyramid Stage Phoenix!

 

 

It's at night that Glastonbury Festival really comes alive. As well as the main bands on the Pyramid and Other stages, there's all sorts of antics happening in the Theatre and Circus areas, Arcadia and Shangri La.

 

Flags and crowds near the Other stage

Anaspitos the tightrope walker - 122m long and 16m high! 

Lights and beams near the William's Green stage

 

 

Whilst perusing the stalls in the Fields of Avalon, I found the Glastonbury home of the lovely Pretty Nostalgic magazine and their friendly team. As well as a fab subscription offer (25% off and a free copy of their 'Pretty Nostalgic Home' book) which I took up there and then, they were also asking for pretty nostalgic tips from festival goers.

 

 

 

And the last photo (which I'm sure you're all relieved to hear) - I ticked off another item from my '32 Before 32' list - to walk up to Glastonbury Festival Stone Circle!