The Pyramid Stage
The most famous stage at the festival, which in its time has been graced
by virtually every major band you could name. The Pyramid has the
largest field, and at night crowds of over 50,000 can gather to watch
the headline acts. A big screen on either side of the stage ensures
that those at the back don't miss any of the action, as the bands
seem little more than dancing acts from a distance. The Pyramid has
a flashing top which can be seen from most places on the site, making
it an easy focal point. However, don't expect to try and meet anyone
there, as everyone else has the same idea, making it impossible.
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The Other Stage
The second biggest of the stages, where the acts are often a little
more alternative than those on the pyramid, but can still attract
huge crowds. When we first went to Glastonbury as 17 year olds hugely
into indie music we spent a massive proportion of the time at either
the Pyramid or the Other Stage, which was great then, but really that
is just comparable with the experience you could have at V, Reading
etc. There is far more to Glastonbury than just these 2 stages, as
we hope to explain!
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The Dance Tent
Home to pumping dance music of all genres, all day and all night.
The tent is always well decorated with lights and neon to give it
the feel of a club, but those wanting to watch the biggest acts and
DJs may struggle to appreciate these, as the crowds often extend far
outside the tent. The tent achieved legendary status during the 1998
mud bath, as a machine used to clear the toilets was brought in to
clear the mud from the tent, but the operator pressed “blow” instead
of “suck” and coated the tent in what it had just collected from the
toilets.
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One World Stage
Was known as the Jazz Stage, but changed in 2003 to reflect the fact
that barely any of the bands could be described as “Jazz”. Plays some
very eclectic sounds during the day, but at night provides another
arena for big name bands who couldn’t be accommodated elsewhere. A
great place to crash out during the day under the array of colourful
flags, with the pear cider stall nearby to keep you refreshed.
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New Bands Tent
Bizarrely the title actually refers to the fact that this is a relatively
new introduction to the festival (2000) rather than the bands that
play in it being new. But to add to the confusion it usually is new
bands you will find there, with slightly better known names at night.
A fairly small stage in comparison to those above, but provides a
more intimate atmosphere if that’s what you’re looking for.
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Acoustic Tent
Another Glastonbury misnomer, as you will often find instruments being
used here which seem far from acoustic. Another great place to get
some peace and quiet, as the tent is in a location away from most
of the crowds, although the occasional big name appearance such as
Robert Plant can soon change that!
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Avalon Stage
Situated in the Avalon field, this is really entering into the realms
of bands that are unheard of to all but specialist fans. Having said
that the occasional well known act can still turn up on the bill,
none more so than the legendary Rolf Harris in 2000, when the crowd
was so big it almost brought the tent down.
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Cicus Tent
Something that took us a couple of years to discover, but well worth
seeking out. Like many we first wandered in as a refuge from the rain,
but once in there we stayed well after the sunshine had returned!
All the usual circus acts are there, from magicians to trapeze artists,
to strange women encouraging the crowd to roar like lions. The tent
is the focal point of the Circus Field, where you can also have a
go at things like juggling and trapezing yourself, or just lie back
on watch the weird and wonderful go on around you.
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Cabaret Tent
Home to many of the festivals regular performers like Attila the Stockbroker
and John Otway, several of whom make multiple appearances over the
weekend. Often the best entertainment is on during the daytime, when
you can often catch a top comedian or “humourous” musical show.
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Left Field Tent
Not a place to go if you’re a fan of war, the USA or Israel! The left
field tent contains a variety of speakers and stalls promoting various
causes, most related to either global or domestic politics. There’s
plenty of interesting stuff to see and listen to if your into that
sort of thing, if not the tent also has a bank of computers with webcams,
which allow you to send e-postcards to those stuck at work, whatever
your political ideas!
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The Glade
Hidden away in the woods between the Other Stage and the Old Railway
line, the Glade is a place to get dancing. The area is set up to provide
a complete sonic and visual experience, and you will find people “making
shapes” at any time of the day. The Glade also has a café to allow
you to have a rest and chill out for a while in relative comfort.
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The Stone Circle
There is no organised entertainment up here, but for many people just
sitting amongst the stones, looking down on the site is a highlight
of the festival. We’ve never made it to the dawn ritual drumming at
sunrise, but it is supposed to be an awesome experience, just a shame
its so early in the morning.
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Cinema Field
A great end to the night, the outdoor cinema starts up at about 10pm,
and plays top films throughout the night. A unique Glasto experience
as you can sit and watch the film as those around you sleep, light
fires, or finish off their cider.
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Lost Vagueness
Perhaps the strangest area of the festival, where you can find a chapel,
a casino and a ballroom, as well as all sorts of strange objects.
The Lost Stage is nearby, which in recent years has proved massively
popular at night. But none of us were there so we can’t say why! Famous
DJs probably. Anyway it won't be there in 2004 so maybe we'll never
know.
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Cider Bus
The most legendary part of the festival for the HMZ team, where endless
hours can be spent savouring the Burrow Hill cider. Provides many
with their first taste of real cider, and also sells the strangely
popular hot spicy cider. All the workers are well up for a laugh and
a sing-song at the end of the night, so long as all the songs are
about cider! You can also hear the music on the Pyramid Stage clearly,
which can be a right pain when the Manic Street Preaches start interrupting
your cider drinking.
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Band Stand
A small stage not far from the cider bus, the bandstand is usually
the venue for musicians who have managed to blag a gig at the last
minute. However, on the Sunday afternoon of 2000 it was absolutely
packed for the appearance of the Wurzels, and for one fantastic hour
the air was filled with “Drink Up Thy Zider” as the crowd danced the
conga around the stage.
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The Crown
Newly introduced for 2003, the Crown is in the same field as the One
World Stage, which can create a sound clash if you are between the
two. Sponsored by Budweiser, this is an attempt to produce a genuine
pub atmosphere at a festival. As you can probably imagine it fails,
and instead leaves a hot sweaty tent with bands playing Oasis covers
and a few drunks singing along. Nice, if you like that sort of thing.
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Greenpeace
One of the major charities supported by the festival, along with Oxfam
and Water Aid, Greenpeace have a field where they promote their campaigns.
Among the attractions are a climbing wall, solar-power showers, and
the “soul-mates” dating tent, where you can arrange a blind date during
the festival if you want to add some loving to your weekend. Greenpeace
also bring along a replica of their Rainbow Warrior ship, which makes
for quite a good playground, whatever your age.
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Healing Fields
Another part of Glastonbury you’ve probably heard a lot about, the
healing fields consist of many small tents, offering all manner of
healing techniques from head massages to herbal remedies. The effectiveness
of these is obviously open to question, but the field provides a tranquil
setting if you need to get away from it all for a while. There is
also a huge variety of organic and vegetarian food and drink on offer,
but don’t let that put you off.
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Dance and Fire Stage
Hosts a fire show each night, attendance at which so far remains an
unfulfilled ambition of the HMZ team, mainly as it usually clashes
with the headline bands and we prefer to put on our own fire show.
Hopefully 2004 will be the year we make it, in the meantime not much
really to say about this field except that on our visit last year
a samba band was playing and some people were walking round on stilts
as giant footballers.
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Kids Field
Its not a condition of entry that you are young, but as you would expect
the entertainment is very much aimed at children. Bodger and Badger
usually make an appearance, and there is a helter skelter and some
swings, other than that who knows what goes on in there?
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The Market
Taking up a large portion of the centre of the site are the market
areas. These range from food and drink stands, to stalls selling clothes,
hats, camping equipment, memorabilia, legal drugs and anything else
you can imagine really. The food on sale at Glastonbury represents
all corners of the world, with the mass of burger stands matched by
noodles, pasta, baguettes, kebabs, curries, pizza, fresh fruit and
fry-ups to name but a few. The prices are a little higher than you
might normally pay, but generally £5 will ensure you are well fed
for the night.
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Krishnas
Before they wander around the festival singing and chanting, the Hari
Krishna boys sit in their tent and do it for an hour or so. Its quite
hypnotic, and probably puts all sort of subliminal messages in your
head, but is one of those things you’ll only ever do at Glasto. Also,
before the chanting session begins the Krishnas give out a load of
free (veggie) food, some of which is edible, but this always produces
a big queue of people to cheap to buy something nice.
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Bars
Most of the festivals many bars are run by the Workers Beer Company,
a charitable organisation who campaign for workers’ rights. There
are usually a couple of lagers on sale, a couple of ciders, some bitters,
wine and spirits for the ladies and Smirnoff Ice for those not quite
sure. The prices are pretty expensive, around £2.70 a pint on average
in 2003, and the queues are often long, but the tents do provide somewhere
to sit and enjoy a drink if it rains. There are also a couple of independent
bars selling cider and wine, which can be a little cheaper but are
a bit harder to find.
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Camping
Face it, at some time or other during the festival you’re going to
have to sleep. And you’re going to have to sleep in a field with thousands
of others, not all of whom will want to sleep when you do. The camping
experience at Glasto is a bit different to what you might have experienced
in the boy scouts etc, where it was less likely that people spent
all night yelling “Bollocks”, “Gay Bar” or “Timmy” at each other.
Camping near the main stages can be pretty packed, as it also is in
the fields nearest the stone circle, but these locations do give you
better views if you can’t be bothered to walk anywhere. Depending
on how crowded your campsite is you may also have room to start a
fire to keep you warm at night/ randomly burn things, other websites
may warn you about the potential dangers of this, but we certainly
won’t.
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Toilets
Yes, they are that bad. For the boys the urinals are no worse than
anywhere else, but the portaloos are simply disgusting. It is often
said that if you find one of these just after it has been cleaned
then it is bearable, but that seems hard to believe. The other main
form of toilet at Glasto is the “long-drop”, which consist of a large
pit with wooden stalls above it, providing the unique experience of
watching other people’s crap fall into the ground below you. On the
up side the long-drops do smell a bit less than the portaloos, and
get a proper clean out when it rains. For those unable to stomach
any of these options, Water Aid provide a few “African Pit Latrines”
in the stone circle field, which are cleaned after each visit. There
is usually a long queue for these luxuries, which rules them out in
“emergencies”. People refusing to use any of these options and opting
for the hedges has caused serious environmental damage to the site,
and attracted concern from those who award the festival its licence,
so please only piss in the toilets. All toilet areas have wash-basins
and drinking water nearby.
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