Glastonbury Festival

Be a Green Traveller in 2013

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:02:35 +0100

The Green Traveller initiative returns for 2013

We're pleased to announce the return of our Green Traveller initiative for 2013, following its successful introduction to the Festival two years ago.

Every person arriving at the Festival by public transport or bicycle will be handed a special Green Traveller pass/lanyard when they walk from the coach to the entrance gate or once they have locked up their bike.

The lanyard's pouch will contain vouchers to get money off at food stalls throughout the Festival and a discount on an official festival T-shirt.

Plus, this year, our Green Traveller team will be wandering the site throughout the Festival randomly giving out some great prizes to people proudly wearing their Green Traveller lanyard around their neck. These prizes will include:

- The chance to watch an act's set from the side of the Pyramid Stage
- A year's supply of Ecover cleaning products
- Free travel for a year on any National Express coaches
- A year's subscription to the Guardian newspaper
- A year's subscription to Q magazine
- An ultimate chocolate hamper from Seed and Bean
- Plus lots of smaller prizes including free meal tickets and Glastonbury T-shirts

The idea of the scheme is to reward those who travel to Worthy Farm by public transport or bicycle. Together, you are making a significant impact on the the Festival's CO2 emissions and helping reduce congestion around the festival site. We really are grateful, and this is our small way of saying thanks.

Green Travellers, we salute you!

Click here more info on how to get to Glastonbury by public transport or bike

The Beat Hotel's 2013 plans

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:20:52 +0100

The Beat Hotel is back for 2013, following its successful introduction in 2011. Bringing together expertise in sustenance, entertainment and comfort, and years of understanding of the esoteric science of “vibe”, this is a sanctuary where the clocks stop and the good times roll, and roll, and roll. Head to their Page for more info.

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel to play Extravaganza

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:01:37 +0100

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel will support Bryan Ferry & The Bryan Ferry Orchestra at the Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza on 11th August, Festival founder Michael Eavis announced today.

It will be the '70s legend's second time opening an Extravaganza in the spectacular grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. The singer, famous for the iconic chart topper Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me), also supported Madness in 2010.

Michael said: “I was looking for a support for Bryan Ferry and hoped that Steve Harley would want to do it. Just one phone call did the trick and he was delighted to come back to the Abbey. He’s played at the Pilton Festival so many times and he is a legend as far as I am concerned.”

The evening will be topped with the traditional firework display.

Advance ticket prices are £35 adult, £20 for an accompanied child aged six to 16, £95 for a family of two adults and three children. Gate prices are £40 adult, £25 for a child aged six to 16, £120 for a family of two adults and three children. Accompanied children aged five and under do not require a ticket.

Bookings can be made:

Online at www.glastonburyabbey.com/Extravaganza There is a £3.50 delivery charge per order.

In person at the Abbey Shop where there is free collection or £1.50 delivery charge.

By posting a cheque/postal order made payable Glastonbury Festivals Ltd, to Glastonbury Extravaganza, 28 Northload Street, Glastonbury, Somerset, BA6 9JJ indicating number of tickets required, postal details and delivery fee of £1.50 per order.

Kate Fox is this year's Website Poet In Residence

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:16:22 +0100

We're very pleased to announce that our 2013 Website Poet in Residence is Kate Fox, who will be attending the Festival for the very first time.

Kate has has been a regular Poet for Radio 4's Saturday Live since 2007 and she was Poet in Residence for the Great North Run in 2011 (writing and performing a poem whilst running 13 miles). She's hoping that writing poems whilst living in a tent will be easy in comparison.

Kate is also a comedian and her show about not wanting children - Good Breeding - will be at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Her collection of new and selected poems "Fox Populi" was published this spring by Smokestack Books. Find out more about Kate at www.katefox.co.uk or on Twitter @katefoxwriter.

And here's Kate's first poem for us:

I’ve Never...

I’ve never worn a onesie in public,
I’ve never played a spoon,
I’ve never done a bungee jump
I’ve never gone up in a hot air balloon.

I’ve never laughed at Andy Murray
and I’ve never been to Glastonbury.

I’ve never eaten a grasshopper,
I’ve never flown to Peru,
I’ve never scattered rose petals onto a bed
I’ve never had a tattoo

I’ve never danced like Bryan Ferry
and I’ve never been to Glastonbury

I’ve never ridden an elephant,
I’ve never read War and Peace
I’ve never kissed a girl,
I’ve never knitted a fleece.

I’ve never had an affair with John Terry
and I’ve never been to Glastonbury

I could carry on listing forever,
these things that I’ve never done,
but now I’m going to experience
thousands of them in one.

I’m going to see the Rolling Stones,
I’m going to be magnetically healed.
I’m going to talk to strangers whilst poo-ing,
I’m going to sleep in a massive field.

I’m going to buy waterproof outfits,
I’m going to use a She Wee,
I’m going to discover the next big thing
I’m going to feel free

There are so many things we’ll never do,
many of them unnecessary,
but for me this one’s a rite of passage,
I’m finally going to Glastonbury!

++++++++++

(Picture, Spurious Nonsense Art Photography)

The BBC Webcams are back!

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:02:00 +0100

We're pleased to report that the BBC's Glastonbury site webcams are now fully operational again. Click here to see real-time progress of the site build, from three different angles.

The Bin Painters

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:47:14 +0100

A film by Jason Bryant. Edited by Malcolm Smele. Music by Matt Green.

Shangri-La updates

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:20:23 +0100

Mutilation Row, Hoarders Passage, Lust Lane, the Exchangibition Bank & new daytime DJ sessions - there's lots of news about Shangri-La's 2013 plans in the latest blog post over on their area page. Click here to read it,

The Glastonbury Free Press

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:53:18 +0100

Introducing our new local newspaper for the Festival, The Glastonbury Free Press, which will be printed on site using vintage letterpress technology.

We're importing a five ton 1954 Original Heidelberg cylinder press which will print all night to produce your daily morning paper. These historic machines dominated the printing industry for most of the 20th Century – Their makers Schnellpressenfabrik Heidelberg invented the mechanism for an automated sheet fed press – before these arrived in the 1930's, every sheet of paper had to be fed by hand.

The text will be set using lincasting 'hot metal' technology, a method invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler in 1884 which revolutionised newspaper production and became the industry standard for nearly 100 years. The Intertype machine mechanically casts metal ingots into lines of letterpress type by combining a series of facinating automated mechanical processes in a structure that dwarfs its operator. The machinery moves with such steampunk drama it has been labelled 'the pinnacle of Victorian engineering' and 'the eighth wonder of the world'. You'll be able to see this in action all day as we prepare the type, or place a small ad with us and see your words cast in metal to be printed in the next edition.

All our vintage machinery will be on show as it operates, so drop by and see the press in action. We think we can print roughly 1,500 newspapers an hour with this, so we'll need to run the press from about 10pm – 10am to fill our print run. Early editions of the papers to be available from the early hours each day, and should be distributed site-wide in time for you to read over your breakfast.

More news on the Free Press soon...

Please do not use Chinese Lanterns

Fri, 10 May 2013 14:06:05 +0100

Chinese lanterns may look spectacular but they create a very real fire risk; once launched there is no control over where they might land.

The lanterns can cause fires and harm livestock. That is why they are banned at Glastonbury Festival and we would ask for your help in making sure that they are no longer used at the event. They really do cause harm.

Said Michael Eavis: "I have two main concerns regarding the lanterns; the first being the risk of fire, as the still burning lanterns could fall within the many acres of closely erected tents causing rapid fire spread and endangering lives.

"The second is a longer term consequence and the cause of many complaints from neighbouring landowners, as the lanterns can land on grass in farmers’ fields which is made into hay & silage for winter fodder and fed to stock; the operation of cutting and collecting the grass will chop the wire or bamboo frame of the lantern into needle sized pieces which in turn will be digested by the animals into their stomach possibly resulting in a slow death, I have had two cattle killed in this way at Worthy Farm.

"The ban of the lanterns is for a reason. Hopefully this information will deter anyone from bringing them onto site this year."

The Kidz Field's 2013 plans announced

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:14:47 +0100

“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood”

The Kidz Field offers an extraordinary world of wonder and magic, with things to do and see, make or join in with, bounce on, jump off, climb up and fly in.

This year, they've got castles and aliens, bubbles and clowns, swingboats and roundabouts, explosions, magicians, stuntmen and technicolour nuns. Plus, they've got some incredible entertainment in store in the Big Top, featuring an array of great performers including Alex, Sid, Andy and Katy from CBeebies.

And, as ever, all activities, shows and workshops in the field are FREE.

Head over to the Kidz Field page for lots more info....

Bryan Ferry to play Abbey Extravaganza

Thu, 09 May 2013 09:11:41 +0100

Bryan Ferry & The Bryan Ferry Orchestra will perform in the spectacular grounds of Glastonbury Abbey, Festival founder Michael Eavis announced today.

Bryan Ferry will perform at the Abbey on Sunday August 11 with the night ending with the traditional firework display.

Tickets are on sale from 9am today online and at the Abbey Shop.

Since the release of his first record with Roxy Music in 1972, Bryan Ferry has been acclaimed as one of the most innovative and stylish musicians, songwriters and singers to emerge in pop and rock music.

Bryan Ferry possesses the rare distinction of being regarded as both classic and timelessly contemporary – an accomplishment achieved by both his recordings with Roxy Music and the range and intensity of his solo albums.

Michael Eavis, who has staged the Extravaganza in the spectacular ruins of the Abbey for 17 years, took a break in 2012 when the world famous Glastonbury Festival had a fallow year.

The concert is his thank you to local people but also Michael is an ambassador for the Abbey which running an appeal to conserve the ruins and enhance the visitor experience for future generations.

Michael said: “The concert is an opportunity for local people who can’t always get to the Festival in Pilton to enjoy something extra special in this lovely town.

“We were very fortunate to be able to get Bryan Ferry who will come up with the goods and deliver a spectacular show.”

Janet Bell, Abbey director, said: “The people of Glastonbury have been asking if there would be another concert this year at the Abbey and we’re delighted that, thanks to Michael, there will be. We are sure it will be well-supported and tickets will sell fast; we are all looking forward to it.”

Previous stars to appear at the Abbey include Status Quo, Madness, Van Morrison and Jools Holland.

Advance ticket prices are £35 adult, £20 for an accompanied child aged six to 16, £95 for a family of two adults and three children. Gate prices are £40 adult, £25 for a child aged six to 16, £120 for a family of two adults and three children. Accompanied children aged five and under do not require a ticket.

Bookings can be made:

Online at www.glastonburyabbey.com/Extravaganza There is a £3.50 delivery charge per order.

In person at the Abbey Shop where there is free collection or £1.50 delivery charge.

By posting a cheque/postal order made payable Glastonbury Festivals Ltd, to Glastonbury Extravaganza, 28 Northload Street, Glastonbury, Somerset, BA6 9JJ indicating number of tickets required, postal details and delivery fee of £1.50 per order.

Site snaps: the Pyramid gets dressed, pt 2

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:09:39 +0100

Here are more of Jason Bryant's photos, from a baking hot day on Worthy Farm on Sunday.

Why not cycle to Glastonbury?

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:37:03 +0100

For more information om cycling to the Festival (including organised rides), click here.

Site snaps: the Pyramid's getting dressed

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:11:13 +0100

After sitting in its field as a bare frame since shortly after Glastonbury 2011, the Pyramid Stage began to get its skin put back on today. (As ever, thanks to Jason Bryant for the photos.)

Latest news from The Common

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:04:18 +0100

2013 is the year The Common deepens its relationship with Latin America by re-imagining its spiritual folklore of its people and revealing a lost civilisation with a secret. Experience mesmeric
tribal rituals designed to liberate mind and body, played out in the magnificent Temple.

For all the very latest info - including new line-up info - head over to their Area page and explore the various venues...

Ticket refund, resales and delivery FAQ

Thu, 02 May 2013 15:27:31 +0100

I’VE PAID THE FULL BALANCE OF MY TICKET BUT NOW I CAN’T MAKE THE FESTIVAL - CAN I GIVE MY TICKET TO A FRIEND?

No. Tickets for Glastonbury Festival are personalised with a photo of the ticket holder and cannot be transferred to another recipient. Any tickets we suspect are being offered for sale will be cancelled and admission to the Festival refused.

I’VE PAID THE FULL BALANCE OF MY TICKET BUT NOW I CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE FESTIVAL - CAN I GET A REFUND?

If you are unable to come to the Festival, and require a refund for your tickets you can request this at https://www.seetickets.com/customerservice or by calling Seetickets on 0844 412 4626 before midnight May 3rd 2013. A £10 administration charge will be retained from all refunded tickets. For refund enquiries, please email glastonbury@seetickets.com.

WHAT HAPPENS TO REFUNDED TICKETS AFTER MAY 3RD? WILL THERE BE ANOTHER RESALE?

The number of tickets expected to be cancelled is very few, so there won’t be another resale, however Seetickets will be releasing a few more coach packages.

The final few coach packages will be released during the course of the week commencing 6th May. These packages will be released via glastonbury.seetickets.com. These releases will not be announced. Anyone wishing to buy them is advised to keep checking See's website.

These coach packages will be very limited in number, and only on select routes where a cancellation has made a seat available on one of their existing coaches. The final few coach packages will be released during the course of the week commencing 6th May. These tickets are entirely non-refundable and non-transferable, so please only book a coach package if you are 100% certain you will be able to travel on the coach you are booking, as travel on the coach will be mandatory in order to receive your Festival tickets. Please do not book a coach package if it will require you to travel further to the Festival than is necessary.

CAN I BOOK A COACH SEAT FOR MY CHILD OR DEAF AND DISABLED PA TO TRAVEL WITH ME IF THEY DON’T HAVE A FESTIVAL TICKET?

Yes if you are planning on taking a child aged 12 or under, who will not require an entry ticket for the festival, or are applying for a PA ticket from the disabled access coordinator, and are requiring additional coach travel - please contact Seetickets once you have completed your booking at coachtravel@seetickets.com. Please include your Ticket & Coach reference number, a contact number and your name. Seetickets will call you back in order to purchase your additional coach seats (NB: standard fares apply). All passengers including children aged 12 and under, and PAs must purchase a valid coach ticket in order to travel. Under no circumstances can a coach package ticket be exchanged for a standard admission ticket. Please note coach places will be limited, so we advise you to contact Seetickets as soon as possible. Please also note that unfortunately we cannot guarantee any See coach will have the required wheelchair access and storage facilities. If you are taking a wheelchair to Glastonbury, we would advise against booking coach travel in this instance.

CAN I STILL BOOK A CAMPERVAN, TIPI OR CAR PARK TICKET?

Campervans and tipis are now sold out, but car park tickets remain available. You can book a car park ticket online or by calling 0844 412 4626â€¨

WHEN WILL MY TICKETS BE SENT OUT?

It is expected that you will receive your tickets at least 14 days before the Festival starts.â€¨

- International ticket dispatch is now underway.
- UK ticket dispatch will begin week commencing 6th May
- Coach ticket dispatch will begin week commencing 20th May

You will be able to obtain your tracking reference via Seetickets' order tracker. Please note to access the order tracker you will require your email address and booking reference number (this is not the same as your registration number).

You can track your ticket order via www.royalmail.com by entering your tracking reference number.â€¨â€¨

If you are not at home when your tickets arrive, a card will be left giving you instructions on how to arrange re-delivery (including weekend delivery options) or pick them up from your local collection office

Tickets will be sent to the address specified when booking. A signature will be required at the point of the delivery.â€¨

If you ordered more than one ticket, your tickets will be dispatched to the address you provided for the first name on your booking. If you paid your balances separately, you will each receive your own ticket.â€¨

If you have not received your tickets by 9am on Monday, 24th June please contact Seetickets on 0844 412 4626â€¨.

Unfortunately, if tickets are delivered to ticket holders, and subsequently lost, destroyed or misplaced, we cannot replace them.

CAN I GET A REFUND AFTER MAY 3RD?

Only if you took out ticket cancellation protection, and your reason for not being able to attend is covered by the terms of the policy.

If you have not taken out ticket cancellation protection, or your reason for being unable to attend is not covered by the protection policy, you will not be able to claim a refund after the deadline of May 3rd.

WHAT IF I STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

You can access information regarding your ticket booking, including details of ticket dispatch, online at https://www.seetickets.com/customerservice using your booking reference number and email address or postcode.â€¨ â€¨

All public ticket sales are managed by Seetickets. The Festival does not have access to Seetickets’ booking system or individual booking information, so if you have an enquiry specific to your booking, then please contact Seetickets on 0844 412 4626 or by post to:

Seeticketsâ€¨
PO Box 9091
Nottinghamâ€¨
NG1 9DAâ€¨

If you require general information about tickets (that isn’t related to a specific booking), please find the information in this page. If you cannot find the information you require here, please contact the Festival Office, who will be able to assist you with general information about Festival tickets.â€¨ â€¨

Site snaps: spring has sprung

Wed, 01 May 2013 17:31:20 +0100

Here are some of Jason Bryant's photos from Worthy Farm over the last few days...

Bobby Womack to headline West Holts

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:38:16 +0100

We're delighted to announce that soul legend Bobby Womack has been confirmed to play a headlining slot at West Holts at this year's Festival. Joined by The Bravest Band (featuring Damon Albarn and Richard Russell), the Sunday night performance is Womack’s only scheduled UK festival appearance this year. Alongside his new material, Glastonbury goers will get the chance to hear a greatest hits set with his full US band.

Last year, Bobby Womack released his first album of original material for nearly two decades. The Bravest Man In The Universe was written and produced by Bobby, along with Damon Albarn and Richard Russell, and was released to rave reviews.

For the full 2013 line-up announced so far, click here.

More acts added to Acoustic Stage line-up

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:32:40 +0100

We're pleased to report that six new acts have been added to the Acoustic Stage's line-up. They are: The Zac Brown Band, Gypsy Queens, Steve Forbert, Gretchen Peters and The Bootleg Beatles, plus Jake Bugg (who's also appearing on the Pyramid Stage, so doesn't feature on the Acoustic Stage's poster line-up above).

For more information on the Acoustis Stage's 2013 plans and artists, heads to their Area Page.

For the full 2013 line-up so far, click here.

Resale tickets now sold out

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:19:35 +0100

The refunded/cancelled tickets in this morning's resale have now all been sold. Apologies to those of you who didn't manage to get one - demand far outstripped supply so unfortunately some people had to miss out.

If you did get a ticket, you should receive a confirmation email soon. You can also check your order on See Tickets' site by clicking here.

The full Glastonbury Festival website will be available again later today.

Ticket resale FAQs

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:23:22 +0100

WHAT IS THE TICKET RESALE?

Following our balance payment window, we will be selling a limited number of cancelled/refunded Glastonbury 2013 tickets.

WHEN IS THE RESALE?

The resale will begin at 9am BST on Sunday, April 21st.

WHERE CAN I BUY A TICKET?

Tickets will be available via glastonbury.seetickets.com or on the See Tickets booking line: 0844 412 4635 (0044 1159 934 183 for overseas buyers, using a credit card with a non-UK billing address). Bookings cannot be taken on any other phone numbers.

HOW MUCH DO TICKETS COST?

Tickets cost £205 + £5 booking per person, plus £6 postage per order.

HOW MANY TICKETS CAN I BUY IN THE RESALE?

You may purchase up to 4 tickets per transaction in the resale, but you can only book one ticket per registration. So if you're planning on booking for a group of 4 mates, you will need all their registration numbers and registered postcodes, too - get them ready now.

HOW MANY TICKETS WILL BE IN THE RESALE?

As in previous years, the exact number of tickets in the resale will not be announced. But it is a limited quantity.

DO I NEED TO PAY THE FULL BALANCE IN THE RESALE, OR CAN I JUST PAY A DEPOSIT?

Tickets bought in the resale must be paid for in full, by debit card if you are booking for UK registrations, or by credit card if international.

DO WE NEED TO BE REGISTERED FOR THE RESALE?

Everyone for whom you are booking must be registered.

If you are already registered you can use your existing registration number. We advise you check your details online prior to registration closing, in case you need to provide any new details.

If you are not already registered please register online by April 15th to allow sufficient time to have your photo approved before registration closes on April 19th.

WILL THE RESALE FEATURE COACH PACKAGES OR JUST STANDARD WEEKEND TICKETS?

The resale will be a mixture of weekend tickets and weekend ticket + coach travel packages.

WHICH TOWNS AND CITIES ARE COVERED BY THE COACH PACKAGES?

The coach packages, provided by Seetickets, will be from the towns listed at the bottom of this page, with departure times. Please note the prices indicated are for the coach travel only – you will need to add the cost of the Festival ticket to this to create the package price.

NB: Coach travel to the Festival is also available from National Express.

IF I BOOK A COACH PACKAGE DO I HAVE TO TRAVEL ON THE COACH?

Yes. For coach packages you will only be sent your coach tickets in advance – your festival entry tickets will be handed out on the coach.

Travel on your chosen coach is mandatory. Please do not book a coach package unless you are certain you will be able to travel on the coach you have selected.

WHAT IF THE COACH PACKAGE I WANT IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE?

We would advise you only book a coach package which it is feasible for you to travel on, as bookings cannot be transferred, and your Festival tickets will be reliant on you travelling on the correct coach.

CAN I BOOK COACH PACKAGES FROM DIFFERENT DESTINATIONS AT THE SAME TIME?

No, you can only book coach packages from one destination in one transcation. .

CAN I BOOK A COACH SEAT FOR MY CHILD OR DEAF AND DISABLED PA TO TRAVEL WITH ME IF THEY DON’T HAVE A FESTIVAL TICKET?

Yes if you are planning on taking a child aged 12 or under, who will not require an entry ticket for the festival, or are applying for a PA ticket from the disabled access coordinator, and are requiring additional coach travel - please contact Seetickets once you have completed your booking at coachtravel@seetickets.com. Please include your Ticket & Coach reference number, a contact number and your name. Seetickets will call you back in order to purchase your additional coach seats (NB: standard fares apply). All passengers including children aged 12 and under, and PAs must purchase a valid coach ticket in order to travel. Under no circumstances can a coach package ticket be exchanged for a standard admission ticket. Please note coach places will be limited, so we advise you to contact Seetickets as soon as possible. Please also note that unfortunately we cannot guarantee any See coach will have the required wheelchair access and storage facilities. If you are taking a wheelchair to Glastonbury, we would advise against booking coach travel in this instance.

CAN I STILL BOOK A CAMPERVAN, TIPI OR CAR PARK TICKET?

Campervans and tipis are now sold out, but car park tickets will be available, yes. Obviously you won’t be able to book these if you’re booking a coach package, though.

SEETICKETS' COACHES DEPARATURE TIMES/PRICES:

All departure times are in 24 hour format and available on both Wednesday 26th June and Thursday 27th June. Returns (where applicable) are on Monday 1st July.

Get on your bike to Glastonbury

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:44:54 +0100

• Want to reduce your carbon footprint?
• Want to avoid getting stuck in a car in traffic?
• Want to have you luggage delivered to your campsite?
• Got a bike?
• Get on it and we'll carry your luggage!

Find out more at www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/cycling now!

Q&A with Mastermind's Glastonbury-loving contestant, Colin Daffern

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:40:47 +0100

A couple of weeks ago, charity administrator Colin Daffern chose Glastonbury Festival as his specialist subject in the semi-final of the BBC's Mastermind quiz. He scored an extremely impressive 11 points in the Glastonbury round, and only missed a place in the final on the show's number of passes rule. We dropped him a line to find out a bit more about him and his interest in the Festival...

How many times have you been to Glastonbury Festival?
I've been 12 times in all, volunteering as a steward with Oxfam.

When was your first visit?
1998, which, as I'm sure most people will recall, was one of the wetter years! I have a vivid memory of watching Catatonia on the Other Stage whilst calf-deep in mud. In spite of the weather, I completely fell in love with the place. I’d been to a few other festivals in the previous couple of years, but the diversity and the atmosphere of Glastonbury just swept me off my feet.

What made you choose the Festival as your specialist subject?
It's a topic which I knew I already had a fairly good working knowledge of without having to do too much intensive revision, and I was pretty sure that it hadn't featured as a specialist subject on the show before. I also thought it was a nice contrast with the subject I'd chosen to do in the heats, which was Michael Foot!

(Although having said that, there is a little link between the two. Michael's Tory opponent in Plymouth at the 1950 and 1951 general elections was Randolph Churchill. Randolph was, of course, the father of the late Arabella, who was such a key figure in the development of Glastonbury over the years, and his one-time personal assistant was Andrew Kerr, who was heavily involved in the early festivals!)

How do you know so much about the history of the event?
Ever since I first went to Glastonbury, I've been fascinated by the way it has evolved both musically and politically over the years, from something which was very much part of the counter-culture to a pretty mainstream event, whilst still successfully maintaining a radical edge. Consequently, I've read a lot of books and articles about its history and development.

How did you revise for the Mastermind appearance?
There were three or four books about the festival which I read a couple of times over and then skimmed through again just before I filmed the show! I also watched Julian Temple's brilliant documentary and a few shorter films about the festival from over the years.

Do you have a favourite Glastonbury memory?
I have lots, but the one that springs immediately to mind is watching David Bowie headlining the Pyramid Stage in 2000. I'd seen him live before and I've seen him again since, but there was something truly magical about his performance that night. The rush of excitement that went through the crowd at the opening chords of Starman and Ziggy Stardust is something I'll never forget! Leonard Cohen in 2008 was another very special performance for me as well.

If you were talking to someone going to the Festival for the first time, what would you tell them they shouldn't miss?
I'd tell them to spend as much time as they can exploring the place, sampling the huge array of fantastic food on offer and soaking up the atmosphere, especially on Wednesday and Thursday before the bigger stages kick off. I'd also encourage them to spend some time in the cabaret and theatre arenas, as well as some of the smaller stages up in the Green Fields, as it's often here that you stumble across brilliant if lesser-known performers.

Oh, and I’d also let them know that the toilets are nowhere near as bad as they think they’re going to be…!!

Will you be coming to this year's Festival?
Yes, I'll be back again with Oxfam.

What are you looking forward to at Glastonbury 2013?
I always look forward to seeing those perennial acts who do the small venues year after year, like Hattie Hatstar and the Biggles Wartime Band! In terms of the bigger names, the Stones are going to be an obvious highlight - I've been waiting years to see them! I'm also hoping to catch Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, Chic, Billy Bragg and the legend that is Kenny Rogers (I can’t wait to hear the crowd singing along to The Gambler!).

You were cruelly pipped to a place in the Mastermind final on number of passes. But did you enjoy the experience of being on the show?
Yes, I had a fantastic time, in spite of not making the final. In many ways it’s perhaps not as nerve-wracking as it looks on TV. This was actually my second stint in the black chair - I also reached the semi-finals back in 2006! My specialist subjects on that occasion were Kenneth Williams and Ian Dury.

Green Kids Area info posted

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:10:56 +0100

Science workshops, Welsh lessons, sock wrestling, DJ workshops, Tai Chi for kids and, of course, a giant boat - check out the Green Kids Area's 2013 info on their page.

Campervan and caravan field FAQs

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:33:33 +0100

17 APRIL UPDATE: A very limited number of extra campervan passes have just gone back on sale here.

---

Further to our balance payment window FAQs, here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the campervan fields.

Does each person staying in the campervan fields need to buy a separate campervan ticket or is it just for the vehicle?

No. You only need to book one campervan ticket per campervan/caravan. Everyone aged 13 or over who will be staying in the campervan will of course need a full weekend Festival ticket. For more information please see here.

If I am travelling in a separate vehicle to the caravan/campervan can I park in the campervan fields?

There is space for one car to be parked beside or infront of the caravan. However, any other member of your party arriving separately by car will need to purchase a car parking ticket for the public car parks for £25. For more information please see here.

Can my friends stay with us in the campervan fields if we do not travel together?

Yes – they can pitch one small tent behind the campervan caravan, as per the T&Cs.

How do our friends gain access to the campervan fields if they travel separately?

If your friends are arriving separately to your campervan or caravan they will not be able to gain vehicular access to the campervan fields (as only one car is permitted on the pitch). They will need to buy a car park ticket to park in the public car parks, or travel by public transport, and make their way to the campervan fields on foot via the pedestrian gates. If they are travelling to the East side they can walk directly from the car park into the campervan area. On the West side they will need to park in the car parks, then enter the site through the pedestrian gates and walk through the site to the West Campervan pedestrian gate.

Are glass items permitted within the campervan/caravan?

The usual Festival confiscations policy applies to campervans and caravans. The campervan stewards will only confiscate items on the banned list, such as glass bottles, fireworks, dangerous items, etc. Domestic items that will stay within the campervan are unlikely to be confiscated, however we would advise not to bring anything valuable just in case.

How are pitches allocated?

Pitches are allocated on a first come first served basis.

I have difficulty walking a long distance - can I be placed nearer the field entrance?

Due to the location and distance to the campervan fields we recommend that anyone with a mobility issue should contact the deaf & disabled access coordinator to discuss what options and facilities are available to them. Please note the disabled access facilities are for festival goers with permanent disabilities, so broken legs, recent injuries or pregnant woman do not qualify.

Can our group of friends have pitches next to each other as a group?

Sorry, we can’t hold pitches so if you want to park next to each other you will need to arrive together (and have booked on the same side of the site!)

How far is it from the campervan site to the Festival?

We’d estimate it is approximately a 10 minute walk to the outer areas of the Festival, and 20 minutes to the mainstages, at an average pace (longer when the site is busy). However timing will depend on WHERE in the fields you are placed as some fields are much further out than others. The site map will give you a general idea of the distances involved and your nearest access points. In general the walk is flatter from the West campervan fields.

How do I arrange for a family member/hire company to deliver my campervan/caravan to the site?

Please contact the Festival office with details of the hire company who will be delivering your vehicle and the estimated time and date the delivery will be made (which can be from the Thursday before the Festival, but it is left at their/your own risk). Please note deliveries can only be made to the East campervan fields.

Ticket balance payment FAQs

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:36:56 +0100

With the balance payment window now open, we've been receiving a few questions. Here are the answers to the most common ones.

I’m trying to pay my balance but my contact details have changed since I registered, how can I update my details?

If you need to edit the address or email address on your registration you can do so online at https://glastonbury.seetickets.com/Registration/Edit. If you no longer have access to the original email account you will need to contact Seetickets customer services online or on 0844 412 4626 or email the Festival office. (Or if you have not yet booked a ticket simply re-register online at www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk with your new details.)

Please note when paying your balance you will be given the option to provide a different delivery and email address for your booking to the one you are registered with.

Can I pay my balance with a credit card?

No, as in previous years, you can only pay your balance with a debit card or Bankers Draft/Postal Order.

I paid my balance but haven't had my confirmation email. What should I do?

If you have not yet received confirmation of your balance payment you can retrieve your booking details at https://www.seetickets.com/customerservice (where you can also contact See if there is an issue). NB: You will need to enter your booking reference number, rather than your Glastonbury registration number. If you didn't make a note of that, then use the Forgotten Your Details feature to be emailed them.

Are there any more tipis available?

Sorry no, the tipis for 2013 have all been booked since the balance payment window opened, but alternative accommodation is available at Worthy View.

We’re bringing a campervan/caravan, do we all need a campervan ticket?

No. You only need to book one campervan ticket per campervan/caravan, but everyone aged 13 or over in your group will of course need a Festival ticket. Please note that the campervan ticket will be linked to the LEAD BOOKER’s ticket, therefore please ensure the person paying for your campervan ticket will be arriving with the vehicle. For more information about campervan and caravans please check out the campervan information page.

Since I booked my deposit I’ve found I can’t come to the Festival, can I get my deposit back?

Yes. Any tickets for which the balance has not been paid will be refunded £40 (a £10 admin fee will be retained) automatically onto the card on which they were booked within 5 working days of the balance payment period. If you already know that you won’t be able to come to the Festival, and would like to get your £40 back before the automatic refund, then please call Seetickets on 0844 412 4626. Please note if your card details have changed since you placed your deposit you will need to contact Seetickets to arrange your refund.

My friend can no longer come to the Festival, can I transfer their ticket to someone else?

Sorry, no. Tickets (including deposits) are entirely non-transferable. If one of your party is no longer able to attend the Festival they can obtain a refund of £40 for their deposit (see above); however you cannot reserve that deposit for someone else. Cancelled tickets will be put back on general release for the ticket resale on April 21.

Can I still book a ticket?

Possibly, yes – don’t give up hope! There will be a resale of any cancelled tickets on April 21st at 9am. You will need to be registered in order to book tickets. If you are not already registered, please register by 15th April.

I’ve seen tickets advertised online, are these legit?

No! Please don’t be tempted to buy tickets from anywhere other than Seetickets. Glastonbury tickets are only available through one agency - Seetickets.com – who support our unique Glastonbury registration system, which means we can make sure that all our tickets are sold at face value, to genuine Festival goers. (Some of the campsites local to the Festival are authorised to offer hospitality tickets as part of their accommodation packages. If you are in any doubt as to the legitimacy of a company, please contact the Festival.

For more ticket information please visit our 2013 Ticket Information page.

ETC in pictures

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 10:48:24 +0100

Here are Jason Bryant's photos from last night's Emerging Talent Competition, which was won by Bridie Jackson & The Arbour, who will now play a set on one of the Festival's main stages.

Bridie Jackson & The Arbour

Lillian Todd Jones

Port Isla

Rhys Lloyd Morgan

Black Balloons

The Dancers

Isaiah Dreads

A Band Called Wanda

Watch tonight's ETC Finals LIVE

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 18:00:30 +0100

We have a winner! Congratulations to Bridie Jackson & The Arbour, who've won a main stage slot at this year's Glastonbury.

UPDATE: Due to bandwidth issues, we've made the stream audio only. Sorry about that. We'll post some photos below the player...

Watch tonight's Emerging Talent Competition final live on the player below. (Please note, the ads on this player are served by Ustream - not Glastonbury - and allow us to provide this stream for free.)

Running Order
Bridie Jackson & The Arbour / Lillian Todd Jones / Port Isla / Rhys Lloyd Morgan / Black Balloons / The Dancers / Isaiah Dreads / A Band Called Wanda

Live video from your iPhone using Ustream

A Band Called Wanda

Isaiah Dreads

The Dancers

Black Balloons

Rhys Lloyd Morgan

Watch the ETC finals here on Saturday

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:18:50 +0100

Tomorrow night (Sat, April 6), our Emerging Talent Competition live final will take place in Pilton. We will, once again, be streaming all eight acts' performances live right here on the official site. Head over here from 6.30pm on Saturday evening to tune in and see who wins a main stage slot at this year's Festival.

Until then, check out the finalists in advance below...

Shangri-La 2013 - The Afterlife

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:33:56 +0100

Head to the Shangri-La area page to find out more about their 2013 plans.

Pyramid Stage star trail photos

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 15:51:13 +0100

Beth Wasiewicz, a local sixth form student, came down to Worthy Farm last night to take these star trail photos for her A Level Art and Design project.

The 17-year-old explains: "Star trails are a type of photography that uses long exposure to capture the movement of the stars in the night sky due to the rotation of the earth. Star trails photographs show individual stars as streaks of light across the image. The photographs I captured of the Pyramid Stage were each taken over a period of an hour and a half. This allowed enough time to capture the movement of the stars whilst the earth rotated. In order to capture my photographs I used a digital SLR camera, attached with a time release. This allowed me to control how long I left the shutter on my camera open and how many photographs I wanted to capture. My photographs both consist of 80 photographs, I then merged them together using a star trail program to create my final photographs. The streaks of light visible in my photographs consists of three main stars Cetus, Aries and Orion Belt."

Amazing.

UK balance payments window opens

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:20:59 +0100

The window for UK buyers to pay their balances on Glastonbury 2013 tickets is open from now until 23:59 Mon April 8. Click here to pay your balance on See's site now. You can also now buy parking, campervan and tipi places.

Anyone choosing not to pay their ticket balance will be refunded the deposit paid in October 2012 (minus a £10 administration fee).

Any returned tickets will then be available in the ticket resale on Sun Apr 21. You can register to be able to buy here.

For full 2012 ticket info, click here.

Humphrys brings Glastonbury to Radio 4 and Mastermind

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:22:41 +0000

On Wednesday, Radio 4's Today programme host, John Humphrys, was down on the farm to interview Michael Eavis about the line-up announcement. If you missed his report, you can hear it again here.

As if that wasn't enough, Humphrys will also be asking questions about Glastonbury to a Mastermind contestant on BBC2 tonight (Friday 29th), after a semifinalist chose the Festival as their specialist subject. Tune in at 8pm to see how many you can answer.

2013 line-up revealed

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:03:26 +0000

We're very pleased to reveal our 2013 line-up. The Pyramid Stage headliners will be Arctic Monkeys (Friday), The Rolling Stones (Saturday) and Mumford & Sons (Sunday). Even more acts, stages and attractions to be announced.

PYRAMID STAGE
Arctic Monkeys
The Rolling Stones
Mumford & Sons
Dizzee Rascal
Primal Scream
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Vampire Weekend
The Vaccines
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Kenny Rogers
Ben Howard
Rita Ora
Rufus Wainwright
Jake Bugg
Professor Green
Laura Mvula
Billy Bragg
Rokia Traoré
First Aid Kit
Haim

OTHER STAGE
Portishead
Chase & Status
The xx
Foals
Example
The Smashing Pumpkins
Alt-J
Two Door Cinema Club
Public Image Ltd
Tame Impala
Alabama Shakes
Editors
Azealia Banks
Of Monsters and Men
The Lumineers
Enter Shikari
I Am Kloot
The Hives
Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra

WEST HOLTS STAGE
Chic ft. Nile Rodgers
Public Enemy
Bobby Womack
The Weeknd
Seasick Steve
Major Lazer
Tom Tom Club
Maverick Sabre
Lianne La Havas
Toro Y Moi
Ondatrópica
Sergio Mendes
Dub Colossus
The Orb & Indigenous People
The Child of Lov
Alice Russell
Goat
BadBadNotGood
The Bombay Royale
Matthew E. White
Riot Jazz

THE PARK STAGE
Cat Power
The Horrors
Fuck Buttons
Django Django
Rodriguez
Dinosaur Jr.
Calexico
Steve Mason
Palma Violets
Devendra Banhart
Michael Kiwanuka
Solange
King Krule
Stealing Sheep
Tim Burgess
Melody’s Echo Chamber
Ed Harcourt
Half Moon Run
Josephine
Teleman

John Peel Stage
Crystal Castles
Hurts
Phoenix
Bastille
Everything Everything
James Blake
Johnny Marr
The Courteeners
Jessie Ware
Tyler, The Creator & Earl Sweatshirt
Frightened Rabbit
Miles Kane
Local Natives
The Strypes
Savages
Tom Odell
Peace
Daughter
Villagers
Toy
Jagwar Ma

SILVER HAYES
Nas
Hot Natured
Disclosure
Rudimental
The Family Stone
Skream & Benga
Sub Focus
Charles Bradley
SBTRKT
Netsky
Dog Blood
The Congos
The 2 Bears
AlunaGeorge
Julio Bashmore
Wiley
TEED
Gold Panda
David Rodigan

ACOUSTIC STAGE
Steve Winwood
Sinead O’Connor
Lucinda Williams
Glen Hansard
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings
The Bootleg Beatles
Gabrielle Aplin
The Proclaimers
Martha Wainwright
Seth Lakeman
KT Tunstall
The Zac Brown Band
Gretchen Peters
Martin Stephenson & The Daintees
The Gypsy Queens
Steve Forbert
Bridie Jackson & The Arbour

AVALON STAGE
Ben Caplan
Beverley Knight
Crowns
Evan Dando
Gary Clark Jr.
JJ Grey & Mofro
Josh Doyle
Lucy Rose
Mad Dog Mcrea
Molotov Jukebox
Newton Faulkner
Oysterband
Penguin Café
Shooglenifty
Stornoway
The Destroyers
The Staves
The Urban Voodoo Machine
Vintage Trouble
Xavier Rudd

THEATRE & CIRCUS
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Lost Locos
Roy Hutchins
The Monsters of Schlock
Chris Bull
Pirates of the Carabina
Marcus Brigstocke
Abandoman
Josie Long
The Demon Barbers
Maia
Olivier Grossetête
Twister

BLOCK9
Gene Hunt
Tyree Cooper
Maurice Fulton
Greg Wilson
Mosca
Bill Brewster
Grant Nelson
Youngsta
Digital & Spirit
MC Chickaboo
Randall
Flight
Kerri Chandler
Horse Meat Disco
Brawther
Robert Owens
Underground Paris

SPIRIT OF ’71
Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3
Slim Chance
Simian Mobile Disco
Terakaft
System 7 vs Eat Static
Don Letts
DJ James Monro
Gypsy Hill
Electric Swing Circus
DJ Tristan
Mixhell

ARCADIA
THE COMMON
CROISSANT-NEUF
THE FIELD OF AVALON
GREEN FIELDS
GREEN FUTURES
GREENPEACE
THE HEALING FIELD
KIDZFIELD
LEFTFIELD
THE PILTON PALAIS
SHANGRI-LA: THE AFTERLIFE
STRUMMERVILLE
THE UNFAIRGROUND

INTRODUCING:
THE ARCTIC DOME
BLUES
GENOSYS
GLASTO LATINO
THE GLASTONBURY FREE PRESS
GULLY
SONIC
THE SUMMERHOUSE
WILLIAM’S GREEN

AND STILL MORE ACTS & ATTRACTIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED ACROSS OVER 100 STAGES!

Photos: Worthy Farm, last night

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:44:10 +0000

Jason Bryant took these great photos on Worthy Farm yesterday evening...

News from Block9 and The Common

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:19:25 +0000

As the Festival creeps steadily towards us (107 days...) we've been busy updating Area pages with new info about their 2013 plans. Click the links below to check out the early plans for two of the Festival's much-loved late-night areas...

- THE COMMON

- BLOCK 9

Emerging Talent Competition finalists announced!

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:24:41 +0000

We're very pleased to announce that the eight finalists of the 2013 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition are: A Band Called Wanda, Black Balloons, Bridie Jackson & Arbour, The Dancers, Isaiah Dreads, Lillian Todd Jones, Port Isla and Rhys Lloyd Morgan. You can hear all eight on the player below:

The eight acts were selected by Glastonbury judges from the long list of 120 artists which was compiled by our 40 blogger judges, who themselves chose their selections from 8,000 entries.

Said Emily Eavis: "This year the standard was particularly high and we had a real struggle to cut it down to only 8 finalists, but we are extremely happy with the finalists and have had them on repeat here in the farmhouse for the last few days. We look forward to the live finals next month.
Thank you to everyone who entered - and to our amazing panel of blogger judges for narrowing down the thousands of entrants to such a great long list."

The live finals will take place at Pilton Working Men's Club on Saturday 6th April, 2013. As in previous years, they will stream live here on the official Glastonbury website. The winning act will then get the chance to play a main stage set at this year's festival.

2013 Emerging Talent Competition longlist announced

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:23:23 +0000

We are very pleased to announce the 120 acts who've made it onto the longlist of our 2013 Emerging Talent Competition. These acts have all been chosen by our blogger judging panel, made up of the UK's finest music bloggers - we'd like to say a huge thanks to them for their hard work and to all of the acts who entered the competition (more than 8,000 of them - making this longlist the top 1.5% of entries).

Each of the bloggers has chosen their favourite three acts. We've included the direct link that each of the acts provided for the judges to hear their music, as well as the judge's comments about each act.

Later this week, these acts will be narrowed down to a shortlist of just 8 acts who will compete at April's live finals for a main stage slot at this year's Festival...

2 U I Bestow
1. A Band Called Wanda
Judge's comments: This band from Galway will appeal to fans of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers for their brand of good time folk music consisting of harmonies, charming fiddle and uplifting tunes. The songs 'Old Gold' 'Western Union' and 'Roses Are Still Red' are superb tunes that deserve to reach a large audience.
2. Ali Warren
Judge's comments: With a voice reminding me of Jeff Buckley and a vibrant backing band, Ali Warren could end up being a real superstar in the indie-folk/rock music scene. The singles 'What We Say' and 'Don't Mind Me' are simply awesome and send shivers down my spine.
3. The Viking Project
Judge's comments: Folk rockers The Viking Project are a band with four fantastic vocalists, superb musicians and have a bunch of great songs like 'Got Sunk Down', 'Distance' and in particular 'Constance Keane'

Bitter Fingers
1. The Dancers
Judge's comments: Synthesisers all over the shop in this one over a well crafted and tasty indie backing. Gang vocals, boy/girl vocals - it's a few handclaps off being perfect. I like the "doo-doo-doo" guitar solo as well. Understated, lovely stuff.
2. Patrick Gardiner
Judge's comments: Plaintive strings and someone tapping milk bottles to start the song off, you say? Wait! Come back! It's a wonderful, bittersweet love song. The strings and guitars come together (some cracking dynamics) while love and loss unfold on top. Shy, unassuming, a delight to listen to. Also it's only three minutes long, and if you can say everything you need to in three minutes you've done a great job.
3. The Candle Thieves
Judge's comments: You can tell the whole band were smiling when they recorded this one. A good old fashioned song that hits all the right buttons and twangs all the right strings. Just the right side of twee and sure to soundtrack an indie film montage. Also, the greatest use of "world wide web" as a lyric ever experienced.

Black Plastic
1. The Dagger Brothers
Judge's comments: ...demonstrated a genuine sense of humour all too rare with the emerging music scene. Their track 'Release Their Thunderball' is a hilarious but well produced and catchy satire of modern British culture. The Dagger Brothers sound like Art Brut collaborating with Hot Chip and they clearly have bags of personality.
2. Animal Noise
Judge's comments: ...sound like Modest Mouse at their noisiest - there's a terrific free form sound to their submission 'Baddow'. Appropriately (given their name) there is a beast-like primal sound - the acoustic melodies are brought together in an experimental, jazz-like style.
3. Antimatter People
Judge's comments: ...stood out more than anything else I heard by doing something unique and, crucially, doing it well. 'Phosphene' has elements of cosmic disco and post punk wrapped up in track that wraps around the listener like clouds in a smokey room - it's simultaneously delicate and heavy.

Breaking More waves
1. Avec Sans
Judge's comments: Sultry and sophisticated electronic London based duo Avec Sans don't mess about. They make songs that explode with huge pop hooks and computer sonics of the highest order. They're a group with one eye on the heavens and one eye that aims even higher than that.
2. As Elephants Are
Judge's comments: Blistering with ambition, indie rock band As Elephants Are sound like they're made for a big stage. Here's a group with a real sense of purpose, structure, atmosphere and dynamics in their guitar based music, yet they never lose sight of the most important ingredient of all; a good tune.
3. Amy Lyon
Judge's comments: With jazz and soul influences singing saxophonist Amy Lyon's I'm Falling stopped us in our tracks the first time we heard it. It's a silky late night beauty that deals with the classic theme of going just that little bit crazy and losing control as you begin to fall in love with someone. We felt a little bit like that when we heard her sing. A real talent with bags of potential.

Cats Band Crushes
1. Jack Tinner
Judge's comments: Off This Train - Hugely excited about this singer from Manchester- haunting, soulful and stunningly flawless vocals paired with beautiful songwriting.
2. Black Balloons
Judge's comments: Rascal - Love the urgency and power of this track. I can clearly envision 'Rascal' exploding out over the fields of Glastonbury to a thrashing audience.
3. Blank Maps
Judge's comments: Everything Ends- Layered melodies and gorgeous electronic textures soar into feelings of euphoria that set Blank Maps apart in their craftsmanship.

Consequence of Sound
1. Big Tent and the Gypsy Lantern
Judge's comments: "24 ft March" This song really hit the spot on the very first listen and grows on repeat plays. I wrote down 'like Mumfords having tea with Yes'. It has that Mumfords energy and rythmic intensity but it's no straight copy and the vocal harmonies distinctly remind me of early Yes. I love the way the song builds, changes in the middle section and returns to the main theme to end on a clean, abrupt stop. From listening to some of the band's other material, Big Tent and the Gypsy Lantern strike me as a potentially compelling live act.
2. By The Sea
Judge's comments: "Eveline" I was impressed by the clean simplicity of this song. Great melody lines, anthemic but not over-wrought, and played with precision and economy. The guitar tones have a rich, echoey resonance and are worked in to create light and shade. The lead vocal has a detached, dreamy quality that adds a sense of quiet longing (the vocal might have been a bit higher in the mix but that's about my only criticism). Having checked out By The Sea's debut album, I think they have a great repertoire and would go down brilliantly with a Glastonbury audience who are traditionally sweet on guitar bands.
3. Ella Janes
Judge's comments: "Helen" I love the timbre of Ella Janes' voice. Its purity is counterpointed by small, almost Celtic, inflections, that lend it a true vulnerability. There is a warmth and intimate sincerity to her lyrics which still fit the music like a glove.
This song has a lovely, lazy flowing melody and is arranged impeccably with each musician adding subtlety and understatement. Along with her accomplished band, Ella Janes could seduce a lazy Sunday afternoon audience just like Laura Marling did at Glastonbury 2011.

Crack in the Road
1. The White Bicycles
Judge's comments: Courtesy: A wonderfully well rounded track, poignant, touching and heart-warming. The use of dual vocals and guitar sound compliment each other perfectly.
2. The Gorgeous Colours
Judge's comments: Bright Ideas: Really expansive, brooding pop, caught them live about eighteen months back and was impressed.
3. Rhys Lloyd Morgan
Judge's comments: I've Not Slept Right in Days: Intimate, heartfelt singer/songwriter. Certainly got bags of potential.

Crack Magazine
1. Bodhi
Judge's comments: In a similar vein to Disclosure. These guys are getting a justified bit of hype right now.
2. Circa Waves
Judge's comments: A short, sharp, indie-pop gem
3. Casimir
Judge's comments: A layered warm effort that would work well on the big stage

Cruel Rhythm
1. Chateaux
Judge's comments: fun guitar pop music.
2. DrDr
Judge's comments: right up Cruel Rhythm's street, a promising young electronic band.
3. Cocoa Futures
Judge's comments: v catchy danceable pop.

Devil has the best tuna
1. The Horn The Hunt
Judge's comments: The dreamy, gorgeous, ethereal The Horn The Hunt swoon out of the Yorkshire dales like the offspring of a hitherto unknown liason between The Sundays and the Cocteau Twins. On a sunny Glastonbury day this will have the crowds drifting into a dream world of unadulterated joy.
2. The Kitschen
Judge's comments: The Kitschen's sweet, honest, indie pop has more charm than a kitten in a flat cap. Their songs were made to hum. They'll melt your heart, make you smile and rattle around your brain for weeks.
3. O'Messy Life
Judge's comments: With passion and sheer joy infusing everything they do Newcastle's O'Messy Life are a breath of fresh spring air to shake away the winter blues. The unmistakeable vocals and twangy guitars sound like Pavement fronted by the Waterboy's Mike Scott. A unique, intriguing and life affirming proposition.

Don't Watch Me Dancing
1. Rivers of England
Judge's comments: Immersive, simple but impressive music that is somehow quintessentially English, there is something quite wholesome, refined and altogether rather sweet about this music and the vocals are completely lovely. Rare but nice to find something reminiscent of Yo La Tengo and Nick Drake all at once.
2. Kersha Bailey
Judge's comments: Wonderful purveyor of soothing acoustic jazz, Kersha Bailey manages to transfix with her powerful but delicate vocals and intricate guitar-playing. There is a nice dazed sway to her style that is charming and endearing all at once.
3. Tiny Dragons
Judge's comments: Guitar rock is supposedly in decline but the brilliantly fluid riffs and the soulful vocals of Tiny Dragons all make for propulsive and engaging songs that serve as a pretty convincing argument that, done right, evocative guitar rock is still very much a contender

Dots and dashes
1. Towns
Judge's comments: Sleepwalking: The West Country's prime shoegaze scamps, theirs is a hazy and sporadically heavy charm which is at once involving and ever unpredictable.
2. PSALMS
Judge's comments: Low Plane: Eruptive, noirish indie gilded with unapologetically '90s guitars, LOW PLANE soars and immediately sticks out like the sorest of thumbs in need of instant attention.
3. Palace
Judge's comments: I Want What You Got: Sprightly, though still melancholy jangle-pop fringed with lo-fi frivolities, Palace embellish the woolly nature of latter-day Americana with a quintessentially British aesthetic.

faded glamour
1. Croupier
Judge's comments: Blistering math-pop certain to deliver an intensity rarely seen on the festival stage.
2. DENNIS
Judge's comments: An eight piece folk-pop band that proves that the more really is the merrier.
3. Friends In America
Judge's comments: Earnest Scottish indie meets grandiose post-rock in a thoroughly arresting fashion.

Fear of Fiction
1. Dingus Khan
Judge's comments: Music manifested in the form of a 7 piece riot, multiple drummers and even more guitars (than the net leading brand) result in some kind pf punk orchestra, with dead pan vocals reminiscent of a younger, angrier Damon Albarn resting his coalition-weary lyrics upon some brutal engaging songwriting.
2. Iceni
Judge's comments: Hauntingly beautiful minimalist pop, at points ‘Drive’ sound equally like a graceful Kate Bush ballad, and the icon soundtrack for Pride and Prejudice by Carl Davis. While the track remains stripped back, this allows the percussion to play with some In Rainbows-esque dance like rhythms.
3. Deer Lake
Judge's comments: Uplifting, melodic and expansive rock, Deer Lake draw on a range of influences from Jeff Buckley to the Cure, but combine these reference points to create something new, an ode to the defining sound of pioneering 90s guitar music. Solemn vocals glide effortlessly over guitars laden with reverb, which eventually build impenetrable walls of distortion.

Flying with Anna
1. Bridie Jackson & The Arbour
Judge's comments: Her voice took my breath away from the very first note. The string arrangements are heavenly, her voice is gorgeous and the songwriting sits somewhere between the lushness of Norah Jones and the quirkiness of Joanna Newsom. A very special sound indeed.
2. Farao
Judge's comments: Although we only have one song to currently listen to, 'Forces' is so beautifully produced and the songwriting so reflective that you know you have found an artist with heaps of potential.
3. The Bronze Medal
Judge's comments: Bristol band The Bronze Medal make thoughtful and well written music, collecting the sounds of bands like Mumford & Sons and Dry the River and adding their own depth and layers of sound to the songs.

For Folk's Sake (Lynn)
1. Haiku Salut
Judge's comments: Los Elefantes: From the moment you hear those first plaintive piano chords, you know you're onto something special with Haiku Salut. Los Elefantes is taken from their debut album Tricolore. Haiku Salut are a baroquey-folky-pop instrumental trio from Manchester who make sounds that are not disimilar to the Amelie soundtrack. More please!
2. Jennifer Left
Judge's comments: Black Dog: Brighton-based Jennifer Left's Black Dog bowled me over with its deceptively dark lyrics, pounding beat and an eminently whistleable tune.
3. Flight School
Judge's comments: The First Thing: Lovely girl-boy harmonies, a sweet pop song to lost love. Flight School are a three piece from London/Derby.

For Folk's Sake (Helen)
1. James Canty
Judge's comments: I'd already heard of James Canty before the Emerging Talent list arrived in my inbox, and I'm including him here (in the number one slot) because I think his songwriting is witty, original and suitably large-scale to go down well on the various stages at the festival. It's truly modern folk music, and I find it thoroughly exciting to listen to.
2. Holly Holden
Judge's comments: A truly original songwriter, singing guitar-led, bluesy songs with character, verve and enormous variety from track to track. She's received barely any attention on social media, or in reviews and appears only to have played a handful of gigs, yet she sounds enormously polished and professional. Her listed influences provide a useful summary: Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Ella Fitzgerald, Concha Buika, Regina Spektor, Feist, Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone.
3. Heg & the Wolf Chorus
Judge's comments: a wonderful Bristolian five-piece peddling dramatic folk music with incredibly strong vocals and a fantastic sense of scale and show. They're really strong storytellers with an intoxicating atmosphere of occasion about them.

For Folk's Sake (Ian)
1. Laurence Made Me Cry
Judge's comments: An understated sound does not make these bedroom recordings any the less engaging. Catchy tunes, sweetly delivered, stay with you as Jo Whitby combines folk and electronica to create a warm, snug sound.
2. Kiera Osment
Judge's comments: The first thing I had to try to do with this one was verify that Kiera is in fact just 12. A slightly unusual entry for that reason, but Osment's work stands up against that of much older artists with ease, a fully realised sound carried by a stunning voice.
3. Gibson Bull
Judge's comments: He made my shortlist last year and in the time since has raised his game enough to make it once more even as the standards of the competition have gone up. Expanding to a full-band while losing none of the intimacy of his sound, Bull's stirring vocals lead this track but it is the quality of the songwriting that stands out the most.

Gold Flake Paint
1. Harting
Judge's comments: The guitars throughout are brilliant and it has a really catchy vocal melody. This is the only song on their page but it could fit right in alongside Alt-J and The Maccabees without anyone batting an eyelid. A really great debut single.
2. Homework
Judge's comments: Lovely Errors-style synths with more prominent vocals. Really nicely structured, the build and layering is great. Would love to hear more from them.
3. Hey Sholay
Judge's comments: The few singles they've released so far have all been pretty great indie-pop cross-overs. They've already shown that they have more than one trick up their sleeve and could prove to be a big cross-over hit if the circumstances are right.

Hot Cakes (Sim)
1. Josef Salvat
Judge's comments: Great production that surprises throughout and he has a keen ear for songwriting. There's only one track on his Soundcloud but it shows great promise considering his opener is this strong.
2. Osian Rhys
Judge's comments: I don't speak Welsh but the emotion Osian conveys through his songwriting is immediately apparent and quite beautiful.
3. Island Cassettes
Judge's comments: It was hard to choose who to put in third but I can imagine seeing this band on a festival stage - catchy, great guitar and an all together summery vibe.

Hot Cakes (Oliver)
1. Kid Kin
Judge's comments: Absolutely beautifully crafted post-rock/instrumental stuff. I had visions of this rousing a slightly worse for wear crowd. I'd be very interested to see the recorded tracks recreated in a live setting.
2. Katie Cruel
Judge's comments: This track is dark and haunting but also incredibly memorable. Katie Cruel was one of the more innovative artists on my playlist. This track is crying out to be on the soundtrack of a futuristic, possibly post-apocolypitc western movie. That's a good thing.
3. The Lottery Winners
Judge's comments: This band will get people dancing. The musicianship is brilliant - reminiscent of 1980s a crop of British bands... like the Smiths or the Cure.

It's All Indie
1. The Adelines
Judge's comments: “Little Games” has got great hooks to it, and the combination of that and the vocals in the chorus makes this track sound really euphoric. The gentle vocals really make me love this song, as I've already said, the chorus is amazing, up there with the likes of Coldplay!
2. The Brightsparks
Judge's comments: “Where Did She Go” from the off is a very upbeat track, with punchy guitars and great vocals they really remind you of the early General Fiasco songs. With the harmonies going on in the background this track has it all. A really great song by a band that loves playing music!
3. The Alexines
Judge's comments: "Silhouettes": The track starts off with Editors style riffs and then disappears into a wall of guitars and thick bass. This one really gets your head banging as The Alexines most probability would want you to! The punchy chorus is a wash with oos and ahhs, it really brings the track together. They've got a great sound and I can see them doing well!

Just Music That I Like
1. Gerard and the Watchmen
Judge's comments: Rich, restrained melodies and affecting lyrics. Heart-warming and truly beautiful.
2. Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker
Judge's comments: "Done" A gorgeous blend of traditional folk and masterful instrumentation topped by a vocal radiant and clear. "Done" is sparse yet uniquely captivating.
3. Lillian Todd Jones
Judge's comments: "Butter Soul" is a striking debut track, raw and passionate throughout it's a rare track that is dark, intriguing and beautiful all in one go.

moleskin 90
1. Typesun
Judge's comments: There were a lot of soul singers on the list, and I really liked that this was a little bit different, with Typesun being an excellent beat maker as well. When I think of a sunny (fingers crossed) saturday afternoon on the pyramid stage, this is what is playing.
2. Afro Cluster
Judge's comments: Love the sound of the rapper's voice, great instrumental too.
3. Almighty Planets
Judge's comments: Just really catchy. They do a great cover of Wildfire by SBTRKT & Little Dragon as well!

Music Liberation
1. Moats
Judge's comments: Really great fusion of different influences can be heard throughout their music, which is easily accessible, and hugely catchy. Straight away I can imagine them really taking off in a festival setting.
2. Voices
Judge's comments: Refreshing to hear a UK based hardcore metal band produce music which is clearly heavy, yet still maintains a clear edge of widespread appeal and integrity.
3. Esper Scout
Judge's comments: An interesting variation on shoegaze rock, the female vocals stand out as do the guitar riffs. The appreciation to have longer tracks is also a welcome discovery with this band.

Music like Dirt
1. The Slow Show
Judge's comments: The Slow Show have definite echoes of Nashville's LambChop both in the "sitting back and sipping whiskey on the porch" laid back sound and the rich honeyed vocals.
They seem to have soaked up the heritage of the North of England with their beautiful use of brass instruments making them standout from the alt-country crowd. It's as if the beating heart of the North East in its colliery bands were reformed just to provide the perfect backing.
2. Sky Valley Mistress
Judge's comments: Its a tough competition and Sky Valley Mistress made it through becuase where many acts who had ONE great song, Sky Valley Mistress had consistently top notch tunes.
Consistency isn't a sexy word to sell a band but for a new act to have 3 songs I'd gladly listen to on repeat is a fairly rare event.
Blues with the sound of the Black Belt region but born instead in Blackburn, Lancashire.
They'd fit happily in the CD racks alongside other proponents of the blues, like The Alabama Shakes, and the White Stripes.
3. Slaves
Judge's comments: If the Slaves make it to Glastonbury I'd recommend picking a vantage point a safe distance from the stage. I get the feeling their a band who come with a liberal amount of phlegm and a bruising mosh pit.
"White Knuckle Ride" is a visceral brute of a song from the Pistols meet the Hives rasping guitar riff to the Lydon rasp of the lead singers angry declarations to "Get me the f$%k off this rodeo". Uneasy listening.

Neon Filler
1. Nadine Shah
Judge's comments: Nadine Shah’s influences include Scott Walker, Nick Cave and PJ Harvey and it shows on this throbbing, atmospheric and downright frightening track she submitted called Aching Bones. The sparse piano and her croaky voice all add to the mystique of this track, which is part Portishead, part gothic horror sound track. Scary and beautiful music from this north East of England singer ,who has recently completed her debut album Love Your Dum and Mad.
2. Nudy Bronque
Judge's comments: There were two things that leapt out when I heard this track Allsorts from Wiltshire based Nudy Bronque. The first is that their lead vocalist sounds like the late great Vivian Stanshall, of Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band band fame. The second is that the track has been mixed and mastered by Colin Moulding, who given their Wiltshire location must surely be Swindon based Colin Moulding from XTC, another hero of ours. So I had a look through some of their other tracks and, yep, they are good as well. Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band meets XTC; I don’t think influences can get any better than this for our website. It’s worth checking out their more upbeat tracks as well, especially Fond Of You.
3. Super Squarecloud
Judge's comments: Super Squarecloud is a five piece act that bills itself as Maths rock. Even after a few seconds you can tell they are a little bit different on their very mathsy track Lolly Moon. The opening heavy guitar riff jerks in and out in time seemingly only with itself, while their vocalist Jo Ford sings sweetly over it. It jerks about a bit more, giving the listener no chance to even get an abacus out to calculate the rhythm. It’s odd, strange, beautiful pop that you certainly can’t dance to and is all the better for it. Great stuff, especially for fans of other innovative UK bands such as Free Swim and Special Benny. The three of them should tour together; it’d be one hell of a show.

Nialler9
1. Peers
Judge's comments: Of all the bands that I listened to for the competition, these guys sounded the most assured and together.
2. Lily & Meg
Judge's comments: Soothing country folk. Could see this working as a cure for sore heads.
3. Rayon Nelson
Judge's comments: Unique mix of singer-songwriter and R&B vocals. Catchy hooks and a great voice.

Pigeon Post
1. Mt Wolf
Judge's comments: Whilst not being what I'd usually look for in a band, Mt. Wolf are so good that it doesn't even really matter what you're 'after' when you start listening. A dreamy take on folk, with an almost tribal element to it, it's difficult not fall deeper and deeper in love as you listen
2. Joy to Filth Ratio
Judge's comments: Straight out of left-field - a classical take on trance by an extremely talent ensemble of musicians. Perhaps this selection is a little selfish, as I would love to catch these in a field somewhere this June - perferably whilst it's sunny, please.
3. Radstewart
Judge's comments: First of all, excellent name - of all the Rad puns to pick (Rad Pitt, Simply Rad etc), Rad Stewart is up there. The song is nominally about how Eskimos have a lot of words for snow, but it's generally a mushy, lo-fi number - pretty much my sweet spot. Not falling for it would've been pretty much impossible.

Play Pause Rewind
1. The Thirst
Judge's comments: When we announced our shortlist of six acts this band garnered well over a 100 comments on the site as well as having a real fresh indie/dance crossover sound having watched live videos they would certainly light up a festival stage.
2. Verity Susman
Judge's comments: Totally different from anything else on our list i was blown away by this solo work from Electrelane's front woman perfect festival fare
3. The Big V
Judge's comments: There has been a lot of love shown towards the Big V since we featured them another band I had not previously encountered they epitomise all that I feel this contest should embody. The Song submitted is a truly fabulous body of work

Real Horrorshow Tunes
1. Saint Savanna
Judge's comments: The Brighton trio's electro-pop stylings really stood out from the crowd. "Balconies" may appear to be a concertedly subdued affair, yet crescendos beautifully alongside the lyrics' more emotionally poignant moments. I can tell there's a lot more in store from these three.
2. North Bay
Judge's comments: Oxford's North Bay previously released an incredible EP of demos on excellent indie Flatpack Recordings, with "Golden Years" amongst them. His melodically addictive and atmospheric sound really encapsulates the new and contemporary, which will undoubtedly enrapture future audiences.
3. Isaiah Dreads
Judge's comments: This ambitious, genre-hopping, 15-year-old seems to have talent oozing out of him, each new artistic endeavour is handled with ease, and his track "Predator" showcased his love of grime, surely making him one of the most promising youngsters out there right now.

17 seconds
1. Arabella Sprot Quartet
Judge's comments: In a world full of jazz-lite that sounds like it was done to soundtrack lifts and coffee chains, there's something so refreshing and genuine about this Bristol acts approach to jazz. The title of the first track 'A Cheeky Pint' alone suggested something different, but here are people showing that actually being able to play your instruments is not a sin...especially when it produces something as wonderful as this.
2. Awkward Pride
Judge's comments: A jazz standard which manages to convince. And I felt that whilst the weather at Glastonbury in June can be no more guaranteed than anywhere else in the British Isles, this song screamed 'sun' more than anything else.
3. Minnie Birch
Judge's comments: Sea shanties?!? Oh why the hell not! This was the most original submission I heard. The form may be old, but the reworking of an old idea into something modern when folk traditions can so often get diluted defintely deserve a wider hearing. And why not Glastonbury for that?

Song By Toad
1. Packt
Judge's comments: This was the one band I actually liked from the list, although it's hard to tell much about just one song. I like the awkwardness though:
2. SHINIES
Judge's comments: This lot were probably my favourite of the indie bunch - they make a good racket!
3. Pip Taylor
Judge's comments: Alright, this is a bit silly, but I reckon it would be great fun at a festival:

Swear I'm Not Paul
1. The Daydream Club
Judge's comments: Sometimes music doesn't need to be extravagent or exciting. Sometimes simple is best. That's exactly what makes the Daydream Club special, just guitar and vocals can be as powerful or as moving as a full orchestra - and when you have Paula Walker on vocals, you're sure to be moved.
2. The Blue Choir
Judge's comments: Dublin band The Blue Choir's single is called 'Get Ready for War' and features a machine gun on the cover, while the music takes a while to load before it blitzes you with a full scale attack. Like the best crescendos of Coldplay or Elbow, this one builds to a rousing climax.
3. The City Apples
Judge's comments: Straight-up rock still has a market in the 21st century as long as it is clever and offers something fresh. The City Apples are one of those bands that sound both timeless and exactly of their time, and are all the better for it.

The 405
1. We/Are/Animal
Judge's comments: Royal Wolf': Trying to describe what it is that We/Are/Animal create, is certainly a difficult process. They've managed to cherry pick all these great sounds, whilst avoiding the trap of becoming a second-rate tribute act. That doesn't happen often, and I commend them for that.
2. We Walk On Ice
Judge's comments: One Fine Day Part II': We really liked this track. Nice shoegazey, Dum Dum Girlsy feel to it. The video is spot on in terms of nailing those influences too.
3. We're No Heroes
Judge's comments: Ghost Coast'25/02/2013 It's very reminiscent of foals - with that driving beat combined with the 'mathy' guitar. Enjoyable stuff.

The White Noise
1. Port Isla
Judge's comments: “With a pop-take to modern folk music, Norwich’s Port Isla stood out from the other entries instantly. The fast-folk beats and wailing raspy vocals from the lead singer show a striking resemblance to the popular Fleet Foxes and catchy vocal melodies that could knock off any other band on today’s iTunes chart. The quality of songwriting and genius blend of musicality stuns me as to why they’re not grabbed by a record label yet, and the day they put out their first LP, I’ll be in line to click the buy-button.”
2. Mano’s Daughter
Judge's comments: “The synth-pop duo of Sarah Carter and Matthias Garrick, Mano’s Daughter, caught my attention with their dark trip-hop track ‘The Machine’. The intro and verses are nostalgic of Massive Attack and Portishead past records with a heavy chorus harmonizing echoes of ‘Can we go back?’ that compares with other popular up and coming electronic duos birthing from Brooklyn, NY. I could definitely see this band playing on main stage or supporting tours with Polica, Phantogram or MS MR. A fantastic new find with a far future ahead.”
3. Mademoiselle Mademoiselle
Judge's comments: “Describing themselves as a ‘fun pop band’, Mademoiselle Mademoiselle’s track ‘Drive Away’ fits perfectly with new indie bands such as Theme Park or Peace. Simple melodies and simple lyrics work so well in this infectious summer song. Put those glasses on in the festival sun with Mademoiselle Mademoiselle playing live just seems like a natural fit. Understandably, still a young band therefore other tracks I’ve listened to on their page are a little weak but if they continue with the style they’ve presented with ‘Drive Away’, this band is worth keeping tabs on.”

This Music Wins
1. The Romleys
Judge's comments: Liverpool-based band The Romleys are bearers of brisk and heavily stylistic sub three-minute blues songs, which entertain an attractive uncaring and endearing confidence. “Jailboy” is characterised by its rootsy delivery and charismatic execution - but there is a vivid imagination poured into the production too - all the songs have the kind of errant charm and ramshackle rockabilly folk feel which is inescapably bound up with live performance - something which these recordings undoubtedly capture.
2. The Mourning Suns
Judge's comments: The Mourning Suns latest track “A Cloud” - recorded as part of EMI/The Roundhouse’s 30/30 project for 2012-13 - is a stunning foray into the realms of sprawling, folk tinged rock music. Warpaint immediately spring to mind on first listen, as does a touch of the sinisterness of Esben & The Witch. But besides the gorgeous crunch and reverberation of the guitars, there is much to be said for the patience with which TMS both choose and subsequently develop their ideas; the realisations of which are refreshingly well-constrained and ineffably powerful.
3. Wild Swim
Judge's comments: You’d be forgiven for assimilating certain aspects of Wild Swim’s delicate aura for that of Wild Beasts; much of the instrumentation is characterised by similarly soft textures and neat cyclical builds, vocals persistently hint at Hayden Thorpe’s distinctive operatic flair, and seamless transitions on newest track “Echo” from its eerie and contemplative beginnings into unsettling yet controlled chaos suggest, as with Wild Beasts, that an infinitude of future idiosyncrasies are yet to show themselves.

What's the Ruckus
1. Pulp Disco and The Outcasts
Judge's comments: I had quite a few electronic based acts in my selection, and these stood out to me as doing something different to the rest. I love the fact their music is influenced by Euro disco as well as by british based dance music as it gives them a unique sound that I didn't hear elsewhere in the list. I also love the female singer's voice on the track they submitted for judging.
2. St Somebody
Judge's comments: I have to admit I expected this track to be just another indie track, and was ready to dismiss it as not being exciting, but then the singer's voice kicked in and before I knew it I had listened to 4 of their tracks on youtube. I love the use of space in the submitted song, and am really excited to hear more from these guys
3. Stealing Signs
Judge's comments: This song grab be me from the first few bars. It's fun summer indie music that I can imagine dancing in a field to. But listening to the rest of their music on youtube they have some interesting variation in their music and definitely are not a 'one trick pony'.

When You Awake
1. Sorcha Richardson
Judge's comments: I Heart NYC: I'm digging the layered vocals.
2. Songs For Walter
Judge's comments: Tougher Than a Soldier's Boots: Nice indie folk with a poppy vibe.
3. Todd Dorigo
Judge's comments: Bit on the side: This one's a bit of a curveball, but the song is strangely catchy...retro, very tongue in cheek (and found myself humming it hours later).

White Noise Review
1. Melysma
Judge's comments: Never Let Me Go: This was by the far the most accomplished and professional dance track that I heard amongst the entries. The liquid DnB beat patterns worked fluidly with the shimmering synth textures (you'd normally hear these drum patterns accompanied by darker moods), and that lovely vocal sample was the icing on the cake.
2. Sandunes
Judge's comments: Running w: Claws: This track really impressed me as well. Although not all that dissimilar from many artists pushing the dubious 'future garage' sound, for a newcomer it's a very impressive piece of production. A good sense of musicality contributed a few winning melodies while the bass throbs reminded me of the work of producers like 123Mrk or Arkist.
3. Lee Sanderson
Judge's comments: Ain't Nobody: Although the straightest of my three choices, I chose this one simply because I thought it was the best dance track out of the selection. Sometimes simple is best, and I can imagine this hitting hard on any UK dancefloor. The Jersey house chimes and earworm vocal combine to make an irresistable package.

International balance payment window opens

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:22:40 +0000

If you bought your Glastonbury 2013 ticket deposit using a credit card registered outside the UK, the window for balance payments for international customers has now opened. To pay your balance, head to See Tickets' website.

International ticket balance payments will be taken from 9am (GMT) February 25th until 23:59 (GMT) 3rd March 2013. To ensure prompt delivery of international ticket orders, all balance payments for international ticket holders must be received by Sunday 3rd March 2013.

See Tickets Coaches and pre-erected tents in our Worthy View site will be available as add-ons at the end of transactions.

It is your responsibility to remember to pay your balance. Any tickets for which the balance has not been paid by 23:59 March 3rd 2013 will be refunded £40. A £10 administration fee will be retained.â€¨

International tickets will be sent out by registered international post in early May unless stated otherwise. Please ensure you give your full international address when booking. If you are unable to receive your tickets by international post, please contact Seetickets immediately upon making your balance payment - the option will be available to choose box office collection or delivery to a UK address.

The balance payment window for UK ticket buyers then opens from 9am Tuesday April 2nd to 23:59 Monday April 8th.

Following the two balance payment windows, any tickets which have been returned will be sold in our ticket resale on Sunday April 21st. To buy those tickets, you will need to be registered.

For full Glastonbury 2013 Ticket Information, please click here.

Silver Hayes: Nas spearheads line-up of renamed Dance Village

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:31:46 +0000

Nas, Disclosure, Hot Natured, David Rodigan, Sub Focus, Aluna George, Eats Everything, Rudimental and The Congos are just a few of the top names to be confirmed for the reborn Dance Village at Glastonbury 2013. Now known as Silver Hayes, the new area will include one giant supertent, Sonic, for dance-oriented headliners, the Wow Stage for underground breakers and best of all the Gully - a brand new installation combining an open air stage and a pulsating street of sound systems and stalls featuring the best new DJs, MCs and live music.

Says Festival Organiser Emily Eavis: "I've always thought that the closest parallel with Glastonbury is Notting Hill Carnival, and the buzz around this rebirth is exactly what we were looking for, both musically and visually. There's going to be a lot of incredible music from all around the world."

Silver Hayes takes its name from one of the oldest meadows on Worthy Farm, soon to be filled with the best new musical discoveries of 2013. Nas and other bill toppers will play in the new Sonic supertent (7,000 capacity), while a full line up for the other stages and sound systems will be revealed in April.

Meanwhile the last word goes to Michael Eavis: "Malcolm (Haynes, Dance Village Co-Ordinator) turned up with an after hours rave truck in the 1980s and he's been going hard at it ever since. Now he's conjured up a new vision for one of the most beautiful areas of the farm, which will be brilliant."

Attend Glastonbury 2013 as an Ecover Citizen Journalist

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:24:01 +0000

Ecologically sound cleaning product company Ecover - a long term partner of Glastonbury which supplies the Festival with its products - is looking for two aspiring journalists to report on a ground-breaking new project which it is launching in March 2013, as well as this year's Festival.

The Ecover Citizen Journalists will attend the project's press launch on March 6th and conduct interviews for the company's online magazine The-Splash. They will also each be given two tickets Glastonbury Festival 2013 to report on the public's reaction to the project.

For full information - and to apply - click here.

John Allen

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:57:23 +0000

John Allen died last week. He was the life and soul of Pilton village and worked as a stone mason on Worthy Farm for over 35 years.

He had a huge crowd of admirers at his funeral at the chapel on Friday 15th February.

We will all miss him terribly.

Michael Eavis

Worthy View's scout-style tents

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:24:54 +0000

The scout-style tents in our new Worthy View pre-erected camp site (a short walk up the hill from the main Festival site) are a modern, roomier version of a design classic, which were manufactured especially for Glastonbury Festival by BCT Outdoors, a British tent company who've been making quality tents for over 100 years.

The tents designed by the Yorkshire company to withstand the vagaries of the British weather, have been especially commissioned not to contain external guy ropes so that people can return to their tents in the dark without the danger of tripping over them.

The idea behind these tents came from Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis as a way to cut down on the amount of camping equipment which in the past has been abandoned at the end of the Festival. These tents will be able to be re-used year on year. Michael travelled up to BCT's Yorkshire factory to see Glastonbury's 1,000 tents being made, and even tried his hand at sewing one.

Scout-style tents at Worthy View cost £250 for 5 nights. They accommodate 2 people (or a cosy squeeze for 3) and you can book them online now.

Congratulations to Misty Buckley

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:03:47 +0000

We'd like to pass on our congratulations to Misty Buckley, who was named the Set Designer of the Year at last night's TPi Awards in London. Misty is the artistic director for many parts of Glastonbury Festival, and she thoroughly deserved this industry recognition.

Calling all poets and spoken word artistsâ€

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:46:14 +0000

Calling all poets, lyricists, spoken word artists, troubadours, story tellers, stand-up poets and slam champs…

2013 is now upon us and for those of us in festie land, June is just around the corner. We’re now ready to open the floodgates to all you wonderful talented poetry types once again. If you want to perform your work on Glastonbury Festival’s poetry stage, then this is your chance. We’re looking for applications from experienced writers and performers who can leave the Glastonbury audience speechless (in a good way!). If you think that could be you, then please e-mail poetryandwords@hotmail.co.uk with your poetry CV and 1-3 video and/or audio files of you performing your work. We’re happy to receive either attachments (of a manageable size!) or web links. We can also provide a snail mail address if you’d rather do things the old fashioned way!

Applications close at midnight on Sunday 10th March 2013. Applications received (by post or e-mail) after this date will not be accepted.

Please note that we receive a high volume of applications and are therefore unable to reply to individual e-mails. Successful artists should hear back from us within two months of the deadline.

Thanks,

Poetry&Words

http://poetryandwords.posterous.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Glastonbury-Poetry/49516631721
https://twitter.com/PoetryandWords

Worthy FM podcast

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 10:23:40 +0000

Glastonbury's on-site radio station, Worthy FM, has started a new podcast, using all the amazing material they record over the Festival weekend. Head over to their website to check out the first episode, which features interviews with Lady Gaga, Fatboy Slim and Nick Clegg, as well as live music from the Levellers and Stornoway.

Emerging Talent Competition update

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:44:32 +0000

We're pleased to report that more than 8,000 entries were submitted to our 2013 Emerging Talent Competition during the week-long entry period. Big thanks to all the acts who've put their music forward.

The entries have now been divided into playlists and sent to our blogger judges, who will each pick their three favourite songs to make up the longlist. The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton in April decides the winning act.

Here's a list of the music blogs which will be judging the music. We heartily recommend that you check them out.

- 17 seconds
- 2 U I Bestow
- Bitter Fingers
- Black Plastic
- Breaking More waves
- Cats band crushes
- Consequence of Sound
- Crack in the Road
- Crack Magazine
- Cruel Rhythm
- Devil has the best tuna
- Don't Watch Me Dancing
- Dots and dashes
- faded glamour
- Fear of Fiction
- Flying with Anna
- For folks sake
- Gold Flake Paint
- Hot Cakes
- It's All Indie
- Just Music That I Like
- moleskin 90
- Music liberation
- Music like Dirt
- Neon Filler
- Nialler9
- Pigeon post
- Play Pause Rewind
- Real horrorshow tunes
- Song by toad
- Swear I'm not Paul
- The 405
- The White Noise
- This music wins
- What's the Ruckus
- When you awake
- White Noise Review

Worthy Farm in the snow

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:00:36 +0000

Some great shots of a snowy Worthy Farm taken by Jason Bryant.

Rokia Traore is first act announced for Glastonbury 2013

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:04:17 +0000

We're pleased to announce our first act for Glastonbury Festival 2013. It's Malian singer Rokia Traore. In an act of solidarity with the musicians from Mali - where rebel groups in the north have banned music - an artist from the country will open the Pyramid Stage each day.

Emily Eavis has spoken to the Guardian about the decision to support Malian mucic at Glastonbury 2013. Click here to read the interview.

Emerging Talent Competition 2013 - enter now!

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 08:54:39 +0000

UPDATE: The Emerging Talent Competition entry period has now ended. Thanks to the thousands of acts who entered. Now that the entries are in, a panel of 40 of the UK's best music bloggers will help compile a longlist of 120 acts. The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton in April decides the winning act.

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Glastonbury Festival's EMERGING TALENT COMPETITION 2013 is giving new, unsigned artists from the UK and Ireland the chance to compete for a main stage slot at this year's Glastonbury.

Acts can enter FOR ONE WEEK ONLY from 9am on Thursday 17th January until 5pm on Thursday 24th January. Entries to ETC2013 are free. To enter, acts will simply need to supply us with a link to listen to an original recording of an original song online (on YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, etc). The entry form is below:

Worthy View FAQs

Wed, 15 May 2013 13:25:34 +0100

Here are the answers to the most common questions we've been asked since our official Worthy View off-site, pre-erecred accommodation went on sale (click for more info and to book).

Some accommodation option are showing as unavailable, will there be any more?
We don’t expect to have any more of the sold out options available, other than in the situation of an existing booking being cancelled (at which point they would be made available again via the booking site).

I booked a tent and forgot to add a car park ticket, can I still buy one?
If you have made a booking and forgot to order a car park ticket, please contact Seetickets customer services to add one to you order. Please note there is a limit on the number allowed per group, as this car park is only available to residents at Worthy View.

How far is Worthy View from the Festival site?
Worthy View campsite is approx. 250 metres up the (steep) hill from Pennard Hill Gate. The hill is not suitable for pushchairs, wheelchairs or those with mobility issues.

If I can’t go, can my friend use my tent booking, or can I get a refund?
Tent bookings are not transferable, but are refundable up to May 3rd, less a £10 admin fee per unit.

My friend has also booked a tent, can we have our tents next to each other?
Where possible the Festival has endeavoured to meet requests for friends and family groups to be located together as long as the booking is for the same accommodation type, however this service cannot be guaranteed, and requests are now closed. Different types of tent, even on the same booking, can not be grouped together.

Will there still be a chance to book the onsite tipis onsite?
Yes, campervan pitches and onsite tipis were on sale with ticket balances as normal (NB: these have now sold out).

Can I bring another tent/campervan/gazebo with me to Worthy View?
Only the pre-erected camping facilities provided by the Festival are permitted on the Worthy View campsite. Any unauthorised tents will be taken down and confiscated by the Worthy View staff. Gazebos, campervans, caravans and private tents are not permitted at Worthy View.

Can I bring a fire pit/stove for my yurt/tipi/bell tent?
Open fires are not permitted at Worthy View save for the communal campfire supervised by the organisers. Small barbecues can be used in these fields, but they must be used outside, a safe distance away from any tents or other structures. No stoves, burners or fires are permitted inside the tents.

Does the accommodation come with any beds/bedding/furnishings?
Accommodation hire does not include beds or bedding. However, you can buy equipment which will be waiting for you at Worthy View by clicking here.

What are the dimensions of the accommodation options?
These have now been added to the main Worthy View page.

Will there be toilets and showers at Worthy View?
Yes, showers and toilets will be provided.

Will I be able to purchase food / drink at Worthy View?
Yes, there will be all-day catering at the Elderflower Kitchen.

Can my friends visit me at Worthy View?
Sorry, no. For security reasons and so that we can control the use of the facilities, only those who are staying at Worthy View will be able to access it (wristbands will be required).

Click here for more info on the Worthy View accommodation options, and to book

2013 Emerging Talent Competition opens on Thursday

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:02:10 +0000

Glastonbury Festival's EMERGING TALENT COMPETITION 2013 will give new, unsigned artists from the UK and Ireland the chance to compete for a main stage slot at this year's Glastonbury. Acts from any musical genre can follow in the footsteps of previous ETC entrants, who include Stornoway, Scouting For Girls, We Have Band, the Golden Silvers, the Subways and the winners of the last contest, in 2011, Treetop Flyers.

Acts will be able to enter FOR ONE WEEK ONLY from 9am on Thursday 17th January until 5pm on Thursday 24th January. Entries to ETC2013 are free. To enter, acts will simply need to supply us with a link to listen to one of their songs online (on YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, etc). The entry form will be right here on the official Glastonbury website.

Once the entries are in, a panel of 40 of the UK's best music bloggers will help compile a longlist of 120 acts. The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of eight artists by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before the live finals in Pilton in April decides the winning act.

Worthy View: Official off-site camping on sale now!

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:31:02 +0000

Bookings for Worthy View (for ticket holders only) are open NOW via Seetickets. Click to book.

Following the Festival's successful last-minute provision of an off-site camping facility for the 2011 Festival (when Michael Eavis stepped in to provide accommodation for 3,000 Festival-goers left stranded by the collapse of a third party company) we are pleased to announce that the Festival will, for the first time, be offering a range of pre-erected off-site camping facilities for at least 4,000 people for the 2013 Festival, in addition to our onsite tipi area.

A short walk from the Festival site (up the hill above the stone circle), this new, official campsite Worthy View will be run by the Festival team, and will offer a variety of tent options, including a modern twist on the traditional scout tent, bell tents, tipi tents and two person yurts which are being built especially for the Festival - leaving you with nothing to carry home but your bags.

Says Michael Eavis: “It’s really important to me that we offer people the best value accommodation. We don’t want Festival-goers paying through the nose, so we’ve decided to offer some cracking off-site camping ourselves, very close to the main site. With tents for 5 nights available for only £100 per person, and even the hand-crafted yurts for £150 per person, there is no reason to pay more elsewhere.”

The “Worthy View” campsite looks out over the Festival site and is a great spot for people to wander down into the Festival, and retreat to a quieter campsite, with their tents ready and waiting for them.

As a consequence of repeated problems with off-site camping facilities at Glastonbury not run by the Festival and out of our control, we no longer give out any information about unofficial off-site accommodation providers and would encourage Festival-goers to use only the official accommodation we provide. We are therefore NOT responsible for third party sites, so please be very cautious before parting with money to these unknown, unofficial campsite providers.

For more information about the new campsite, check out the Worthy View Information Page

Orchestra in a Field 2013

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 16:14:41 +0000

Here's a short film about Charles Hazlewood's Orchestra in a Field festival. This two-day festival will continue the tradition set by our 2012 Glastonbury Extravaganza of mixing classical and contemporary music in the magical grounds of Glastonbury Abbey. Earlybird tickets are available at a 20% discount until 12th January. See www.orchestrainafield.com for more details.

(Please note, Orchestra in a Field is not organised by Glastonbury Festivals.)

Film: Pilton Party 2012

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 20:08:56 +0000

With 2013 almost upon us, we thought now would be a good time to share this short film about the only live show on Worthy Farm in 2012, September's Pilton Party. This year's event featured The Vaccines, Professor Green, Zulu Winter and Manners. Thanks to Mandy Briggs for the film.

Merry Christmas!

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 17:31:07 +0000

Merry Christmas one and all!
Wishing you all a happy and peaceful New Year.
And then roll on June...

Worthy FM looking for volunteers

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:15:25 +0000

Worthy FM is Glastonbury Festival’s very own on site radio station. It broadcasts for just 1 week, from the Monday before the festival opens until the following Monday when the festival closes.

The station is like no other in the world, with a unique audience made from 150,000 festival goers, 20,000 crew and thousands of other people who aren’t attending the festival but are listening online.

The station is staffed entirely by a crew of 30 volunteers. The crew is made up of a wide variety of people, usually with an interest in radio, the festival, or the arts and media, but not necessarily professionally employed in those sectors. Many are people who return each year and have been involved for many years. In addition, each year the station reserves two crew spaces for new broadcast volunteers. These members are selected by a competition process, aiming to bring something new to the station and festival alike.

How to enter

To enter the competition, you need to record and produce 30 seconds of audio that demonstrates your presenting style. The audio must be in mp3 format, and saved with a filename in the fomat ‘yourfirstname_yourlastname.mp3′. Next, send the mp3 in an email to volunteer@worthyfm.com. Your email must contain the following information laid out as follows in the text of your email and NOT as an attachment.

Full name:
Full postal address:
Email Address:
Contact telephone number:
Explain, in 50 words or fewer, why you want to volunteer for Worthy FM in 2013:

Send this to volunteer@worthyfm.com by 11:59pm on Sunday 6th January 2013. Late entries will not be accepted.

What makes a good entry

First, make sure your audio is no longer than 30 seconds, is in mp3 format and has your name as the filename. Also make sure you provide all of the information requested in the same email as your audio. Entries not meeting these requirements will be automatically rejected.

The entries will be judged by festival organiser Emily Eavis and BBC Radio 1′s Huw Stephens. They will be looking for people who demonstrate traits that match Worthy FMs style and values; diverse, exciting, creative, innovative, informative and cool under pressure.

Before applying, please be aware that whilst the competition crew spaces are reserved for presenters, any Worthy FM crew member is expected to carry out a wide range of duties beyond presenting a show. This could include anything from feature gathering to lighting the fire in the crew compound! As a result, it is essential that any new crew member has all round radio skills, including editing, interviewing, news reading and presenting. It is also essential that you are able to be onsite from Sunday the 23rd June until Monday the 1st July 2013 inclusive.

Finally, before you send in your entry, ask yourself if you are ready for this? There are many easier ways to experience the festival!

Volunteering for Worthy FM will mean hard work for the entire week, sometimes pressured and stressful, and always unpredictable. You will be in extreme conditions unlike any other in radio; there aren’t many other stations that deliver radio that is as entertaining, exciting, creative and innovative, whilst meeting a demanding public service agenda. That would be challenging in any environment, least of all in a muddy or dusty field, where anyone from Michael Eavis to the onsite firecrew to a Saturday night headliner could drop in unannounced.

If you are up for the challenge though, we are waiting to hear from you.

Cooks & Kitchen assistants needed

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:48:06 +0000

NB: Applications for these positions are now closed

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To cater for 1,000 site staff around this year's Festival, we are looking for experienced/qualified cooks, and kitchen assistants who need to be hard working, but not necessarily qualified.

They will either be employed from the beginning of June until mid-July; or from 21st June – 4th July. Shifts will be about 8 hours a day, with some early and some late shifts.

All workers will be paid. They will also get a staff pass to the Festival. Please note that these establishments will be open during the Festival so you will be required to work some shifts at this time. This is hard work, rather than just an easy way into the Festival.

Staff will have to bring their own camping equipment, but food, showers and washing machines are provided.

If you are interested please send a current CV with photo, detailing relevant experience and any food hygiene or other qualifications - stating whether you are looking to be employed for two weeks or seven weeks.

The closing date for applications is 28th February 2013.

Trading applications close on December 14th

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:00:24 +0000

Applications to trade at Glastonbury Festival 2013 close on Friday, December 14th. If you'd like to have a stall at the Festival, then please click below.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY TO TRADE AT GLASTONBURY 2013

Pitches are not given on a first come first serve basis, all applications are read through and traders are chosen depending on various factors such as their green credentials, the price and quality of their goods and the presentation of their stall.

Hundreds of food traders, charities, campaigning organisations and peddlers of the bizarre and unique apply to trade at Glastonbury each year. Each stall is priced individually, based on the location of the site, the type of organisation, the number of staff, the size of stall, the products being sold and so on. There will be some 180,000 people on site at the busiest, with the public arriving from Wednesday morning onwards and most staying until Monday morning.

Glastonbury donates trees to Festival Wood

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 13:20:33 +0000

Glastonbury Fesrival is proud to be donating 100 trees to the Festival Wood, a wild forest regeneration initiative from A Greener Festival. It is not an offset scheme. The Festival Wood is an opportunity for the festival community to give something back to the great outdoors. A festival legacy that will grow and grow.

The Festival Wood is inviting festivals, festival-goers, artists, suppliers and the whole festival community to get involved and donate trees, at £5 each, to this lasting positive restoration. We hope to one day see the Festival Wood flourish to become a diverse Festival Forest, rich with biodiversity and protected wilderness.

Click here to read more and for details of how to donate.

Chris Martin on Glastonbury

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:14:41 +0000

Here's a nice quote from Coldplay's Chris Martin about Glastonbury.

It's taken from Coldplay's new eBook, Mylo Xyloto Live, which is available from iTunes now. The eBook is the companion piece to the band's new concert film. Live 2012, which features their performance of Viva La Vida from Glastonbury 2011 (see www.coldplay.com for more info on both the film and the eBook).

World Toilet Day message from WaterAid

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:02:24 +0000

This World Toilet Day, we at WaterAid are drawing attention to the fact that 1 in 3 women worldwide risk shame, disease, harassment and even attack because they have nowhere safe to go to the toilet. Sanitation would make 1.25 billion women’s lives safer and healthier.

WaterAid has produced this powerful short film for World Toilet Day calling on viewers to show their support for the 1.25 billion women with nowhere safe to go to the toilet. It’s crucial that we draw attention to this startling fact. Please visit www.wateraid.org/1in3 to take action.

Worthy Farm on an autumn day

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:18:04 +0000

Jason Bryant very kindly sent through these great photos from a glorious autumnal day at Worthy Farm.

Shangri-la area's 2013 theme revealed!

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:44:17 +0100

In a new blog here on the official Glastonbury site, Shangri-la creative director Debs Armstrong has revealed that the late-night area's theme for next year's Festival will be One Man's Heaven is Another Man's Hell - the first part of the Shangri-la Afterlife series.

"Something that makes Shangri-la absolutely unique is its evolving narrative," writes Debs, "we tell a new chapter each year. Contributing artists and designers respond to the story to create their own sub-plots. The Audience becomes inhabitants of the film-set inspired wonderland, Shangri-la, which they explore and become lost within. It is an other-worldly festival experience, with plenty of mind blowing surprises along the way!"

Despite there being no Glastonbury in 2012, the Shangri-la story did continue. It was a tragic tale, though, as the population died and the colonists were betrayed and eventually eaten by their alien friends.

For the full lowdown on One Man's Heaven is Another Man's Hell - including how you can get involved in the early creative development phase - click here to read Debs' full blog.

Traders application form now open

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:46:12 +0100

If you would like to apply to trade at Glastonbury Festival 2013, you can do so between 10th October and 14th December 2012.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY TO TRADE AT GLASTONBURY 2013

2013 tickets sell out in 1h 40m

Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:47:55 +0100

After one hour and 40 minutes, tickets for Glastonbury 2013 have now completely sold out (in record time). We would like to say an enormous thanks to everyone who managed to buy a ticket - but we'd also like to extend our sincere apologies to the many thousands who missed out.

We're genuinely humbled by the sheer number of people who would like to come to the Festival, and we dearly wish we could have you all along. Sadly, that just isn't possible, which means a significant number of people have missed out. Tickets were being sold throughout the morning - but demand simply outstripped supply.

If you were one of those who managed to get a ticket, then we look forward to welcoming you to Worthy Farm in June. If not, then there is likely to be a resale of returned tickets in the spring, and your registration will also remain valid for future Glastonbury Festivals - so we hope to see you down here at some point.

Thank you all again for your incredible support for Glastonbury Festival.

Michael & Emily Eavis

Ticket buying FAQ

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:00:07 +0100

HOW DO I GET A TICKET?
- Ticket deposits will go on sale at 9am this Sunday, 7th October, via glastonbury.seetickets.com or on the See Tickets booking line: 0844 412 4635* (0044 1159 934 183 for overseas buyers, using a credit card with a non-UK billing address). Bookings cannot be taken on any other phone numbers.
- Please be ready to buy at 9am, as there may be high demand.
- You must be registered before you can book a ticket.
- Everyone aged 13 and over who wants to attend the Festival needs to be registered.
- Registration is now closed. If you are not registered you wil not be able to book a ticket on Sunday

HOW MANY TICKETS CAN I BOOK?
- You can book up to 8 tickets in one transaction, but you can only book one ticket per registration. So if you're planning on booking for a group of mates, you will need all their registration numbers and registered postcodes, too - get them ready now, in advance of Sunday morning.

HOW MUCH WILL TICKETS COST?
- Tickets cost £205 + £5 booking per person, plus £6 postage per order; with deposits of £50 per person payable on October 7th (the booking/postage fees will be paid at the time of balance payment).
- Prices for car parking, campervans and tipis which will be available to add to your booking when paying your balance in the Spring can be found here.
- Details of transport packages which you can add to your booking will be released later in the year.

HOW CAN I PAY?
- UK buyers must use a debit card. International buyers must use a credit card (with a non-UK billing address). For telephone orders Bankers Drafts and Postal Orders raised by a building society, bank or Post Office will also be accepted as payment. Please click here for more details

WHEN CAN I PAY MY BALANCE?
- The booking site will re-open on April 2nd 2013 for UK ticket buyers (February 25th for international buyers), when you will have a week to pay your balance of £155 per ticket (+ £5 Booking Fee per ticket and £6 P&P per order) and to book everything else you might need (tipis, campervan tickets, car parking, coach and train travel, cancellation protection etc).

IS IT TOO LATE TO REGISTER?
- Yes, for this Sunday's sale, it is. But registration will re-open in the week following the ticket sale, so if you're not yet registered, you will still have the opportunity to register in time for the resale of cancelled deposits which will take place in the Spring

I'VE BEEN TO THE FESTIVAL BEFORE, AM I STILL REGISTERED?
- Possibly, but not definitely, as some older registrations have expired.
- To avoid disappointment on Sunday, we'd really encourage you to check now whether your registration is still valid by entering your registered email address on the look up page (at busy times, emails can take up to three hours to arrive, but are usually quicker).
- If your details cannot be found on the look up page you are not registered (most likely because your old registration has expired) so you won't be able to book tickets on Sunday 7th. You will therefore need to submit a new registration when it reopens, before you can book tickets for the Festival in the resales.

WHY HAS MY REGISRTATION EXPIRED?
- If you had one of the older registrations (2008-2009), when you registered you were given the option to save your details for 3 years. Therefore when those 3 years were up, we were obligated to fulfil that agreement and delete your registration from the database upon expiry. Likewise, if in any year when you registered, you opted not to save your details, then your registration will have expired after that year's Festival. For more information, please click here.

WHY DO I NEED TO REGISTER?
- Since 2007, Glastonbury has had a registration system, whereby you upload a picture of yourself (like you would for a passport or driver's license) along with your name and address details, which we then print on your ticket so that it is personal to you.
- Printing all the tickets with a name and photo means that they can't be sold on, so we can be sure that every ticket goes to a genuine Festival goer, rather than bought by touts who would otherwise sell them on at inflated prices.
- It's the best way we've found to make sure everyone has a fair chance to buy a ticket, without getting ripped off.

I'VE MOVED HOUSE, CAN I UPDATE MY ADDRESS?
- Yes, as long as you still have access to your registered email address you can edit your address details online here. Alternatively, you can provide your new address for your tickets to be delivered to when submitting your payment (this won't change the details on your registration though)

I NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS I USED TO REGISTER, CAN I STILL BUY A TICKET?
- Yes. You can't edit your email address, but you can provide an alternative email address for you confirmation email to be sent to when submitting the payment for your ticket. This won't change the details on your registration, but you will get your ticket. (And we'd recommend you setting up a new registration, with the correct email address, for the following year.)

WHAT FACILITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO DISABLED FESTIVAL GOERS, AND DO YOU OFFER A PA SCHEME?
- There are a range of disabled facilities (viewing platforms, disabled campsite, disabled car park) and a PA scheme is available for carers of those who require additional assistance. Once you have booked your tickets in October, contact the disabled access coordinator for an information and application pack. For more information, click here.

WHEN WILL THE HEADLINERS / LINE-UP BE ANNOUNCED?
- There are no plans to reveal the headliners or line-up before 2013.

STILL HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? HEAD TO THE FULL TICKET INFORMATION PAGE.

Trader applications open 10th October

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:20:44 +0100

If you would like to apply to trade at Glastonbury Festival 2013 you can do so between 10th October and 17th December 2012. The online application form will be posted on this website.

Pitches are not given on a first come first serve basis, all applications are read through and traders are chosen depending on various factors such as their green credentials, the price and quality of their goods and the presentation of their stall.

Hundreds of food traders, charities, campaigning organisations and peddlers of the bizarre and unique apply to trade at Glastonbury each year. Each stall is priced individually, based on the location of the site, the type of organisation, the number of staff, the size of stall, the products being sold and so on. There will be some 180,000 people on site at the busiest, with the public arriving from Wednesday morning onwards and most staying until Monday morning.

Crispin Aubrey

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:29:59 +0100

I received a shock phone call on Friday evening to say that Crispin Aubrey had died of a sudden heart attack at his home in Nether Stowey. He was a staunch founder member of the Glastonbury Festival press team and a resolute campaigner for Green issues who kept up the pressure on me constantly.

His campaign against nuclear power is well known and his intelligent analysis of the case against Hinkley C was so well defined.

He will be so sadly missed by us all and will be a hard act to follow. We wish his lovely wife Sue and their three children all the comfort they will get from their large circle of friends.

Michael Eavis

Click here to read Crispin's obituary on the Guardian's website

Registration site closes at midnight tonight

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 19:20:14 +0100

Apologies, the registration site had to undergo maintenance earlier today, so was unavailable for a period. The site is back up now - and you have until midnight tonight to register (at that point registration will close until after Oct 7th). Click here to register.

If you registered over the last few months/years and you're hoping to buy tickets on Oct 7th, it's well worth checking your registration details this evening, at http://bit.ly/checkgfreg.

Be a fisherman's friend for Greenpeace

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:51:44 +0100

This year, Greenpeace have been meeting small-scale fishermen around the English coast to raise awareness for sustainable fishing. The story we’ve heard time and time again is always the same: even though fishermen have been fishing responsibly for decades, they’re being put out of business by unfair fishing laws which instead support destructive fishing practices. Our “Be a Fisherman’s Friend” campaign, raises awareness about this injustice and calls for wide reform of current fishing laws.

The CFP (Common Fisheries Policy) has threatened the future of our fish and our seas, and the coastal communities that rely on them. That’s why we are working together with UK sustainable fishermen to call for a radical change. CFP reform only happens once every 10 years, so this year we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to fix the system.

You can show your support for fish, sustainable fishermen and coastal communities by signing our petition to UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon.

The more of us support the campaign, the more our politicians will listen. Together, we can help our sustainable fishermen get a fair catch, putting the health of our seas first.

Thank you in advance for your precious support.

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is one of Glastonbury Festival's Worthy Causes

Registration closes on Sunday night

Thu, 27 Sep 2012 15:39:51 +0100

A reminder that if you'd like to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2013, you will need to be registered. If you're not already registered, then head over to www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk now to fill in your details and upload your picture (it only takes a few minutes). You can also check your existing registration now by clicking here, and edit the details here. Please do all this in advance of September 30th (when registration will close until after October 7th).

For more information on 2013 tickets, please click here.

One day left to help WaterAidâ€™s Big Dig bring clean water to Malawi

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:41:04 +0100

This summer, WaterAid asked people to back an exciting new appeal – The Big Dig – to bring clean water and sanitation to some of the poorest communities in Malawi.

Last week, the drilling of new boreholes in the villages of Bokola and Kaniche brought the communities clean, safe water for the first time – prompting great celebrations. Along with new latrines and hygiene education, which has been carried out throughout the summer, the new boreholes will save and transform lives.

Bokola and Kaniche are just the tip of the iceberg. The UK public responded with phenomenal generosity to the appeal, and with the UK Government matching all donations pound for pound from the aid budget over £2 million was raised – enough to help WaterAid change hundreds of thousands of lives in communities across Malawi.

There is just one day left to make a donation to The Big Dig, as the UK Government will match all donations made before midnight 18th September – to donate or find out more go to www.thebigdig.org.

Pilton Party 2012 photos

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 14:52:17 +0100

Here are a bunch of Jason Bryant's excellent photos from last night's Pilton Party, which featured storming performances from The Vaccines, Professor Green, Zulu Winter and Manners. The event is held each year by the Glastonbury organisers to thank local residents for their help with the Festival. Funds raised from the Party are ploughed into local community projects - including the running costs of the Pilton Parish Hall, the Pilton Working Men's Club and Pilton Playing Fields Association.

Emily Eavis just told us: "It was such a brilliant night. All the band really pulled the stops out and the village was going crackers! I'm not sure if it was because we've had a year off, but the atmosphere was electric. Thanks to everyone for coming"

Glastonbury Festival 2013 ticket price confirmed

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:52:34 +0100

TICKET PRICE
With just over a month until Glastonbury Festival 2013 tickets go on sale - at 9am BST on Sunday, October 7th - we can now confirm that tickets will cost £205 (+ £5 booking fee per ticket & £6 P&P per order). Entrance for children aged 12 and under remains free.

The ticket price covers entry to the Festival site from Wednesday 26th June until Monday 1st July 2013 and, as ever, includes a free programme. Once again, the Festival will be raising funds for Oxfam, Wateraid, Greenpeace and a host of local charities and causes (in 2011, more than £2m was raised).

DEPOSIT SCHEME
As in 2011, you will be able to book a ticket by paying a £50 deposit per person, either online at glastonbury.seetickets.com, from 0844 412 4635 or, for international callers, from +44 1159 934 183. Up to 8 tickets can be bought at once, but there is only one ticket per registration (so if you're planning to book for a group, please make sure everyone is registered). As a guide for international buyers, £50 is approximately €63 or $80 (as of Thur 6 Sept). And click here to find out what time 9am BST on October 7th is where you are.

REGISTRATION
Registration remains free of charge. If you're not already registered, then head over to www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk now to fill in your details and upload your picture (it only takes a few minutes). You can also check your existing registration now by clicking here, and edit the details here. Please do all this in advance of September 30th (when registration will close until after October 7th).

BALANCE PAYMENTS
The booking site will then re-open on April 2nd 2013 for UK ticket buyers (February 25th for international buyers), when you will have a week to pay your balance of £155 per ticket (+ £5 Booking Fee per ticket and £6 P&P per order) and to book everything else you might need (tipis, campervan tickets, car parking, coach and train travel, cancellation protection etc).

It will not be possible to pay for a ticket in full in October, when only deposits will be taken. This will allow people more time to save for their tickets, knowing that they have secured a booking. It will also help the Festival to reduce costs, allowing us to give more to our joint charities.

MORE INFORMATION
If you are thinking of coming to Glastonbury 2013 then we heartily recommend that you click here to read the full ticket information.

The Vaccines and Professor Green headline Pilton Party

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:46:38 +0100

Join Glastonbury Festival for the last blast of summer 2012, as The Vaccines and Professor Green top the bill for the 27th Pilton Party next Friday (September 7th). Support comes from indie trailblazers Zulu Winter and local band Manners, with the event beginning at 6pm at Worthy Farm.

Says Michael Eavis: "The village has been brilliant to us through the years and in return we owe a huge debt to the the village. Which is why the Pilton Party is so important, as it raises around £40,000 for all the village activities."

Tickets for Pilton Party cost £25 and can be be pre-ordered and paid for by phone on 01749 890470. All tickets must be collected in person from Worthy Farm (clearly signposted from the A361) from Monday to Friday 10am-6pm and from 10am until 4pm on Saturday. All tickets to be collected by Thursday, September 6th.

Damon Albarn visits Mali for Oxfam

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:25:30 +0100

Malian singer and guitarist Afel Bocoum was joined in Mali by Damon Albarn for a unique music project to draw attention to Mali's growing humanitarian crisis and to the food crisis across the Sahel region of West and Central Africa. The Mali Music Unplugged trip for Oxfam included a special performance from the album Mali Music, and a performance of a completely new track.

More than 18 million people in nine countries are threatened by food shortages, including 1 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. With the next harvests not due until September and October, the region is now entering the worst of the crisis.

In Mali itself, 4.6 million people are affected — 1.6 million of them in northern Mali, where insecurity and violence are making access for humanitarian organisations extremely difficult. This conflict has forced around 370,000 people to flee their homes in the north. Around 200,000 are seeking refuge in neighbouring countries – that are also experiencing serious food shortages –and 170,000 are displaced within Mali.

For more on the Sahel crisis - and to donate to Oxfam's relief effort - visit sahel2012.org. Thank you.

50 things you can only do at Glastonbury

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:34:01 +0100

To celebrate there being just 50 days until the Glastonbury Festival 2013 tickets go on sale on October 7th, we thought we'd post a list of 50 of our favourite answers to the question, "What's your favourite thing that you can only do at Glastonbury Festival?" which we posed on Twitter recently. Thanks to everyone who responded - it really was lovely to read through them all. Don't forget, if you'd like to buy a ticket for Glastonbury 2013, you'll need to be registered in advance.

1 just walking through the gates and realising you're at glastonbury-like nothing else on earth!!!
@rickjleach

2 watching the sunset from the stone circle on wednesday night before it all kicks off
@kate_loz

3 No better way to clear your head from a night of partying than a naked Sauna at Sam's Magic Hat
@AntF

4 Imagining for a few days what it would be like if everyone was always that happy, helpful and kind.
@barrysampson

5 Sat with a cider listening to pirates tell you stories. Amazing.
@Ashleyfauguel

6 find vegetarian Moroccan, Indian, British, African food within metres of each other
@londonisliving

7 Getting mugged for my burger bun by a man dressed as a giant papier mache seagull in the theatre fields #didthatreallyjusthappen
@dcasey007

8 walk/stumble/float round knowing you're enjoying yourself more there than you would be anywhere else at that time
@DomSamways

9 see a mermaid in 'fish and tits' bar
@LittleLeeLFC

10 Have a doze in a sun drenched field and have friendly random people nudge you to let you know that you might be burning.
@jgjrichards

11 Eating a mezze from the Armenian food shop in The Park while standing in the rain in wellies listening to Radiohead!!
@plc69

12 join the Re-Play Music project in Kidz Field. Learn to be a band. Leave with a recorded CD..Only @ GlastoKidz Field
@RodneyBranigan

13 laughter yoga up in healing fields
@GeorgieAmos

14 Watching a man cycle a piano whilst playing the Entertainer, through ankle deep mud #OnlyatGlasto
@lutonspam

15 Being woken up by the fluttering of the flags on the hill and a naked man on a bagpipe
@julieg6169

16 staying up all night and getting lost in Shangri-La
@GeorgeThyer

17 Visit the Strummer memorial with friends and ponder a life well lived...
@spenface

18 take a nap in an empty rug floored tent, and wake up surrounded by a Yoga class who've kindly let me snooze on. Lovely people.
@LeeCannon1

19 dancing with the Hare Krishnas at 3 in the morning
@DeeMag81

20 party all day with 175,000 other people hassle free with no aggression, no intimidation and just happy happy people
@MandydeWarr

21 I love sitting at the top of the hill on the rickety bench outside the chai-tea-teepee and watching the sunrise over tentland
@LSCartledge

22 cover myself in body paint, wear tie-dye and fairy wings and STILL seem completely normal! :D #onlyatglasto
@LouiseJeanB

23 Having a Klinsmann-off through the middle of Shangri La.
@Beau__

24 Hearing poetry in a treehouse cafe, drinking chai tea in green fields w/men in drag, cloudwatching without a care in the world
@Maddieeeeeeee

25 Getting the White Rabbit's riddle correct, crawling through the rabbit hole, then watching an old episode of The Wombles #trippy
@KatieDooShop

26 Having the intention to go and see a band I love only to get sidetracked on the way by someone playing the spoons or washboard!
@Merlynov

27 Watching the band playing the sunset timeslot on the Pyramid Stage. Absolutely unbeatable.
@lsgrundy

28 Climb the hill with the flags on, resisting the temptation to look behind you until you reach the top #whataview
@MikeJ_45

29 Listening to Tony Benn's Sunday "sermon" in the Leftfield tent!
@NorthSoulFood

30 spend a few days in paradise living a life i wish i could live forever.
@ruffcider

31 to get a taste of what it truly means to be free #nothingcompares
@MidiRiot

32 go to the club where you have to have a moustache to get in. AND if you don’t have one they make you put one on! Amazing!
@StevieWise

33 Cheer when the sun comes out and hear it move over the site. Beautiful sound :)
@missvwilkinson

34 going in a small group the first time and the group growing and growing each year as you all go back #infectiousglasto
@milwyn_langtoft

35 sitting with homemade elderflower cordial and houmus at permaculture
@amytendo

36 easy, I love dancing until the cows come home :)
@Jamie_walk3r

37 only at G can you visit a homeopath, a reiki 'healer' & a chiropractor and then listen to @bengoldacre IN THE SAME FIELD
@Sarah_Lady

38 to go from eating steak, to watching a secret pulp set at the park and to finally find yourself in a rabbit hole all within 2hrs
@Holcombea

39 Surely watching Rolf Harris with 75k other people has to feature quite high on the list?
@Ed_BigMac

40 buy milk from a cart painted to look like a cow.
@philippainspace

41 Nap in a hammock with an afternoon tea & toast whilst dream-pop blasts out from the Park stage.
@StuartEdwards

42 drink shots of Sambuca out of Moon Cups (clean ones, obviously)
@theLMD

43 arts, theatre, comedy, the tea ladies, fire shows and serendipity #bestofglastonbury
@suukii

44 I love laying in the cabaret tent watching the comedians when I'm trying to shakeoff the hangover from the previous 4 days!
@jo81page

45 act as free and as weird as possible without being judged!
@HiltonLikeeee

46 The famous Cider bus and on to the Longdrop, got to take the ruff withthe smooth#Glastonbury2013
@zoe_rudge

47 on the last night sitting at stone circle to watch the sunrise surrounded by newly found friends and flickering candles.
@Rianne_Thompson

48 Watch people's faith in the human race lift due to the overwhelming good vibe. Becomes a pilgrimage for fans and artists alike.
@Timmo44

49 I love getting delicious handmade food in the middle of the night washed down with real Somerset cider served from a bus
@_LittleMarsy_

50 the best thing about glasto (and the worst) is realising no other festival compares :) roll on June 2013!!
@VeeThorne

Photos: Jason Bryant, Andrew & Joey Allcock and Charles Gervais

A Greener Festival's survey

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:23:27 +0100

A Greener Festival and Buckinghamshire New University are conducting a new survey into festival goers' views on green initiatives and the environmental impact of festivals - and they'd very much like you folks to take part.

It really does take just a few minutes and they need festival goers from around the World - so wherever you are please do take part. The survey is here. Thanks.

London - The Modern Babylon trailer

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:47:17 +0100

Here's the trailer for London - The Modern Babylon, a great new film about London from Julien Temple (the director of the Glastonbury After Hours doc and the Glastonbury film).

The Oak Tree Project

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:35:10 +0100

We've just launched a fascinating new section of the website, dedicated to the oldest oak tree on the Festival site (which is more than 500 years old). Click here to find out about its history, folklore, nature - and to share your memories of it.

"We tried to get the Glastonbury Festival feel into the ceremony"

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 16:58:41 +0100

There's a great story in the Wells Journal today about the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, which was attended by Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis. Michael told the Journal, "We were there from the start to the finish, sat right by the side of the Tor. I think Danny Boyle was trying to capture the spirit of Glastonbury Festival. We were flattered to be resembled. He captured our political side as well as the music. I felt I was in the right place for a change. We were thrilled to bits with it. You could never get a better stadium show in my lifetime. So many volunteers were involved, kids from schools, youth clubs and dancing schools. They created a feeling of well being.”

The creative director of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, Stephen Daldry told the Journal: “The image of rural England – this idyllic, mythical England that everyone has is not just part of our past – it’s part of our living present. What better way to express it than Glastonbury Tor and what better way to celebrate Somerset. The festival culture that Michael Eavis has created is so much part of our culture. We tried to get the Glastonbury Festival feel into the ceremony.”

Meanwhile, Michael's daughter, Emily, attended the dress rehearsals a couple of nights earlier and took these photos:

The Worthy cows officially udder stars

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:48:13 +0100

Here's Michael with John and Pam from the Worthy Farm dairy, celebrating their winning herd certificates from the National Milk Records office, Somerset Herds for:

- Highest Yielding Herd
- Highest Yield (cow)
- Highest Yield (heifer)

So it's official: the Worthy cows are udder stars. :-)

Photograph: Jason Bryant

2013 Tickets FAQ

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 20:27:05 +0100

We've been getting quite a few questions about the tickets / ticket sale for Glastonbury 2013, so we thought we'd put together a bit of a Frequently Asked Questions list for you, answering the ones which are cropping up most often.

HOW DO I GET A TICKET?
- Ticket deposits will go on sale at 9am on Sunday 7th October via Seetickets (the only authorised seller for Glastonbury Festival tickets).
- You must be registered before you can book a ticket.
- Registration is open now at www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk and will close on 30th September.
- Everyone aged 13 and over who wants to attend the Festival needs to be registered.

HOW MANY TICKETS CAN I BOOK?
- You can book up to 8 tickets in one transaction, but you can only book one ticket per registration (so if you're planning on booking for a group of mates, make sure they are all registered, too).

HOW MUCH WILL TICKETS COST?
- Ticket deposits of £50 per person will go on sale on October 7th, with the remaining balance due in the Spring.
- The full price and balance payment date for 2013 haven't been confirmed yet, but will be posted here in September, as soon as we know (which will be before the deposits go on sale).
- Prices for car parking, campervans and tipis will also be announced in September, and will be available to add to your booking when paying your balance in the Spring.
- Details of transport packages which you can add to your booking will be released later in the year.

WHEN WILL THE HEADLINERS / LINE-UP BE ANNOUNCED?
- There are no plans to reveal the headliners or line-up before 2013.

WHY DO I NEED TO REGISTER?
- Since 2007, Glastonbury has had a registration system, whereby you upload a picture of yourself (like you would for a passport or driver's license) along with your name and address details, which we then print on your ticket so that it is personal to you.
- Printing all the tickets with a name and photo means that they can't be sold on, so we can be sure that every ticket goes to a genuine Festival goer, rather than bought by touts who would otherwise sell them on at inflated prices.
- It's the best way we've found to make sure everyone has a fair chance to buy a ticket, without getting ripped off.

IS IT TOO LATE TO REGISTER?
- No - you still have until 30th September to register. It only takes a couple of minutes to register online at www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk. All you need is a clear digital photo of yourself, cropped to just your head and shoulders, saved as a jpeg file, ideally between 50kb and 200kb in size, and in portrait shape (taller than it is wide); plus your name, address and contact details. Once you've submitted your details you'll be sent an email with your registration number, which you'll need to book tickets. More information about registration is available here.

I'VE BEEN TO THE FESTIVAL BEFORE, AM I STILL REGISTERED?
- Possibly, but not definitely, as some older registrations have expired.
- We'd really encourage you to check now whether your registration is still valid by entering your registered email address on the look up page. Don't leave this until the last minute, as registration closes on 30th September.
- If you have a valid registration, the details will be sent to your registered email address.
- If your details cannot be found on the look up page you are not registered and will need to submit a new registration before you can book tickets for the Festival.

I'VE MOVED HOUSE, CAN I UPDATE MY ADDRESS?
- Yes, as long as you still have access to your registered email address you can edit your address details online here.

I LOOK QUITE DIFFERENT NOW TO MY REGISTERED PHOTO, CAN I SUBMIT A NEW ONE?
- You can't amend the photo on a particular registration, but you are welcome (and encouraged) to delete the old one and submit a new one if you look significantly different to your previous picture.

I NO LONGER HAVE ACCESS TO THE EMAIL ADDRESS I USED TO REGISTER, CAN I UPDATE IT?
- Sorry, no. If you don't have access to the email address you will need to submit a new registration, as the email sent to verify changes has to go to the original email address.

I WANT TO BRING MY CHILDREN, DO THEY NEED TO REGISTER?
- Children aged 12 and under do not need tickets and do not need to register. They are admitted free of charge with a ticket holding adult.
- Children aged 13 and over require a ticket, and therefore must be registered, and if under 16 must be accompanied by a ticket holding adult.

WHAT FACILITIES ARE AVAILABLE TO DISABLED FESTIVAL GOERS, AND DO YOU OFFER A PA SCHEME?
- There are a range of disabled facilities (viewing platforms, disabled campsite, disabled car park) and a PA scheme is available for carers of those who require additional assistance. Once you have booked your tickets in October, contact the disabled access coordinator for an information and application pack. For more information, click here.

STILL HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?
HEAD TO THE FULL TICKET INFORMATION PAGE.

Photo: Andrew / Joey Allcock

Greenpeace's Save The Arctic campaign

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:52:41 +0100

The ice at the top of the world is melting. Scientists say that within 20 years the North Pole could be largely ice free over the summer months.

The Arctic is the canary in the coal mine: a potent symbol of the damage being done to our environment. But not everyone sees the melting ice as a grave warning to humanity. Politicians and oil giants see it as an opportunity to drill for the fuels that got us into this mess in the first place. Unsustainable, industrial-scale fishing fleets are already moving in to plunder fish stocks.

Greenpeace is not going to stand by while the Arctic is destroyed. This summer, we’re launching a massive international campaign to save the Arctic. We’re declaring a global sanctuary in the unclaimed area around the North Pole. We want the UN to designate it a protected area for all life on Earth. We’re also demanding a ban on off-shore oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the Arctic.

We won’t be able to do it on our own – so we want to enlist the help of millions of people from around the world. Everyone who signs up to the campaign at www.savethearctic.org will add their name to an Arctic Scroll. We’ll place the first million names in an indestructible pod and lower them 4 km through the freezing water, planting their names at the bottom of the sea at the top of the world.

Greenpeace
www.savethearctic.org

"Everything that happens here is emotional because this is our home"

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:46:21 +0100

This interview originally appeared on Spotify's website, but they've kindly let us post it here.

Emily Eavis, daughter of Michael and the inheritor of the Glastonbury Festival that he began in 1970, knows what her favourite moment of each summer is.

“When the gates open,” she laughs. “That’s the best moment, really. Just seeing all the people, the determination, knowing all this fun is about to happen…”

This summer, of course, the gates aren’t opening at all – Worthy Farm is having one of its fallow years to give the grounds a break, but the site itself is still buzzing with activity. A film crew from Chinese State TV is on site documenting this most iconic of British traditions, while Danny Boyle’s vision for the Olympic opening ceremony includes a reimagined Glasto “mosh pit” under the watchful gaze of the nearby Glastonbury Tor.

And now, everywhere, teams of people drill, knock, nail, heave and secure various things to various other things in an attempt to get a head start on June 2013. Just across the field from where Spotify and Emily sit down to speak, the skeleton of the Pyramid Stage sits silently, ready for when the gates open again 12 months from now.

This year off doesn’t look much like a year off.

No! Right now agents are trying to reserve the bigger slots – they’ll probably be secured quite soon. Yesterday, someone big who we’ve really wanted for ages got in contact and so now we’re trying to negotiate the deal, to explain why we can’t offer millions of pounds, but we really want it to happen. I think this year we’ll be finished a bit earlier, but there’s only 3 days, and after a year off you’ve got twice as much stuff to choose from!

Now you’re getting this love from the Olympics too.

That’s very flattering. I mean, it really, really is. The fact that he’s decided to make the festival part of this huge ceremony representing Britain? I suppose Glastonbury is a very typically British thing now.

It also would suggest the country itself has changed, for you to be such a part of the nation’s self-image?

Yeah, hopefully people are more open-minded. There’s something very British about the spirit people have here. They’ve had to cope with some really, really hard years – when it’s hard, it’s really hard. A lot of people just leave, and you’re left with these people who are just so committed and determined to have a good time, and that is amazing when you see it. That is very British. I’m not sure how well that would work in other parts of the world!

Do you visit other festivals looking for inspiration?

I do and I’m hoping this year to go to a few. I definitely want to go to Camp Bestival and Port Eliot and I’d really like to make it to Sziget in Budapest. I took 12 of my nieces and nephews to Reading a couple of years ago, that was serious Aunt duty, but it was great. But the truth is, I don’t usually get a chance to visit many, because by the time we’ve cleared up here, it’s September - and then you’re really enjoying the peace! The closest thing to what we have here, I think, is the Notting Hill Carnival. It’s slightly wild, but really diverse, and there are sounds and life and music coming from everywhere. We have that carnival flavour because we go all night and we camp within the fence and I don’t know how many festivals do that now. At Glastonbury we’re all enclosed together and that gives everything a very special energy.

What’s the secret in booking a headliner?

Well, the best ones are the bands that step up to the occasion a bit. When we put on the White Stripes everyone was a bit, like, “What? They’re headlining?” But it was brilliant, because they really filled the place.

Who’s on your radar right now?

Definitely M. Ward - and Bon Iver’s coming back. I really love what he does and he headlined The Park, so we’ll definitely try and get a slot for them. Every couple of months we do a playlist and put together the highlights of what we’ve been listening to. We use Spotify a lot. My husband Nick’s a good example, because he has to listen to so much! It's a great way to listen to new and old music. I was probably quite late to it, just because of the sort of person I am, but Nick was really, really early on it. So we just have this account for the house and people send us links to things and it’s great. I’m kind of quite selective about what I keep on my laptop, because I don’t want to get lost in it, but with Spotify, you can venture into territory that you wouldn’t necessarily venture in to, and discover music that is outside your own world.

Recently your father Michael was saying about how he’d love to book Adele for next year. How’s that developing?

Well, she played on the Park Stage at 10 in the morning a few years ago, so that’s not going to happen again! That was a really rainy year, but hopefully that’s not what put her off festivals. I think she’ll do what she wants to do, let’s face it! It would be great if she played, but obviously she'll make that decision. There aren't that many girls to be honest, so that's another job of ours, to keep the balance right.

Glastonbury’s arms are open?

Yes. It would be brilliant to see her go all the way to the Pyramid Stage. But who knows? It’s said she doesn’t like playing to large crowds, but if you can perform at the Grammys, she could do it!

Who has never played here that you’d love to book?

The obvious ones are Prince and The Stones, both of which would obviously be great. There was a lot of talk of Prince last year, but I don’t know if that will ever happen, to be honest. The same with the Stones, but it’s hard for us to accommodate people that are used to doing their own thing, but, you know, that was OK for Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney! We can make anything work, we just need the band to be up for it. And obviously we just pay a lot less, but we offer other things!

Last weekend the rumour mill went into overdrive about the Stones “bowing out” at next year’s event.

Getting the Stones to Glastonbury is something that we've always wanted to happen. There really is no more news yet, but surely it's got to happen soon? I like to think that they’d be up for it.

If they don’t do it next year, they’ll never do it.

That is so true. So they’ve got to do it. I mean, we can only offer our little measly envelope, but I’m sure they’re not bothered about that. We’d look after them.

Perhaps they could stay here in the house?

No! The only person that’s stayed at the house was David Bowie in 1971! It’s all changed so much since then, even since the 80s, which is when I first remember it. As a child it was Van Morrison and Elvis Costello and we didn’t really reach outside of that for quite a long time. I used to really love listening to Hothouse Flowers, for example, here in the sunshine, and that was, to me it was great. Shakespear’s Sister were a major turning point, because they came here and played this place that people still saw as scary and alternative.

Did people at school understand what happened here?

No! They knew we had these weird acts like Hawkwind, but suddenly there was Shakespear’s Sister, and that was really bizarre! I was about 10 or 11, and it was like this point where Stay was really big. People did wonder how we’d got this huge band to play at our weird thing that only their hippy parents had ever heard about. Happy Mondays was a big deal too as that was the first time that it was part of my scene. Lou Reed was really, really exciting for me too. And Blind Melon! I remember being desperate to try and get home, from school on the first Friday so I could bolt down to try and catch them. Blind Melon were the beginning for me.

What are your favourite playground rumours about Glastonbury from that time?

Ha! Well, the main one is Glastonbury was a sort of drug den and the further you went in, the harder the drugs got and eventually you got into Babylon, and that’s where you’d get anything you need. There was quite a lot of exaggeration in school!

From the outside it all looks really smooth, but there must have been very difficult years?

Yes! 2008, obviously, when we had Jay-Z. Because 2007 was really difficult. There were a lot of people who came because they wanted to be seen to be coming here, and they didn’t really want to be here. And they were clicking their fingers in front of the Pyramid stage saying, ‘So, where is the magic? This is crap, there’s no magic here, it’s raining, I can’t hear the bands!’

You had PA problems?

Yes, and some bands who we were really excited about playing, turned up to find it was really, really muddy, and they didn’t enjoy it. These were some of the most hyped bands of that year, and so for them to kind of say publicly, ‘This is awful, this is really bad’, combined with the fact that there were people standing at the Pyramid Stage going, ‘This is really crap,’ and it’s raining, and no one can’t hear the music, and all these things, suddenly it’s like a domino effect. We went from being really good to being really bad. And there was a lot of venom. When you give people a voice to be negative, they’re ready.

Did that effect the next year?

It did. We sold 80,000 tickets on the first day, but then we just couldn’t sell any more and that was really stressful. Michael lost quite a lot of weight, and he wasn’t sleeping, he was really worried about tickets, and we were going, ‘Please can you help us!’ to everyone we knew because we have to sell out in order to break even. And then we booked Jay-Z.

That was your decision?

It was, because I thought Jay-Z was brilliant and I felt like we couldn’t do another indie band. We had the Kings of Leon doing the Friday night, and I really just wanted something just a bit different for Saturday. So we booked Jay-Z.

And everyone thought Glastonbury had lost its mind!

Exactly. That was the final straw, people thought we were absolutely insane and they liked that idea because it meant we were finished.

And now he’s headlining the BBC’s Hackney Weekender.

Yes! It's amazing to see Jay Z playing events all over the country now without any controversy. It's testament to what a great performer he is and also what a great ambassador he is for hip-hop. Jay Z has shown that that music can cross over to many different audiences.

So there actually was a moment when you actually thought, “My god, I’ve killed the festival?”

Yeah. We really did think, maybe it is the last year. We’ve had a really good run, you know! And I knew that it wasn’t Jay-Z, because that had come right at the end of all this other stuff: it wasn’t just moaning bands either, but that had happened at quite a key time. It was a combination of things, and people were really pissed off – they were ready to be annoyed with Glastonbury.

And Noel Gallagher didn’t help…

Well, Noel obviously kind of stoked it up, but actually he really helped, because as soon as he spoke out on it that made it tribal. It was us and them. So when Jay-Z came on, it was absolutely amazing. The whole valley just united and it was like this was part of something new and everything felt fresh and exciting again.

Who has surprised you by asking for a tent?

To be honest, pretty much everyone’s had a tent, I think. There’s not many people who haven’t!

Even Beyoncé?

I think she and Jay-Z had a tent, yeah. I’m not sure: I can’t remember, because I’d just given birth. Maybe not a small dome tent though, more like one with four bedrooms!

What changes are you making for 2013?

There are some small changes going on now, but there are changes every year. Last year was Campo Pequeno and the futuristic tunnels - there will be lots more little things like that going on. A year off’s always a good time to review the situation, but we’ll have the Underground Piano Bar back too, that’s one of those things that everyone always looks for and no one can find!

Finally, what don’t people understand about Glastonbury?

Probably that just because we’re the biggest, and the most established, and we get most coverage that we’re not still the most vulnerable. Glastonbury is run by us – I’m not saying feel sorry for us, because we’re alright – but it’s a misconception that we’re the strongest. Everything that happens here is very emotional because this is our home, it’s not a hired place. This is somewhere with personal history and we really care about it. So if people say they’re having a terrible time, it really matters to us; you want to make it good and for people to be treated well. So security and policing is all at a minimum. When you scratch beneath the surface you see that all the elements that were here when it started are all still there. We’re always trying to make it better, keep it as unique as possible. There are so many events now, which is great, but it means we have to stay really special.

Emily's Spotify Playlists
- Memorable performances
- Current listening

Dig deep for Malawi with WaterAid

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 17:36:37 +0100

This summer, WaterAid (one of Glastonbury's worthy causes) is asking the UK public to back an exciting new appeal, The Big Dig, to help communities in Malawi get the basic necessities of clean, safe water and sanitation.

The funds raised will support WaterAid’s work in rural Malawi, where 20% of the population has no clean water, and 44% of people have nowhere safe to go to the toilet. All money donated by the public will be matched pound for pound by the UK Government from the aid budget, helping reach twice as many people. Overall, WaterAid hopes to raise £1.2m to transform more than 134,000 lives.

There’s also a unique opportunity to follow the journey of two communities – Bokola and Kaniche - on The Big Dig Blog. To find out more or make a donation go to www.thebigdig.org.

Missing Glastonbury? Watch the Guardian's live stream

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 11:53:36 +0100

If you have Glastonbury Festival withdrawal symptons this weekend, you can watch the Guardian's live stream of the site throughout the entire weekend, on the player above. (The camera is housed in the cow shed and facing out towards the Pyramid Stage.)

Site Snaps: Worthy Farm this week

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:57:30 +0100

In what would've been Festival week if it wasn't our fallow year, Jason Bryant headed down to Worthy Farm to take a whole bunch of great photographs.

2013 tickets on sale October 7th

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:22:47 +0100

Today is the Wednesday before the last full weekend in June, which means it would usually be the day when we opens the gates for another Glastonbury Festival. Of course, this being our fallow year, there is no Glastonbury in 2012. But now does seem like a good time to let you know that tickets for Glastonbury 2013 will go on sale at 9am Sunday, October 7th.

As part of our continued commitment to cut out ticket touting, anyone who would like to attend next year's Festival must have registered in advance of tickets going on sale.

Registration remains free of charge. If you're not already registered, then head over to www.glastonburyregistration.co.uk now to fill in your details and upload your picture (it only takes a few minutes). Remember, every person who would like a ticket will need to register individually.

If you have registered to buy tickets to the Festival before, you may well still be registered (you now only need to do it once). But we very much advise that you check your registration now by clicking here. If you can't find it, the best bet is to re-register - much better to get it all sorted not now than to discover your registration has expired on the day of the ticket sale.

You can also now edit the details of your existing registration (for example if you need to change your address) by clicking here.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILED 2013 TICKET INFORMATION (further information - including ticket prices - will be added in the coming months).

Thanks - and we'll hopefully see you down here on Worthy Farm when the gates open on the morning of Wednesday, June 26th 2013!

Photograph: The Pyramid Stage, 19 June 2012 by Jason Bryant

Watch "Glastonbury After Hours" on the iPlayer

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:22:16 +0100

If you missed Friday night's BBC4 showing of Glastonbury After Hours - Julien Temple's new film which explores the alternative side of Glastonbury Festival - then you have until this coming Friday to watch it on-demand on the BBC iPlayer.

'Glastonbury After Hours: Glastopia" film on BBC4 on June 15

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 12:02:33 +0100

"Up on the hill at Glastonbury Festival, another kind of experience takes place. Glastopia..."

'GLASTONBURY AFTER HOURS: GLASTOPIA', the long awaited new documentary from filmmaker Julien Temple, has its TV premiere next Friday - June 15 - on BBC4 at 10pm.

Filmed almost entirely on location at the 2011 Festival, Temple's 75-minute film is set amongst the Festival's outer fringes, in the fields known as Shangri-La, Arcadia, the Unfair Ground, Strummerville, Block 9 and the Common.

Here, like a futuristic graphic novel, the Festival reconnects with its radical, countercultural origins with a dark, urgent 21st century spontaneity.

"This is the heart of the Festival that hasn't been shown; the radical core that makes Glastonbury still so very different from all the other festivals in the world," says Julien Temple. "In the middle of the whole mad week, here are people talking about their politics, their ideas and the rest of their lives.

"Glastopia is giving voice to people who don't normally have a voice in the media; a radical and alternative voice, born out the whole Festival experience."

Says Festival founder Michael Eavis: “From the seemingly chaotic behaviour of the Eighties, these folk have now come up with the most creative mingling of messages and joy anywhere in the world.”

Julien Temple's 'Glastonbury' film, released in 2006, memorably covered Glastonbury's long and chequered history. The new documentary points the way towards the future.

GLASTONBURY AFTER HOURS: GLASTOPIA will be screened on BBC4 on Friday June 15 at 10pm. BBC4 coverage on the same evening will also include a welcome re-run of Radiohead's epic 1997 Pyramid gig, starting at midnight.

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This story originally appeared with a photograph taken by Paul Holmes

WSPA's Cow Dance video

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:28:33 +0100

Do watch this lovely film, made by the World Society for the Protection of Animals down at Worthy Farm on the day when the cows were let back out to their fields.

The cows are out...

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:53:28 +0100

The Worthy Farm cows came out of their sheds this week, just in time for the sunshine. Jason Bryant popped down to the farm to take these great photos.

Baaba Maal becomes Oxfamâ€™s newest Global Ambassador

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:22:23 +0100

Glastonbury veteran Baaba Maal has become Oxfam’s newest Global Ambassador. The Senegalise singer will be joining Oxfam’s other high profile Ambassadors to campaign, fundraise and generate publicity for Oxfam around the world.

And Baaba Maal wasted no time in speaking out with Oxfam on the food crisis which is affecting West and Central Africa. He said: ‘I am truly honoured to be taking up the role of Oxfam Global Ambassador having seen the work that Oxfam is doing in West and Central Africa to try to avert the crisis in the region. And I will continue to add my voice to their call for an urgent response to the food crisis in the region. Nobody should die from hunger in the 21st century.’

Eighteen million people are threatened by the food crisis in the Sahel region of West and Central Africa, 850,000 of whom live in Baaba Maal’s home country of Senegal.

Earlier this month Baaba Maal visited Matam in Northern Senegal with Oxfam where the effects of drought have hit hard. He said: ‘Three months ago I travelled to Mauritania with Oxfam and was shocked by how bad things were. But I have just returned from a neighboring region of Senegal and found that already things are so much worse. As well as the acute lack of food we saw children struggling to find water to drink. Everywhere is dry, wells have dried up and dead animals are littered everywhere.’

The food crisis which has been brought about by low rainfall, poor harvests, a lack of pasture and rising food prices, is only set to escalate. The UN estimates that already 6 million people are already living in severe food insecurity across the region, and that one million children are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.

Claire Lewis, Oxfam Global Ambassador Programme Manager said: ‘We are so fortunate to have Baaba Maal as an Oxfam Global Ambassador speaking out on this crisis. He is hugely respected as an artist, both in Africa and across the world, and we hope that his words will help to galvanise governments into action. Funds are urgently needed now to prevent the situation in West and Central Africa turning into a catastrophe.’

Click here to donate to the food crisis appeal

Strummer of Love festival

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:50:21 +0100

This August, a celebration of the life of one of Glastonbury Festival's biggest supporters, Joe Strummer, takes place in a secret location in Somerset.

The Strummer of Love festival (which is not organised by Glastonbury Festivals) promises to be a glorious one-off taking place between 17 and 19 August, marking the anniversary of what would have been Joe's 60th birthday, and also marking 10 years since his death.

Says Michael Eavis: "I got to know Joe in the last years of his life, and his support in our unpopular campaign to control the numbers here in 2002 was invaluable to me. It’s good to know that the spirit of Strummerville will still be alive in our part of the world, especially in our year off."

For full details of the 'Strummer of Love' check out strummerville.com.

Some photos from the farm

Thu, 17 May 2012 19:01:29 +0100

Photographer Jason Bryant was down at Worthy Farm last night and, as ever, he was kind enough to send us some terrific photographs which he took.

Glastonbury Abbey's Orchestra in a Field launches Rap Slam contest

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:51:08 +0100

Michael Eavis is not organising a Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza this year, but the Abbey is being used for another event, Orchestra in a Field, which runs on the weekend of 30 June - 1 July. Although this event has no official connection to Glastonbury Festival, we wanted to let you know about it, as it sounds like a cracking day out on the Festival's doorstep.

Orchestra in a Field is being organised by internationally renowned conductor, Charles Hazlewood, who says: "At Orchestra in a Field I want to prove that you can have exactly the same kind of visceral experience at an orchestral concert that you might at a rock festival. Music is the most universal language we humans have, and there are few things to beat a world-class symphony orchestra playing like their lives depended on it.”

The event will also feature a Rap Slam competition, in which UK youth will be encouraged to choose a famous classical piece and then create a rap to go over it. Three finalists will be shortlisted who will then perform in an X Factor-like competition in the Talk Tent at the Orchestra in a Field festival on 1 July. The judge’s panel (so far!) will be Professor Green, Benny Banks and top rap talent agent Billy Wood from the William Morris Endeavour talent agency.

The grand prize winner will perform his/her winning entry live onstage at Orchestra in a Field with an introduction by Charles Hazlewood and Professor Green (rumour has it that Professor Green might also perform with Charles Hazlewood and his full orchestra!!).

The winner will also perform the winning entry live onstage at Glastonbury Festival 2013 and will win a day in the recording studio of the Super Furry Animals in Cardiff, Wales with production supervision by SFA band member Cian Ciaran.

The Rap Slam competition launches today via Twitter (@rap_slam) and the OIF site www.orchestrainafield.com.

The Drystones at the Pilton Playgroup fundraiser

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:44:42 +0100

A few days ago, a fundraiser was held in Pilton (the home village of Glastonbury Festival) in aid of the Pilton Playgroup. Here's a video of The Drystones, a young duo from Priddy on the Mendips, who came down to perform. And here's a photo of them with Michael outside the village's restored Tithe Barn.

Another glorious Worthy Farm sunset

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:36:45 +0100

There was another lovely sunset down on Worthy Farm last night, and Jason Bryant was on hand to take this terrific pictures.

Awards for Worthy Farm herd

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:01:26 +0000

At the end of last week Michael and the team from the Worthy Farm dairy were presented with awards for Highest Herd Average and Highest Producing Heifer. As you can probably tell, Michael was very pleased.

(Picture Jason Bryant)

Oxfam's West Africa appeal

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:51:11 +0000

Oxfam is appealing for aid after low rainfall, poor harvests and high food prices are driving the Sahel region into a serious food crisis, likely to affect 13 million people.

"The situation is looking extremely worrying for millions of people in West Africa, but the worst is not yet inevitable. The crisis has been identified early, and we know that there are cost-effective measures that can be taken now to protect those most vulnerable. This time we can act before the emergency hits," said Mamadou Biteye, Oxfam Humanitarian Lead in West Africa.

If you would like to make a donation towards Oxfam's relief work, either give £5 by texting CRISIS to 70066 (UK only) or head to www.oxfam.org.uk/westafrica. Thank you.

Site Snaps: Monday night at the farm

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 10:34:45 +0000

Ace photographer Jason Bryant was down on the farm last night, where he took these amazing photos.

New Michael/Emily photo in Dreams for My Daughter exhibition

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:20:01 +0000

A brand new portrait of Michael and Emily Eavis, by photographer Joanna Vestey, is launched this week as part of an exhibition to celebrate International Women's Day (March 8).

The portrait is part of the ‘Dreams for My Daughter’ exhibition which will be on show at the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank from March 8 until March 12. Entrance is free.

Meanwhile Festival goers who visited the White Ribbon Alliance Tattoo Parlour in the Park can see this short film featuring Joanna Vestey's photographs from Tanzania (also featured in the exhibition), with a great soundtrack from East African hip hop star and MP Sugu (aka Mr 11).

Glastonbury wins Best Festival at NME Awards

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:50:06 +0000

Last night at Brixton Academy in London, Glastonbury was named Best Festival at this year's NME Awards. A heartfelt thanks to all of you who voted for us.

Collecting the award, Michael said, ""We must be doing something right, and it proves we've still got it. I'm really, really pleased and, if I'm honest, a little bit surprised as well. Now comes the big question: 'Can we top 2011 when we come back next year...?'"

Until then, the award will make a great teether for Emily's son George...

Gingerbread Glastonbury

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:17:33 +0000

This is fantastic!

Read how to make your own one here.

Glastonbury named International Festival Of The Year

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:30:30 +0000

We're proud to report that Glastonbury was named International Music Festival of the Year at the 23rd Annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards in Los Angeles last night. This is the seventh time that the Festival has won this prestigious award, and Michael Eavis was there at the ceremony to collect the prize.

Said Michael: "Twas so good to end the series on such a high. Then to win the Pollstar International award again in Los Angeles. I am over the moon - roll on 2013!"

Get together for International Women's Day

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:58:38 +0000

Oxfam, one of our charity partners, is encouraging women to get together with their friends on International Women's Day, Thursday 8th March, and make a positive difference to women around the world. Register as a get-together host with Oxfam, get fundraising and help women get the food, education, healthcare and security they need and get themselves out of poverty. To get started, head to oxfam.org.uk/womensday.

Merry Christmas

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:15:17 +0000

A very merry Christmas from all of us on Worthy Farm. Thank you for helping to make 2011 such a memorable year for the Festival. Have a great 2012, and we look forward to welcoming you back here in 2013.

(Photo: Jason Bryant)

Glastonbury on TV over Christmas

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:42:44 +0000

You can catch Glastonbury highlights on TV a couple of times over the coming festive break. First up, on 25 December, there will be a short package of highlights from the 2011 Festival on the Christmas Day Top Of The Pops on BBC1 at 2pm.

Then, late on New Year's Eve, after Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny will be followed by a two hour Best Of Glastonbury 2011 show, at 1.35am. Sounds like a good way to start the year...

Barnardo's given temporary use of Glastonbury office

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:11:05 +0000

As there will be no Glastonbury Festival in 2012, Michael Eavis has agreed to let Barnardo's South West have temporary use of the Festival's office in Glastonbury during the fallow year.

Michael Eavis says: "We are very pleased to be able to offer the Glastonbury Festival Office premises to Barnardos for the wonderful work they do in this country."

Heather Colbeck, South West Director (Children’s Services) Barnardo's says: “Barnardo’s is extremely grateful to Michael and his team, for helping us with a base here in the town of Glastonbury, from which we can effectively co-ordinate our work to support families across Somerset. By working together in this way, we can all achieve more and make a real difference to the lives of many children and young people.

"With the help of Glastonbury Festival Staff and other willing volunteers from the community, who were keen to help Barnardo’s, the ground floor of the Glastonbury Festival office has been transformed into a fresh new office for Barnardo’s Somerset Family Outreach Team. The team of paid staff and volunteers offer help, advice and support for families experiencing a wide variety of challenges and difficulties."

Here are some photos from Friday's ceremony to make the handing over of the keys.

Christmas shopping? Try Oxfam Unwrapped

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:18:34 +0000

Oxfam Unwrapped is a fantastic way of being good to yourself and others this Christmas. Unwrapped is the largest range of charity gifts on the market, and this year marks its eighth anniversary. Safe water is just one example of the amazing life-changing gifts on offer at Oxfam Unwrapped. Other gifts range from goats and farmyards to teachers and health workers and make a huge difference to supporting Oxfam’s programme work in communities living in poverty around the world. For more details, visit www.oxfamunwrapped.com.

The case study below, is one of our bestsellers and a reasonable price (£9).

SAFE WATER

Even before the 2010 earthquake, Haiti was a difficult place to live because of natural disasters through to political upheaval.

During one political emergency, residents of Conasa, a poor area of Cap Haitian had their municipal water supply cut off. It hit people hard. They had to walk further and pay much more for often contaminated, unsafe water.

Oxfam worked with community committees to identify the neighbourhoods where the needs were greatest. These households received a card entitling them to three buckets of water – 15 gallons – per day.

Servidieu Merilus says: "We use the water for cooking, washing and drinking. There are seven of us at home. Now we can afford to buy other things like oil, that we couldn't buy before. Water is our first priority. We buy water and then with what's left over we buy food. Having this water means we have more money left over to buy food. The family feels the difference that saving those 4 gourdes means. Now we can have breakfast, lunch and maybe even supper. This is part of the benefit of this water we are getting now. Until four weeks ago, before we started getting this water we would only eat once a day."

Video: Narasirato at Glastonbury

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:28:03 +0000

Check out this great film of Narasirato – a group of traditional Are’are musicians from the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific - at this year's Glastonbury...

Michael warns Festival-goers of risks of pre-booking off-site accommodation

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:47:55 +0000

Off-site camping facilities at Glastonbury have generally caused me problems, but even more so this year, 2011. One operator failed to deliver his site, having taken the money from unsuspecting purchasers, and left me with a £60,000 bill, as I couldn’t bear the thought of 3,000 people turning up here and being let down at the last minute. This wasn’t the first time people have been let down, and as a consequence of this we simply cannot allow the same problems to happen again in 2013, so we will no longer be giving out any information about these off-site accommodation providers and would encourage Festival-goers to use only the accommodation we provide.

The vast majority of Festival-goers happily spend their weekend under canvas, taking advantage of the camping fields which are included in the ticket price, and those who want a few more comforts can bring a campervan/caravan or stay in one of the Festival's legendary Tipis. Information about official accommodation for 2013 will be available on our website when tickets go on sale next year, or by contacting our office by email office@glastonburyfestivals.co.uk or phone 01749 890 470.

Glastonbury Festival is not responsible for the provision of off-site accommodation or any arrangements made with third parties such as accommodation providers, so we would urge people to think before parting with their money.

Michael Eavis
28 November 2011

Join the WaterAid Water Works campaign

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:54:53 +0000

There is a global water and sanitation crisis. It is responsible for more child deaths in Sub Saharan Africa than anything else. To put it in perspective, lack of safe water and sanitation kills more children than Aids/HIV, malaria and measles combined.

WaterAid has launched the Water Works campaign to urge governments across the world to do more. Water and sanitation are the most basic services that we need to survive, yet billions of people are living without. They are also one of the best investments we can make to help people out of poverty, as for every $1 invested, there is a return of $8 in increased productivity. Without safe water or somewhere to go to the toilet, health, education and livelihoods are massively undermined.

Help us get these messages to world leaders and show them that Water Works. We are certain that if we get enough public support, then we can get the people who make the plans, do the work and sign the cheques all in the same room, and really start to make progress. This would be a huge step forward. So do your bit - please watch the film, then go to www.waterworks.me, sign up and pass it on!

Thank you.

Wateraid

Tell us about your Glastonbury 2011

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:12:14 +0000

If you went to Glastonbury 2011, then we'd really like to hear your thoughts and experiences, to help us see what we should be working on during the Festival's year off. So, we've put together a survey, which you can complete by clicking here (it only takes a few minutes).

Thanks very much - we look forward to hearing your views.

2011 T-shirts now half price

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:37:40 +0000

All remaining Glastobury 2011 T-shirts in our Online Shop are now available at 50% - ie just £7.50 each. You can also get The Park hoody at half price, for £12.50. We're down to the last few of several sizes and styles (and quite a few have already completely sold out).

If you're buying as Christmas presents, the last posting dates are below:

Glastonbury wins Best Major Festival award

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 09:46:38 +0000

It was great to hear the news that Glastonbury has won Best Major Festival at the 2011 UK Festival Awards. Can we say a big thank you to everyone who voted for us and all who come and make it so special.

Thanks for the support.

Michael and Emily

Rainbow Warrior photos

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:12:16 +0000

Here are some of Jason Bryant's photos from yesterday's trip on Greenpeace's new Rainbow Warrior ship, which was partly paid for with donations from Glastonbury Festival. The ship is now docked on the Thames at West India Docks for a few days. For more information on the new ship, head over to her page on the Greenpeace site.

And if you missed it yesterday, here's our film from the trip...

A trip on the Rainbow Warrior

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:30:07 +0000

This morning in London, Michael and Emily Eavis took a trip on Greenpeace's new Rainbow Warrior ship, which was partly paid for with donations from Glastonbury Festival. The ship's mess has been dedicated to Michael Eavis (he didn't know about that until today).

The ship is currently docked on the Thames at Butler's Wharf in London - so if you're in the area you're welcome to go and have a look. She's there until Friday morning, when she'll be moving across to West India Docks for a few days. For more information on the new ship, head over to her page on the Greenpeace site.

Thanks to The Good, The Bad & The Queen for letting us use their Herculean track for the video.

Thanks from the Lost Property team

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:19:14 +0000

A massive thank you to all the very lovely people who handed in property at this year’s Festival. Every year an amazing amount of things are handed in and this year we were able to return at least:

51 bags and 23 rucksacks/suitcases and contents (including keys, cash, ID, cameras, phones, wallets etc);

as well as…

25 cameras
8 pairs of glasses
22 sets of keys
18 passports
55 phones / smartphones
330 wallets and contents (including amongst other things, cash, driving licences, bank cards)

and…

61 driving licences
43 ID/Rail cards of various types
20 miscellaneous items, including: 1 trumpet, 2 laptops, ear defenders and cuddly toys.

Over £3,800 was returned to Festival-goers (including £3333.47 in cheques written by Michael Eavis to cover amounts too large to post).

It’s great that so many folk are prepared to go out of their way to hand things in to ensure people’s valuables are returned to them. It makes a lot of people very happy indeed!

THANK YOU XXX

The Lost Property Team

Make some noise for the Gulper

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:44:13 +0100

The poo tankers are a familiar site at the Festival. A team of workers literally suck it out of the thousands of toilets on site, to keep everything as pleasant and hygienic as possible. In Africa, WaterAid (one of our charity partners) is using a similar idea to help keep the toilets clean in the growing city slums.

In Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s biggest city, only 10% is connected to the central sewage system, so latrines need to be emptied a different way…please make some noise for the Gulper…

U2's set on BBC1 on Sunday

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:53:50 +0100

On Sunday night at 10.25pm, BBC1 is showing U2: From The Sky Down, a feature-length documentary about the making of the band's Achtung Baby album.

Immediately afterwards, at 11.55pm, you'll be able to watch an hour of highlights from the band's 2011 headline set from Glastonbury.

Glastonbury app wins Digital Music Award

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 18:30:34 +0100

We're pleased to announce that the official Glastonbury 2011 mobile app, which was built by Orange, was the winner of the Best Music App at last night's Digital Music Awards in London. Congratulations to all involved. And thanks to the tens of thousands of you who downloaded and made good use of the app.

Pilton Party film

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:21:31 +0100

Earlier this month, the 2011 Pilton Party took place in the village. The event is held each year by the Glastonbury organisers to thank local residents for their help with the Festival. Funds raised from the Party are ploughed into local community projects.

This year's Pilton Party featured performances from Magnus Puto (who impressed Michael Eavis at a recent family wedding), ETC winners Treetop Flyers, Hot Rats and Plan B. Jason Bryant, was there to take these great pictures. The lights used were new "eco lights", using only a third of the diesel used to power the usual Festival lights.

Thanks to Mandy Briggs for making the film.

Park items added to Shop sale

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:26:26 +0100

We've just added some great 2011 merchandise from The Park area to our 1/3 off sale in the Glastonbury Shop - as with all the other items, T-shirts are down from £15 to £10 and hoodies are down from £25 to £16.50 (there are also kids' T-shirts available for £7.50, see bottom of page). Click the pics below to check them out or to purchase.

There are also some of the 2010 Park designs:

And here are the 2011 kids' official Glastonbury T-shirts, which are down from £11 to £7.50, and the kids' hoody, which is reduced from £16 to £10.60.

Emily: "We'll miss REM"

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:39:06 +0100

We'll miss REM. They've been such an important band to us and played some very special sets - particularly 1999.

Emily

1/3 off all items in our Shop

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:34:51 +0100

There's now 1/3 off all items in our online shop - with Official Glastonbury 2011 T-shirts down from £15 to £10 and hoodies reduced from £25 to £16.50. All T-shirts feature a line-up backprint. Click here to head to ths shop now. Or click on the items below.

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT MENS BLACK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS BLACK TANK TOP ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS BLACK V-NECK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 WHITE PRINT WOMENS BLACK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS BLUE T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT MENS CHESTNUT T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS CHESTNUT T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT MENS INDIGO T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS BLUE T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT MENS CHESTNUT T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS CHESTNUT T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT MENS INDIGO T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT YOUTH INDIGO T-SHIRT ~~£ 11.00~~, £ 7.50

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS PINK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 OFFICIAL PRINT WOMENS PINK TANK TOP ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO KIDS RED T-SHIRT
~~£ 11.00~~, £ 7.50

2011 VOODOO MENS RED T-SHIRT
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO WOMENS RED T-SHIRT
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO WOMENS RED TANK TOP
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO WOMENS RED V-NECK T-SHIRT
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO MENS WHITE T-SHIRT
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO WOMENS WHITE T-SHIRT
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 VOODOO WOMENS WHITE V-NECK T-SHIRT
~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 MENS CHARCOAL PULLOVER HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 MENS CHARCOAL ZIP-UP HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 WOMENS CHARCOAL PULLOVER HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 WOMENS CHARCOAL ZIP-UP HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 KIDS MAROON PULLOVER HOODY ~~£ 16.00~~, £ 10.60

2011 MENS MAROON PULLOVER HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 MENS MAROON ZIP-UP HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 WOMENS MAROON PULLOVER HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 WOMENS MAROON ZIP-UP HOODY ~~£ 25.00~~, £ 16.50

2011 CROWN MENS WHITE T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS WHITE T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS WHITE TANK TOP ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN KIDS RED T-SHIRT ~~£ 11.00~~, £ 7.50

2011 CROWN MENS CHERRY RED T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS RED TANK TOP ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN LADIES RED V-NECK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS RED T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN MENS CHESTNUT T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS CHESTNUT T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS PINK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS PINK V-NECK T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

2011 CROWN WOMENS LIGHT BLUE T-SHIRT ~~£ 15.00~~, £ 10.00

Pilton Party 2011 pictures

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:28:56 +0100

On Friday night, the 2011 Pilton Party took place in the village. The event is held each year by the Glastonbury organisers to thank local residents for their help with the Festival. Funds raised from the Party are ploughed into local community projects - including the running costs of the Pilton Parish Hall, the Pilton Working Men's Club and Pilton Playing Fields Association.

This year's Pilton Party featured performances from Magnus Puto (who impressed Michael Eavis at a recent family wedding), ETC winners Treetop Flyers, Hot Rats and Plan B. Jason Bryant, was there to take these great pictures...

How Oxfam is spending its East Africa donations

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:55:36 +0100

Some 12 million people across northern Kenya, southern Ethiopia and south central Somalia are in the grip of a major food crisis. They are in desperate need of food, water and health care.

Thanks to the generous support of the public, tax payers and organisations, Oxfam is helping 1.5 million people and plans to double this effort.

This report from the BBC's Mike Wooldridge shows how some of the money Oxfam has received is being spent

All this work would not be possible without the support of the public.

The more money Oxfam can raise the more people it will be able to reach. This crisis is the largest appeal it has ever launched in Africa. It needs £60m ($99m) to help 3 million people and so far it is facing a shortfall of £14m ($23m).

Click here if you'd like to donate to the East Africa appeal. And a huge thank you to all of you who already have.

Bridgwater Oxfam reopening film

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:43:12 +0100

Check out this great film from the recent reopening of the Bridgwater Oxfam shop.

Fim by Richard Ridout. Music 'Strange Things Are Happening' by House of Commoners (who made the 2011 Emerging Talent Competition Longlist).

Photos from the Bridgwater Oxfam reopening

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:10:59 +0100

The Oxfam shop on Eastover in Bridgwater, Somerset was on the brink of closure but, with Michael Eavis's help, it has been given a new lease of life and an extensive refit.

On Saturday Michael cut the ribbon on the new store with the help of the Bootleg Beatles, who played a set alongside local bands Snakes and Sods Law and Bridgwater funny-man Callum Cook, before the afternoon closed with a set by DJ Krausey.

The sun came out and so did the Beatles' fur jackets; smiles everywhere with the help of a mountain of bunting and a 25kw sound-system. The shop also took a record amount, despite a half-price offer on all items of clothing.'

Here are some photos from the day, courtesy of Jeff Searle and Laurie's Furniture shop.

Abbey Extravaganze: Day two photos

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:08:58 +0100

Here are Jason Bryant's photos from day two of the 2011 Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza. The weather wasn't great, but the crowd were troopers and the performances from Katherine Jenkins and the National Symphony Orchestra were terrific.

Abbey Extravaganze: Day one photos

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:15:03 +0100

Check out Jason Bryant's pictures from a terrific first day of the 2011 Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza, which featured Status Quo and the Bootleg Beatles. Don't forget that you can turn up and pay on the gate for today's classical show, featuring Katherine Jenkins and the National Symphony Orchestra. Head to glastonburyextravaganza.com for more info.

Glastonbury highlights playlist

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 10:00:20 +0100

Check out the player below to watch one song each by 39 of the best acts at this year's Glastonbury Festival, as filmed by the BBC. Click the black bar at the bottom of the player to scroll through the songs on offer, or just press play and watch the lot.

Also, if you're in the UK you can watch an hour of highlights of U2's set on BBC4 tonight (Friday) at 21.00 and 00.30. Plus, you can see Elbow's set at 22.00 and 01.30.

The cows are back outside...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:49:43 +0100

We're pleased to report that the Worthy Farm herd is back in the fields. We'd like to say a HUGE thanks to the litter pickers who did such an amazing job of tudying up the farm this year.

Jason Bryant was kind enough to take some photos of the cows as they headed back outside, from their giant shed (aka the mootel)...

Jason also sent us a series of three pictures taken in the same spot during the Festival, immediately afterwards and once the place had been tidied up. Check out an animation of that below...

Carl Cox vs Fatboy Slim video

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 13:51:00 +0100

Fatboy Slim and Carl Cox played back-to-back on East Dance on Friday night at Glastonbury 2011, billed as Fatboy Slim vs Carl Cox. But this great video, shot in the Dance Village, shows the real battle between the two superstar DJs at the Festival....

BBC4 show Coldplay and Mumfords highlights on Friday

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:16:46 +0100

If you tune into BBC4 tomorrow night (Friday 29th), you'll be able to watch an hour of highlights from the Glastonbury 2011 sets by both Coldplay and Mumford & Sons. Timings are as follows:

21:50 - Coldplay
22:50 - Mumford & Sons

Both should be available on the iPlayer for seven days afterwards too.

Order Extravaganza tickets this week to get delivery

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:02:30 +0100

A reminder that if you order your tickets for this year's Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza after this Friday (29th July) you must either collect your tickets from the Glastonbury Festival Office or Glastonbury Abbey Shop (up until and before 5pm on the day of your concert) or collect them at the gate on the night.

So order your tickets this week to have them delivered to your door. Call 01458 834596 or visit www.glastonburyextravaganza.coâ€.uk.

The 2011 Green Traders Awards winners are...

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:58:22 +0100

This year was the sixth year of the Festival’s Green Traders Awards, given by Glastonbury, Greenpeace, The Soil Association, The Fairtrade Foundation and Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) to the traders who did the most to help make the Festival greener, fairer and more sustainable.

Once again this year a team of Greenpeace volunteers trekked across the festival site interviewing traders, quizzing them about everything from: how they arrived on site, what their stall was made of; how much of their stock was Fairtrade, organic or recycled, and any other ethical criteria they proactively used to reduce their impact on the environment.

2011 winners and runners-up

The winner of this year’s Gold Award for food went to last year’s runner-up No Bones Jones, who do vegetarian and vegan food. They commented, “It’s a pleasure to be here, just to be part of this fantastic event. We’ve worked on this for twelve months and it’s really inspired us to make changes even at home.”

The Silver Award for food went to The Chai Shop who commented “Thanks, we’ve done it! It’s very nice to be acknowledged for what we’re doing, we’ve been doing it for ages. It’s also great that Glastonbury recognizes people who put in the effort to be green.”

Withintent were the lucky winners of the Gold Award for non-food, for having an incredible concept for reusing old tents. They said, " It’s just been brilliant. It’s been a wonderful experience. I came up with the idea at Glastonbury two years ago to do something with the mess. We love being here – more and more people are buying our stuff – that’s what Glastonbury is all about – style with a conscience.”

Silver Award for non-food went to Global Lanterns, who offer ethical lanterns “Speechless. Nicely shocked. We’re delighted and surprised. We do our best to do things ethically and support reducing our carbon footprint. Thank you very much for choosing us.”

Manic Organic picked up the Soil Association Award for their efforts using organic produce “It’s great obviously to be recognized. It’s many years we’ve been doing this. We’re passionate about our food, consistency and people keep coming back time and time again.”

The Fairtrade Award went to Love Zimbabwe. “To me fair trade is life. It’s the whole life of my people. It’s helping the people of Zimbabwe. I’m really excited, I just can’t believe it.”

The NCASS Award went to Not The Hot Dog Stall for their efforts to reduce their energy consumption. “We’re really really pleased, excited and proud to have won it. Very happy, we’ve been focusing on low energy for a while now, 3 or 4 years, so it’s nice to receive the award this year. We look forward to winning it again next time.”

And the final award was given to Veggies Catering Co who received the Greenpeace Award. “For many years we’ve been trying to encourage all Glastonbury traders to be as green as we aim to be.”

Glastonbury Daze short film

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:06:44 +0100

Check out this terrific short film, made by David Pardoe, a Southampton Solent University student who was part of Solent's team working at Glastonbury 2011.

Another record! Thank you for supporting Oxfam at the Festival

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:09:12 +0100

Great news from our third major charity partner, Oxfam, who declared 2011 their best Glastonbury Festival ever. Says Sarah Farquhar, Oxfam's Head of Retail: "The three Oxfam shops on the Worthy Farm site took nearly £60,000 over the weekend. An absolute record and due I'm sure to the extra publicity you generated for us after the terrible Wastesaver clothing warehouse fire.

"This will be added to this year's much-needed Glastonbury Festival charitable donation which has now been received. Oxfam is currently looking for support for the East African Drought Appeal. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis in Africa for a generation and Oxfam is working with other charities and agencies to make sure support reaches the areas that need it most."

For more information on the East African Drought appeal, head to oxfam.org.uk.

Meanwhile Oxfam's UK fundraising continues. Michael Eavis will be in Bridgwater, Somerset on Saturday August 6 for a very special free concert in the town centre - starring the Bootleg Beatles - to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Bridgwater Oxfam shop after an extensive refit. See the Bootlegs, plus a host of local bands and entertainers, on a fun day out starting at midday. Michael Eavis led the local campaign to keep the Oxfam shop open.

We are also pleased to report that some 2011 Glastonbury Festival goers have made donations towards the new Bridgwater Oxfam Shop. Thank you! Your support is very much appreciated.

Oxfam's East Africa appeal

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:08:53 +0100

Oxfam are appealing for aid after a severe drought has left more than 10 million people across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya desperate for food.

"This is the worst food crisis of the 21st Century and we are seriously concerned that large numbers of lives could soon be lost. People have already lost virtually everything and the crisis is only going to get worse over the coming months - we need funds to help us reach people with life-saving food and water," said Jane Cocking, Oxfam's Humanitarian Director.

If you would like to make a donation towards Oxfam's relief work, please click here.

Greenpeace: 40 Years of Making Waves

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:04:30 +0100

Well that was the year that was. Like most of you who came this year we're cleaning up and the T-shirts have been printed for our heroic crew bearing the slogan 'Mud, Sweat and Tears.'

We hope you visted the Greenpeace Field this year, we think it rocked. Our straw bale Cowshed recording studios got down some superb tracks including visits from Stornaway, Billy Bragg, the Noisettes. Even Michael popped in to sing Happy Birthday for us.

We also recorded a new song 'You Can't Kill A Rainbow' featuring Jah Wobble ready for the launch of our new Rainbow Warrior flagship coming to London in November.

If you took a hot shower in our field you would have seen what makes her the most environmental vessel afloat. The farmers market, a first for Glastonbury, encouraged us to expand it next time around as it was local, tasty and different.A record number of new supporters joine Greenpeace so thank you Michael for having us and thanks to all of you who visited. We hope it was a memorable experience.

Here's to 2013.

Greenpeace

Countdown to the 2011 Glastonbury Extravaganza begins

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 13:33:39 +0100

We're now only a few weeks away from this year's Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza. The weekend kicks off on Saturday August 6th with a show featuring Status Quo and the Bootleg Beatles. The following day, Sunday August 7th, Katherine Jenkins, Wynne Evans and the National Symphony Orchestra will perform.

Tickets for each day are priced at £32.50 for Adults and £17.50 for Children (6-16). You can buy them online at glastonburyextravaganza.co.uk; by telephone on 01458 834596 during office hours; or in person by calling at the Glastonbury Festival Office in Northload Street, Glastonbury (during the working week) or The Glastonbury Abbey Shop in Magdalene Street, (open seven days a week).

For further information head to glastonburyextravaganza.co.uk.

WaterAidâ€™s thanks to Glastonbury goers

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 14:31:25 +0100

Almost 20,000 of you signed our LooQueue petition to encourage the UK Government to reach even more of the world’s poorest people to safe water and sanitation. All these signatures have now been handed directly to the International Development Secretary. Power to the people!

“Glastonbury is one of the best places for campaigning,” said Rhian Lewis, WaterAid UK campaigns manager, “People are engaged, interested and they know that by adding support to campaigns like ours, they are helping to change things for the better.”

The Lauren Laverne, Eliza Doolittle and Emmy the Great-designed temporary tattoos went down an absolute storm at the Festival. Around 10,000 Festival goers inked themselves up to show support for WaterAid and raise awareness of global water issues. We also had the great pleasure of a WaterAid blog written by Emmy the Great, a John Peel stage shout out by Raghu Dixit and meeting up with Paul Sartin from Bellowhead. Thank you Glastonbury!

For more information on why and how WaterAid works please visit: www.wateraid.org.

Roll on Glastonbury 2013!

WaterAid

Amazing aerial photos of Glastonbury 2011

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:03:33 +0100

Between 5pm and 5.30pm on the Sunday at this year's Festival (June 26th), Blom UK took some incredible, ultra-high resolution aerial images of the Festival. Check out some examples below - and head to Bluesky International's website to see more and to download the full-size image (BlomUK and Bluesky International Ltd. will support WaterAid by donating 5% from the sale of this download.)

Other Stage

Camp site

Astrolabe

All images copyright MetroHD BlomASA2011 - Supplied by Bluesky International Limited

Arcadia Spectacular video

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:37:36 +0100

If you made it along to this year's Arcadia Spectacular, then see if you can spot yourself in the video above (we're particularly impressed by the policeman). And if you didn't, then check out what you missed.

We'd love to see your pictures

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 12:20:27 +0100

We'd love to see your best pictures from Glastonbury 2011. You can upload them by clicking here - and please make sure you tag them with all the relevant tags.

We'd particularly love to see your "Secret Glastonbury" pics - of things that most other Festival-goers won't have seen.

Thanks folks.

T-shirts on sale in our online shop

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:36:14 +0100

If you missed out on buying a Glastonbury 2011 T-shirt, then you may be pleased to hear that you can still purchase them from our online shop.

The designs include Stanley Donwood's latest design, which is shown above left. You can also buy a limited edition print of Stanley's design.

Also available is the blue crown design (shown above right) which was selected by Michael Eavis as the winner of our 2011 T-shirt Contest. The design is by Eleanor Allen, whose prize included tickets to this year's Festival.

Click here to visit the online shop now (NB: T-shirts will start shipping on July 8th).