Festival review by : Anne Davis

If when I die I find myself in the green fields, in Glastonbury Festival, on a sunny day, surrounded by friends and family, I will have arrived in my idea of Heaven.

Yes I know that Glastonbury Festival can mean nicked stuff and bad trips to some people but all roses have thorns. And so -as they say- do not be sad that the rose has thorns but be happy that the thorns have roses.

I myself have had my sleeping bags nicked in the past, suffered bad bouts of Glastonbury bottom and when its rained been forced to camp in swamps...but every year I have always had such wonderful experiences at the festival that the few bad ones have paled into insignificance.

This does not mean that I do not sympathise with those of you who lost tents and money or had a nasty accident . I know how devastating that can be and sometimes it can leave you feeling so unhappy that it sours the festival experience. But there are few places on earth where such a diverse range of people can find their personal piece of paradise. For some people that may have been hearing David Bowie on the Sunday night - I certainly was moved to tears during his performance - tears of joy I hasten to add. For others they may have experienced a perfect moment or day in the theatre fields surrounded by the weird and wonderful performers.

This year I worked as an Oxfam volunteer so experienced Glastonbury both as a punter and a worker. And I would be lying if I said all these experiences were perfect. But 95% of the people I met were full of good festival
spirit. As for the 5% with more dubious motives - well unfortunately you have to accept that there will always be people like that and try not to let them spoil your festival.

Finally I would like to thank Michael Eavis for a wonderful festival and hope he feels up to organising Glastonbury 2001. It will be an extremely sad day if there ever comes a time when the Glastonbury festival becomes part of history. So many people, like me, look forward to it so much that for us it would be like telling a child that there is going to be no more festivals.

Take care.

PS. If you did have a bad time this year please don't be put off coming again because it really can be one of the best places on earth.

review submitted by
Anne Davis