What does Glastonbury mean/do to you?

[Larraht]

Love this thread! There is so much that it means to me but the best bits are:

- Being able to take those who are new to the festival and them being like 'ahhh, I get it now' and becoming as obsessed as you.

- The way that once you get in the queue everyone just gets overtaken with waves of kindness and loveliness....One year some guy came and handed out a big tray of doughnuts to everyone around us early doors and another hot year someone prepared loads of iced water and handed them out to everyone...and the feeling carries on until Monday morning. This will be my 5th year and I've never seen a fight. Pretty remarkable for somewhere with so many people and so much alcohol.

- Stumbling on amazing, unique experiences. Theatre and circus is a great place for this as are smaller stages - particualrly on Thursday. 

Honestly, after a fallow year and failing at getting tickets last year...I can not wait!

[SecretFish]

Family. 
 

done. 

[Cooter]

What it means to me is I think somewhere near the same that it meant to Michael Eavis when he walked into the Bath blues festival back in 1970. People enjoying life, free to express their emotions, feelings and opinions with no confrontation and of course the music. That's what Glastonburyi meant to me 30 years ago and still does now.

Thanks Michael and Jean x

[Pipine]

Having had a few years break from the festival to start a family I went back last year and it hit me so hard how much it means to me.   It's every bit as exciting and amazing as it was when I started going 23 years ago... It's been such a constant in my life,  always the thing I've looked forward to the most, even though my life has changed so much over that time once I step through the gates I get to do the best few days of my life over again, only with more amazing stuff added alongside the familiar amazing stuff.

You can just feel the love that goes into the festival, the love that we all have for it, the excitement of everyone on site when you sit up on the hill and look down on the twinkling lights and hear so many parties happening all at once.  It's just amazing.

[grumpyhack]

3 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Glastonbury = Life.

Glastonbury = a chance to step back and look at your life, perhaps as it could be, should be or might be.

I know so many people for whom Glastonbury has been a life-changing experience.  They've gone home reflecting on what they want to do differently with their lives and often succeeded in putting it into practice.

[Avalon_Fields]

The thrill of seeing the festival site from afar for the first time in 2003 has never left me. I enjoy being a little bit different than I am in normal life, and because of the festival I met some of my closest friends I’ve known in my life. With these fantastic people we got together through the old message boards in 2005 and met for the first time on Big Ground. We’re still together! 

so, all in all, it’s almost too important for me. Not just me, my son said he had the best day of his life at Glastonbury (He didn’t divulge the reasons). 
 

[Stokesy10]

Isn't it strange how us as humans can share a similar feeling, reaction and emotion... from a field and an event which somebody created back in the 70s.

"It's just a festival".

Not though, is it?

[ManchesterGlasto]

I’ve sat trying to type into this thread for ages - I’m not even sure I can put it into words. Glastonbury means the world to me. My parents first took me in 1982. I have no memories but one very special photo. As a child I went numerous times. Fast forward to 1998 and I start uni and there I meet a girl who comes from Pilton. It was magical - she got my buzz about the place. By this point my parents had got divorced and Glasto seemed to fall off their radar. 1999/2000 saw me jump the fence with new mates and that buzz was back again! A sense of euphoria. Mixed with feeling at ease, content and as cliche as it sounds at peace with myself. The festival in many ways feels very different to the late 90’s early 00’s but oh boy let me tell you there is just no feeling like having that wristband put on and bouncing through the gates. I’m like a kid on Christmas Day!!! 

[MetaKate]

I dont really change anymore, but I definitely changed the first time, maybe even the second time, but the third time I went in ready. 

I went for the first time in 2016... so excited but not sure what to expect. I went in thinking I would bring my funky clothes and let my freak flag fly. I quickly realized that my freak flag was tied to so many mental weights that I didnt even realize were there. The first festival and the festivals since, I see all you people, living life to the fullest, and it's crazy how much my life outlook has changed. I am so comfortable and unapologetic with who I am as a person now, and it has lead to good things in my life. 

I think the festival will continue to change me, but I think now I'm flying that flag and letting people in my every day life know that it's okay to fly theirs! 

I know my relationship with this festival is probably a bit unhealthy, but it genuinely means so much to me. I know one year I'll miss out on tickets and I like to think I'll get over it, but the likely scenario will involve buying one of the Amazon package drop drones and dropping off a human sized "package" to the site.

[lukethekid]

My one and only visit to Worthy Farm was back in 2011, I had attended different festivals since the early 00’s but never made the leap in to the unknown of Worthy Farm, (why I don’t exactly know). We attended the festival and came home different people, more conscious of life I suppose, knowing that there is a place that has the key to open all of your inner sanctum. 2012 was then a fallow year, we tried but failed for tickets in 2013 although I can’t remember exactly how many people actually did try. 2014 was the same again but by this time it had been 3 years since our one and only Glastonbury adventure and I think people just forgot about it in one way or another. Then also in 2014 I fell in love with the woman of my dreams and we are engaged to be married. She had never and still has never attended a festival before and has lived quite an introverted life, suffering with self consciousness right throughout her 20’s and 30’s. Over the past 5 years we have travelled to different places across Europe and America, seeing so many different things and then every year my Glastonbury jealousy of all those people on the farm over the last weekend June comes out as we both watch it on the BBC. She has always said it looks a lot of fun but could never see herself there. Then in June this year I finally popped the question, would you attend Glastonbury with me? She said yes. I can’t wait to share our experiences together, I can’t wait for her to realise that this isn’t about muddy fields and greasy hair, I can’t wait to see her face after she turns around at the top of the hill. I can’t wait for next June.

[Pinhead]

12 hours ago, grumpyhack said:

Glastonbury = a chance to step back and look at your life, perhaps as it could be, should be or might be.

Or wanted it to be...

[One Tonne Baby]

I guess i echo most people when they say its just a release from the every day grind.

Funnily enough, it's the years i dont go that really bring that home. This year i didnt get tickets and whilst I was a bit upset, i wasn't too gutted. Fast forward to the Wednesday the festival started and seeing people getting on trains in London to Glasto, whilst I went to the office, was a really stark reminder of what those 5 days mean.

I think it's that indescribabe magic which I haven't experienced literally anywhere else. Anywhere you go today, there's arseholes.  When people are drinking and on drugs, it's even worse. Somehow I've been to Glasto 5 times and never seen one fight, or even anyone kicking off. I know it does happen, but it amazes me that when someone is stumbling past and falls into someone else, 99% of the time, they shrug it off and let it go. Everyones there for a good time and as soon as you enter the gates, that feeling takes you over.

Personally, in recent years, I like using it for some reflection time, away from the daily whirlwind of life. I like to think about where my life was in 2010 when i first went, and where it is now. Where i was the last time i was there, and where i am now and also where i will be the next time I am there.

[C14S]

Its a childhood dream. This year is my first Glasto at the age of 18,  having missed out the last two years got lucky this time round.

I cannot wait.