Glastonbury Festival
Held over three days on the last weekend in June, the annual Glastonbury Festival has taken place on the Worthy Farm in England since 1970.
Fast Facts
- Also known as: "Glastonbury" or "Glasto"
- Tickets: £155 weekend ticket + £5 booking fee + £4 S&H1
- Dates: Last weekend of June (three days)
- Location: Pilton, England (Worthy Farm)
- Inaugural year: 1970
- Organizers: Michael Eavis, Glastonbury Festivals Ltd and Festival Republic
- Original name: Pilton Festival
- Charitable causes: Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid
History
The festival was organized by farmer Michael Eavis in 1970 after he was inspired by an open-air Led Zeppelin concert. The headliner at the first festival, then called "The Pilton Festival," was T. Rex.2
The festival became a large-scale annual event in the 1980s.2 The 1994 festival was the first to be televised, with Channel 4 broadcasting most of the performers on the two main stages.2 In 1996, Glastonbury the Movie, a documentary of the 1993 and 1994 events, was released.3
Attendance broke 100,000 for the first time in 1998, when the headliners were Pulp, Robbie Williams and Blur.2
2008 Headliners
The headliners for the 2008 festival were Kings of Leon, The Verve and rapper Jay-Z. Other notable main-stage performers included The Gossip, Kate Nash, The Raconteurs, James Blunt, Leonard Cohen and John Mayer.
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