Noel Gallagher was right, Glastonbury is better than New Year

The cold, the mud and all the people, so many people… What’s not to love about Glastonbury?

It’s a name synonymous with mud, music and merriment, the venerable forebear of the modern music festival. Glastonbury, held in late June in the UK’s Somerset, is the inspiration for pretty much every outdoor music experience in the world, from Coachella to our own Splendour in the Grass. “Glasto” is a rite of passage for British music fans and a popular stop on the music tourism calendar.

It all began in 1970 when festival mastermind Michael Eavis, inspired by a Blues festival at the Bath & West Showground, decided to put on his own event at the family-owned Worthy Farm and sold £1 tickets. The first headliner? T-Rex. Since then, being the headline act at Glastonbury is a hotly contested spot, with the likes of Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Beyoncé, Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton making appearances. This year, confirmed headliners include Arctic Monkeys, Elton John, Guns N’ Roses and Lizzo. Yusuf/Cat Stevens will play the Sunday teatime Legend’s Slot and other acts include Blondie, The Chicks, Fatboy Slim and Lana Del Rey.

Glastonbury has a longstanding commitment to keeping the event environmentally friendly. Glasto pioneered providing campsites and pre-built camp accommodation to ticket holders. Being the UK, though, the festival can also be wet and muddy and you need to dress accordingly. In 2005 pictures emerged of supermodel Kate Moss coolly striding across the backstage in muddy gumboots and immediately the once-mundane footwear became a must-have festival fashion item the world over.

“Glasto” is a rite of passage for British music fans and a popular stop on the music tourism calendar. Picture: iStock.

If you’re planning to go to Glastonbury, you need to know some important things. Tickets, which go on sale in November, sell out quickly, are non-transferable and can’t be resold outside the yearly April resale of cancelled tickets, which happens after the line-up is revealed.

All tickets include access to the communal campsites, the most cost-effective way to experience the festival. Tent hire is available online but costly. A better idea is to buy a basic tent (a good-quality, two-person tent is under £100) and donate it after the festival to a group like ActionAid on site who give them to the homeless.

Pre-pitched, on-site accommodation can be booked in two campsites (Worthy View and Sticklinch) but this year the sites sold out in 40 minutes. There are nearby glamping sites that offer shuttles including Tinkerbell Tents and Glastonbury Retreat plus hotels and motels in nearby cities such as Bath and Bristol, with shuttles.

If you’re planning for 2024, visit Glasto Fest Feed for in-depth information. It’s worth the effort. I once saw Oasis play there in their prime and agree with Noel Gallagher when he said, “It shits all over New Year and it’s way more important than Christmas.”

Originally published as Noel Gallagher was right, Glastonbury is better than New Year