Glastonbury Events, Things to Do and Festivals

(Glastonbury, Somerset, England, UK)

Currently one of the world's biggest musical events, the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts actually takes place some 9 km / 6 miles to the east of the town, at Worth Farm, next to both the villages of Pylle and Pilton. Now known as simply 'Glasto' or 'Glastonbury', this epic music event was first staged in 1970, when it went by the name of the Pilton Festival, and is staged most years at the end of June / beginning of July.

The Glastonbury Festival now draws crowds of some 200,000 people and features all manner of things to do, with highlights including comedy gigs, theatrical events, circus acts, and of course, headliner acts singing on the well-known Pyramid Stage. Over the years, many big-name artists and groups have performed here, such as David Bowie, Blur, Coldplay, the Manic Street Preachers, Oasis, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, REM, Robbie Williams, Rod Stewart, Shirley Bassey and even Rolf Harris, amongst others.

Glastonbury Calendar of Festivals and Events 2014 / 2015: General Information

Although Glastonbury Festival is always very much a crowd pleaser, it has been dogged in the past on a number of occasions by heavy rainfall, turning the fields into something resembling mud plains and swamps. However, despite this inclement weather, festival-goers rarely have their spirits dampened, and many years have seen sunshine and blue skies.

Although the Glastonbury Festival does always quite literally take centre stage in the town's calendar of events, there are always other seasonal activities and attractions to enjoy. Every five years, Glasto takes a break, and other, considerably smaller local musical events often take place around the Somerset area.