The client and I worked exceptionally well together, when he first came to my home office for his SEO consultation/training, he bought along his laptop and none of his passwords. His developer had loads of passwords that he didn’t think he’d need. Also, one website looked like it was from CompuServe days, built in basic HTML, square, and only 1/3 width of the screen. It was majestic.
Canvas dreams from weddings to an iconic festival – plus horses!
Glastonbury Glamping company, The Retreat, was founded by Barny Lee, a veteran of outdoor event accommodation. It was an easy pivot from marquee hire, to The Retreat, with luxury tents and yurts at Glastonbury for the annual festival. Following this, his love for the equestrian life blended with his business model, he approached Bandminton Horse Trials with his services, and became an approved supplier in 2019.
We had worked together sporadically, this was due to his lack of digital marketing budget for SEO he claimed. Yes when the time came to launch Glastonbury Glamping for the first time in 2017, a magic 4 figures for Google Ads appeared.
My responsibilities chiefly lay in pulling things from out of my arse, with little to zero direction, which actually is a niche skill of mine. I am really confident about yelling at clients to give me what I need. I tell them I’m downing tools until they send me the tools to do my job. “Just do what you can” is something I totally refuse to do.
Barny and I stopped working together after I ranked the Retreat to Google’s front page for “Glastonbury Glamping” with on-page SEO and around 8 backlinks. The trick to success that none of the competition was using was YouTube Video SEO.
5,000 SEO words of content, research and British history – before LLMs and ChatGPT
I had a career-record article on Glastonbury published, which took me 6 hours to write and edit for SEO. It’s 5405 long, and it’s still live today: Press Release: January 04, 2019
History of Glastonbury Festival 1970 – 2019 Dairy Farm to Dance Event
Michael Eavis was training for the merchant navy and was only 19 years old when his father sadly died of cancer. As the oldest sibling he came back to run the farm where he was born and raised. Keen to make the farm work, he helped fund the farm by working a day shift in the coal mine earning £25 a week. Keen also on pop music from an early age he looked for new and exciting ways to help the farm prosper.
Glastonbury Festival 2019 compared to 1970’s
The Glastonbury Festival idea came from inspiration while watching bands like Led Zeppelin at the Bath Blues Festival, an open-air concert at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet. Glastonbury Festival has grown and grown but it still brings to life the free spirit of a special place. It started as a few people having a party in a field in the 1970s and has grown to one of the biggest and most famous festivals in the world.
Glastonbury Festival appeals to a wide range of people from the organisers and punters, security or fence jumpers, families, hippies, yuppies and even yippies (posh hippies).
Although Worthy farm, a dream picturesque Somerset dairy farm, seemed very much like the perfect site for the festival, it was not all plain sailing. The organisers battled with new age travellers trying to claim ownership of the land. Loans were required to put the relevant infrastructure in place. Huge crowds of people were going under or over the perimeter fence trying gain free entry for years. Then there was the rain that can often falls nonstop for days during the run up to the festival
Michael had to convince the council that the festival was beneficial to the community. When the licence was turned down the Glastonbury crew had to appeal at the magistrates’ court and was fortunate enough to win. At a time when many farms are looking into diversification projects to help with growing overheads Glastonbury Festival is a great example of what can be done. Due to extremely persistent hard work, dedication, energy and a bit of luck the festival has become the success story it is today
Glastonbury Festival Fallow Year
After a fallow year in 2018 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Art is back from the 26th to the 30th of June 2019. The world famous festival offers something for everyone. You can find incredible music, dance, comedy, circus, cabaret, theatre, art and independent way out stalls selling beautiful things. The festival now offers a huge range of food and drinks with influence from all over the globe. The festival attracts a massive range of international acts and artists. Glastonbury Festival has been lucky enough to witness some of the best live musicians and performers in the world.
Charity and Community Projects Funded by Glastonbury Festival
Did you know Glastonbury Festival Ltd donates most of its profits to charities Oxfam, CND as well as local charities and community groups? Glastonbury Festival Ltd projects include purchasing and restoring the Pilton Tithe Barn for the whole village to use and helping young people who have lived in the village with affordable housing schemes.
Glastonbury Ticket Price Over The Years From £1 to £240
The first festival Pilton Pop, Folk and Blues Festival was in 1970. It was widely influenced by hippie ethics of free movement in the early 70s. The Kinks were booked for the first festival but cancelled. 1500 party goers came together to listen to Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex, (later shortened to T Rex), Quintessence, Stackridge and Al Stewart.
The festival was sadly held the day after Jimi Hendrix’s death. The festival tickets were £1 and it included as much milk as you could drink from the cows at Worthy farm. T Rex was paid out of the ‘milk money’ and the festival made a £500 loss.
Glastonbury Festival – The Early Years
In 1971 Glastonbury fair was a free event run over the summer solstice. It was planned by Andrew Kerr, Bill Harkin and Arabella Churchill. Arabella, granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill went on to set up and run the Theatre events and founded the Charity ‘Children’s World.’ Andrew and Arabella were described as ‘Upper Crust Hippies,’ they changed the name of the festival to ‘Glastonbury Fair’. Andrew was said to have sold his father’s collection of antique shotguns to fund the event.
This was the year the first Pyramid Stage was built from scaffolding covered with expanding metal and plastic sheeting. Bill Harkin conceived the idea of building the stage as a one-tenth replica shape of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The Pyramid Stage was built on a Ley line which was identified by dowsing. 12,000 festival-goers attended performances by David Bowie, Hawkwind, Traffic, Flash Gordon, Fairport Convention, Mighty Baby, Gong, Skin Alley, The Worthy Farm Windfuckers, Melanie, Brinsley Schwarz and Edgar Broughton Band.
In 1978 the Stonehenge summer solstice celebrations were washed out due to rain. An impromptu free entry festival was put on at the festival site for 500 festival goers.
In 1979 Michael’s daughter Emily was born. Bill Harkin and Arabella Churchill ran the festival in aid of the United Nations Year of the Child. Michael Eavis was loaned £15,000. 12,000 Festival-goers paid £5 to see The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Tim Blake, Peter Gabriel, Sky, Steve Hillage and Footsbarn. Despite the loan and the line up, the event unfortunately made a huge loss.
Highlights of Glastonbury Festival in the 80’s
In 1981 Michael Eavis organised the festival though his company ‘Glastonbury Festival Ltd.’ He linked up with The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The Theatre marquee was added. A new permanent pyramid stage was built with telegraph poles described as a cow shed and hay barn to pass planning objections. Much of the materials were believed to be repurposed from the Ministry of Defence. This was the first year the Festival made money 18,000 festival-goers paid £8 to see New Order, Hawkwind, Ginger Baker, Gong, Aswad and the Thompson Twins. 5’000 children were given free entry to the festival. £20,000 was raised for CND. Since the cold war had finished the festivals main beneficiaries were Oxfam and Wateraid. These charities provided volunteers who worked at the festival in exchange for free entry.
The 1982 festival saw the highest rainfall in 45 years. This led to scenes of festival goers swimming in mud. Improvements were made to the children’s world area including free rides in a miniature steam train. An anti-festival banner was displayed by a circling light airplane during the festival. 25,000 festival-goers paid £8 to see Richie Havens, Van Morrison, U2, Roy Harper and Jackson Browne. £45,000 was raised for CND and various local charities.
1983 New legislation from Mendip District Council made the festival obtain a license. £28,000 was spent improving facilities including improved toilet and sanitation. Radio Avalon was set up. 30,000 festival-goers paid £12 to watch UB40, Marillion, King Sunny Ade, Fun Boy Three, Dr John, Curtis Mayfield and Alexei Sayle.
1984 The Festival successfully defends itself in court against the council after being accused of breaking licensing conditions. The Green field was set up to encourage environmental and spiritual activities. There was a mass stage invasion during The Smiths set. The tickets were sold on the gate and £60,000 was raised for CND and other local charities. 35,000 festival goers paid £13 to see Elvis Costello headline the night for 3 hours. Other performers included The Smiths, Weather Report, The Waterboys, Billy Bragg, Black Uhuru, Ian Dury and Joan Baez.
1985 100 acres of neighbouring Cocksmill farm was bought to accommodate the growing festival. Another wet year 40,000 festival-goers paid £16 to watch The Boomtown Rats, Echo and the Bunnyman, Joe Cocker, The Style Council and Hugh Masekela. £100,000 was raised for CND and local charities.
1986 The Classical Music marquee was added. £130,000 was raised for CND and local charities. 60,000 festival-goers paid £17 to see Madness, Psychedelic Furs, Simply Red, The Cure, and The Pogues. Norman Cook performed with the Housemartins. Norman is a big supporter and went on to perform as Fatboy Slim for four consecutive years.
1987 Mendip Council tried to refuse a licence and it was only overturned in May at court. The Womad stage was added for international performers. Improved medical, welfare and recycling facilities were set up as well as a sanctuary for the lost and injured. 60,000 festival- goers paid £21 to see Van Morrison, The Communards, New Order, Elvis Costello, Ben E King, Courtney Pine, Michelle Shocked and The Communards.
1988 Fallow Year.
1989 Forty more acres of green fields was added to the Festival to encourage teaching and learning, pagan rituals, yoga and tipi building. One hundred acres of parking was added. Police were admitted to the festival to cope with drug and crime problems that had occurred in previous years. Problems were reported with unofficial sound systems springing up around the site playing loud late night electronic house music sometimes as loud as some of the stage sound systems. 65,000 festival-goers paid £28 to see Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, The Pixies, The Proclaimers, Fela Kuti, Hothouse Flowers, Suzanne Vega, The Bhundu Boys and The Wonder Stuff perform.
Glastonbury Festival in the 90’s – Attack of the Gate Crashers
1990 The Festival was renamed ‘The Glastonbury Festival for Contemporary Performing Arts’ to reflect its diversity of performance at the festival. Riots broke out involving new age travellers and the security team, £50,000 of damage was done and 235 arrests made. This was named ‘the battle of Yeoman’s bridge.’ 70,000 festival-goers paid £38 to see De La Soul, James, Paul Oakenfold, Sinead O’Connor, Archaos, The Cure and Happy Mondays.
1991 Fallow Year.
1992 The Festival was moved back to the weekend after The Summer Solstice to try and discourage gate-crashes. New age travellers were not initially allowed on the site before the festival. The NME stage was set up and the giant Wicker man was set on fire. More market stalls were added offering a massive range of foods with influence from all over the world. A dry weather year £200,000 was raised for Greenpeace, Oxfam and other local charities. 70,000 festival-goers paid £49 to see Blur, Lou Reed, Primal Scream, Carter USM, Joan Armatrading, Kirsty MacColl, Youssou N’Dour, The Levellers, Shakespeare’s Sister and PJ Harvey
1993 The Field of Avalon was added as another alternative music venue. The Sacred Space at the top of the festival was added. The world music area was renamed the Jazz Stage. The twice daily litter picking was introduced. 80,000 tickets at £58 sold out by the Middle of June. 1993 was another dry weather year. Performers included The Black Crowes, Christy Moore, Primal Scream, Lenny Kravitz, Jamiroquai, Galiano, Robert Plant, Rolf Harris, Stereo MCs, The Velvet Underground, The Orb, Suede, Teenage Fan Club and The Kinks.
1994 Just 10 days before the festival the Pyramid Stage burnt down. A replacement was put up along with a 150 killowatt wind turbine to provide some of the festival power. The first death at the festival was reported due to a drug overdose. The first live festival broadcast was made on Channel 4 television. The TV broadcast of Orbital’s legendary performance is said to helped to promote dance music into the mainstream and helped encourage other dance acts like Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers and Underworld play on high profile Glastonbury festival stages in the years to come.
The festival broke a world record with 826 festival-goers juggling at least 3 objects in the air (2,478 objects in total. £300,000 was raised for Greenpeace, Oxfam and local good causes. 80,000 festival goers paid £59 for tickets. A record 300,000 festival goers were said to watch the Levellers headline on the Friday night. Other performers included Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Johnny Cash, Rage Against Machine, Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Saint Etienne, The Manic Street Preachers, The Pretenders, The Beastie Boys, The Lemonheads, Bjork and M People.
1995 On the 25th anniversary tickets sold out within four weeks. The Dance tent was introduced. 80,000 festival goers paid £85. However many more attended as the perimeter fence was breached on the Friday at the top of the site. Memorable acts included Oasis. Massive Attack, Carl Cox, Elastica, Orbital, Portishead, Pulp, Steeleye SPan, PJ Harvey, Jeff Buckland, Jamiroquai, Simple Minds, The Cure, The Charlatans and The Stone Roses.
1996 Fallow Year. Glastonbury the Movie was released.
1997 The year of a General Election, Michael Eavis stood as Labour candidate in Wells constituency to try and reduce the Tory majority. The site was expanded to 800 acres and 1500 loos provided. The Greenfield introduced the first solar heated showers. There was major sponsorship from the Guardian and the BBC who took over television coverage from Channel 4. BBC2 broadcast live, Select Magazine introduced a daily paper and the first on site bank was introduced. Torrential rain did not dampen the spirits of 90,000 festival-goers who paid £75 for entry. Radiohead headlined the Pyramid Stage on the Saturday night. Other performers included Ash, Daft Punk, Catatonia, Beck, Primal Screens, Reprazent, Neneh Cherry, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Winwood, The Chemical Brothers, The Smashing Pumpkins, Sting, The Prodigy, Travis and Van Morrison.
1998 Another wet muddy year the festival was again hit by storms and floods. A new marquee for up and coming bands and the dance marquee was enlarged. 100,500 festival-goers paid £80 to see performers such as Primal Screen, Foo Fighters, Fatboy Slim, Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock, Pulp, Blur, Robbie Williams, Squeeze, Tony Bennett and Tori Amos.
1999 Finally a sunny year the Winged Wicker Sculpture was burnt in the honour of Jean Eavis who sadly passed away. There was a minutes silence out of respect. Overcrowding was again reported due to fence-jumpers. 100,500 festival-goers paid £87 to see The Manic Street Preachers, REM, Skunk Anansie, Coldplay, Muse, Ash, Blondie, Marianne Faithfull, Lonnie Donegan, Al Green, Blondie, Courtney Pine, Hole and Jurassic Five.
Glastonbury in the Noughties – A Million Pound Fence
2000 Robert Plant baptised the new pyramid stage with Worthy Farm milk. A second dance tent was added to The Glade Field at the top of the Festival and The Leftfield travelling stage and bar was introduced. Overcrowding occurred due to the perimeter fence being scaled. It was estimated that 100,000 people gate-crashed the site. This led to health and safety concerns and Mendip District council refused to granting any further licenses unless these problems were resolved. On the 30th June nine people died at Roskilde, a Danish music festival, due to being crushed by crowds rushing towards the stage during Pearl Jam’s set. This is said to have lead to significant changes to safety procedures for all festivals in order to avoid similar accidents in the future.
Early on Saturday morning actor Keith Allen conducted an unusual wedding on the Pyramid stage between two festival-goers who had gained permission from the festival organisers. £500,000 was raised for charity. 100,000 festival goers paid £87. The festival was headlined by David Bowie, Chemical Brothers and Travis. Other performers included Muse, Hole, Coldplay, Muse, Cypress Hill, Willie Nelson, Pet Shop Boys, Suzanne Vega, Nitin Sawhney, Moby, Macy Gray, and Basement Jaxx.
2001 Fallow Year.
2002 Festival Republic (a company that consisted of both Live Nations and MCD) was put in to run the security and logistics of the festival. A million pound fence was built. Mean Fiddler were added to the management to run the security. Many worried that this may lead to the festival becoming to corporate. After lengthy negotiations the management managed to persuade the local council to grant a license. The new fence was a great success and gate crashers were told they would not get in without a valid ticket. The Lost Vagueness area was enlarged and a new Leftfield marquee was put up for political performers like Tony Benn. £1 million pounds was raised for charity. 140,000 festival-goers paid to see Coldplay headline the Friday night for the first time and Rod Stewart headline the Sunday night. Other performers included Stereophonics, The White Stripes, Fatboy Slim. Badly Drawn Boy, Garbage, Isaac Hayes, Roger Waters and Manu Chao.
2003 Tickets sold out in 18 hours before the line-up was even announced. A stone was put up in memory of Joe Strummer, the Clash’s front man who tragically passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition in December 2002. £1.25 million pounds was raised for charities. 112,500 festival-goers paid to see Radiohead headline the Pyramid Stage again. Other performers included The Streets, Primal Scream, REM, Moby, Manic Street Preachers, Buena Vista Social Club, Jimmy Cliff, John Cale, Julian Cope, Yes, Moloko, Radiohead, The Flaming Lips and the The Polyphonic Spree.
2004 Tickets sold out in 24 hours the festival telephones overloaded and internet sites crashed due to the massive demand. 150,000 festival-goers paid £112 to see Oasis headline on the Friday and Muse headline on the Sunday. Other performers included Sir Paul McCartney, Joss Stone, Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters, James Brown, Kings of Leon, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, Sister Sledge, Chemical Brothers, Suzanne Vega, Toots and the Maytails and Bonnie Ratt.
2005 Tickets sold out in 3 hours. 153,000 festival-goers paid £125 to see Razorlight, The Killers, Coldplay, The White Stripes, The Killers, Primal Scream, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, New Order, Elvis Costello, The Undertones, Nigel Kennedy, Tori Amos, Ian Brown, Roots Manuva and Rufus Wainwright. Kylie Minogue was due to headline the Sunday night but pulled out in May due to having to have treatment for breast cancer. Basement Jaxx took the slot and performed a cover of Kylie’s ‘Can’t get you out of my head’. Coldplay also did a Kylie cover. More marquees were added to the dance village. A silent disco where dancers tune into a choice of different music using headphones was introduced by Emily Eavis to allow party goers to party all night while not upsetting locals in keeping with latest festival licence. The John Peel Tent was introduced after the sad death of the DJ John Peel in 2004. Heavy rains threatened the festival and lightning struck the acoustic stage. Many of the campsites flooded the worst affected at the bottom of Pennards Hill.
2006 Fallow Year, The documentary film ‘Glastonbury’ was released on the 14th of April 2006 directed by Julien Temple.
2007 135,000 tickets for £145 sold out in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The Park area was introduced by Emily Eavis, some of the main stage artists did extra sets on The Park stage including Pete Doherty and Gruff Rhys. The BBC introduced their new ‘Introducing Stage.’ This was the first year festival-goers had to pre-register with passport photos to avoid ticket touts. £750,000 was spent on flood defenses to try and combat the flooding seen in 2005. However the continued periods of rain caused major problems with some festival goers being stranded in stuck cars for up to 9 hours when attempting to leave the festival. A West Midland’s man was found unconscious on Saturday morning and sadly died in Yeovil District Hospital of a suspected drugs overdose. The festival was headlined by The Killers, The Who and Arctic Monkeys. Other performers included Adele, Arcade Fire, Arcadia Spectacular, Bjork, The Kooks, Dame Shirley Bassey, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Billy Bragg, Kate Nash, Corinne Bailey Rae, Chemical Brothers, Damian Marley, Pete Doherty, Gruff Rhys, Bjork, The Go Team, Iggy Pop and M.I.A.
On the 20th of December Arabella Churchill a founder and one of the great coordinators of the festival over the year sadly died after a short illness due to pancreatic cancer.
2008 The festival was reported to cost £22 million to produce. It was the first festival in 15 years not to sell out.
A day before the festival started 3,000 tickets was still available to buy from HMV. Festival goers paid £155 and 134,000 tickets were sold in total.
Despite slow ticket sales, headliner Jay-Z was well received at Glastonbury 2008.
The slow ticket sales were said to be due to the bad weather over the last 4 years and due to the controversial decision to feature the hip-hop artist Jay-Zee as the main headliner. The biodegradable tent pegs were introduced and handed out free to campers after one of Michael Eavis’s cows died after ingesting a metal tent peg left on the mud. The ‘Leave the Farm, Leave No Trace Campaign’ was set up to encourage festival goers to be more environmentally friendly and clear up after themselves. The Park area was made bigger than ever and Trash City was moved to the late night Shangri-la area.
Jay-Z was received by a big crowd and generally went down well. 134,000 tickets sold, it was also headlined by The Verve and Kings of Leon. Other performers included Shakin’ Stevens, The Levellers, Leonard Cohen, Massive Attack, James Blunt, Goldfrapp, Katy Tunstall, Groove Armada, Mark Ronson, Lupe Fiasco, Tunng, Dizzee Rascal, Ozomatli, Manu Chao, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Laura Marling, Will Young, Natty, Katie Melua, Tunng, Jimmy Cliff, Solomon Burke, Joan Baez, The National, Gilbert O’Sullivan, The Levellers, Neil Diamond, Seasick Steve, John Mayer, Foals, John Mayer and Stackridge who opened the first festival in 1970.
2009 The ticket deposit scheme was introduced where customers could pay a £50 deposit and did not have to pay for the rest of the ticket until the 1st of February. This helped 135,000 tickets priced at £175 to sell out eight months before the gates were opened. Arcadia with its amazing light and fire shows was given its own field. The Theatre and Circus areas and Cabaret tent was all enlarged to make way for more awe-inspiring extreme shows.
Blur, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young headlined. Other performers included Lady Gaga, Tom Jones, The Prodigy, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, East 17, The Streets, Jarvis Cocker, Ray Davies, Pendulum, Madness, Stills and Nash, Lily Allen, Tom Jones, Kasabian, Steel Pulse, Jason Mraz, Nick Cave, Status Quo, Hugh Cornwall, Fleet Foxes, Tin Tins, Jamie Cullum, Paolo Nutini, The Specials, The Black Eyed Peas, The Gaslight Anthem, Calvin Harris, Newton Faulkner, David Guetta, Noah and the Whale, Annie Mac, Black Eyed Peas, The Script, Tony Christie, Doves, Steel Pulse, Dizzee Rascal, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Pete Doherty, Florence and the Machine and Fairport Convention (who played at the first Glastonbury festival) . The sad news of Michael Jackson’s death led to many tributes and covers of his songs.
Glastonbury Highlights from 40th anniversary up to 49 years
2010 Michael Eavis sung Happy Birthday on stage with Stevie Wonder to mark the festivals 40th Birthday. Large Hollywood-style letters displayed ‘GLASTONBURY 40’ either side of the Pyramid Stage. The car parks were opened on the Tuesday and gates to the festival opened on the Wednesday to try and alleviate some of the traffic problems. The festival was blessed with warm days and clear full moon nights. A second new permanent reservoir was fortunately added to cope with the water demand in the hot weather. The Common area and the Unfair Ground area were added to the late night fields at the festival. The Jazz stage was renamed West Holts after the ‘halt’ of the cattle that was required at the railway line at Worthy Farm in the old days. The disappointing England defeat in the World cup was watched by 80,000 fans on giant screens.
135,000 festival-goers paid £185 to see Stevie Wonder headline following U2’s enforced cancellation. Other headliners included Muse and Gorillaz. Other performers included Scissor Sisters, Shakira, Biffy Clyro, Radiohead, Pet Shop Boys, Florence and the Machine, Orbital, Mumford and Sons, Groove Armada, The XX, Faithless, Snoop Dogg, Vampire Weekend, Jack Johnson, Paloma Faith, The Orb, Fatboy Slim, N-Dubz, The Flaming Lips, Jackson Browne, Ray Davies, Thom Yorke, Chipmunk, Plan B, Kelis, Tinie Tempah, Vampire Weekend, as well as a guest performance from Kylie and Doctor Who
2011 The tickets sold out in 4 hours of going on sale. U2 headlined the Friday, Coldplay the Saturday and Beyonce was the first woman to headline the performance since 1999. 135,000 tickets sold. Other performers included BB King, Paddy Nash, Billy Bragg, Paul Simon, Radiohead, Wu-Tang Clan, Primal Scream, Pulp, Master Musicians of Joujouka, The Wombles.
Christopher Shale, chairman of the West Oxfordshire Conservative association and a close friend of David Cameron died from a heart attack aged 56 in a portaloo.
2012 A Fallow Year was decided partly due to the shortage of portable toilets and event equipment due to the 2012 Summer Olympics being held in London.
2013 135,000 tickets costing £205 each sold out in a record forty minutes. Another of Michael Eavis’ ambitions came true. The Rolling Stones headlined the Saturday night. Other great headline performances were the Arctic Monkeys on the Friday and Mumford and Sons on the Sunday night. Other performers included Billy Bragg, Portishead, Dizzee Rascal, Hurts, Tame Impala, Beady Eye, The Vaccines, Kenny Rogers, Vampire Weekend, Primal Scream, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Ben Howard, Jake Bud and Skrillex doing a secret show.
2014 135,000 festival-goers paid £210 for tickets. Mendip Council issued a license for 10 years up until 2024. A 26 year old man died of a ketamine overdose in Bristol Hospital. However police officers reported crime being down by 30 percent on the year before. Headliners included Arcade Fire, Metallica and Kasabian. Other performers included Arcadia Spectacular, The Black Keys, Jake Budd, Blondie, Lana Del Raye, Skrillex, Jack White, Billy Bragg, Jungle, The Tutts, Robert Plant, Pixies, M.I.A., Massive Attack, Imagine Dragons, Dolly Parton, Blondie, Goldfrapp and Lily Allen.
2015 135,000 tickets at £225 each sold out for the festival. Foo Fighters were due to headline however Dave Grohl fell off stage when performing in Gothenburg and broke his leg and had to withdraw. After the festival hundreds of the left over wellington boots were donated to the migration camps in Calais. Florence and the Machine took over the Foo Fighters Friday night slot and The Libertines duely filled Florence’s Saturday night spot. Kanye West and The Who were the other headliners. Other acts included Motorhead (sadly Lemmy’s final UK appearance before his death), The Stripes, Lionel Richie, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Paul Weller, Enter Shikari, Pharrell Williams, The Libertines, Deadmau5, Alt-J, The Waterboys, George Ezra, Thee Faction, Patti Smith, The Chemical Brothers, Burt Bacharach Enter Shikari, The Moody Blues, Jungle, Billy Bragg, Deadmau5, Thee Faction, Alt-j, Mary J Blige, Thee Faction, 14th Dalai Lama and Paloma Faith.
2016 135,000 tickets were sold at £228 each. Muse, Adele and Coldplay headlined. Other performers included Christine and The Queens, Jake Budd, New Order, Jeff Lyne’s ELO, Alt-J, The1975, Wolf Alice, Bring Me The Horizon, Bastille, LCD Soundsystem, ZZ Top, Years and Years, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Last Shadow Puppets, Disclosure, Skepta, Elle Golding,, Foals, Tame Impala, Beck, James, PJ Harvey, The Horizon, Damon Albam, Gary Clarke Jr, James, Mo, Billy Bragg, M83, Cyndi Lauper and Madness.
2017 135,000 tickets were snapped up by festival-goers for £238 each. The BBC extended its exclusive national rights to broadcast the festival until 2022. The laid back Jamaican reggae group ‘Toots and the Maytals’ were late for their 5.30pm slot being broadcast by BBC Four and had to be rescheduled to take the midnight slot. The other performers had to move forward an hour. Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran Headlined. Other performers included London Grammar, First Aid Kit, Royal Blood, Katy Perry, Craig David, Jools Holland, Biffy Clyro, Laura Marling, Jamie Cullum, Lorde, George Ezyra, Liam Gallagher, Stormzy, The Courtneeners, Emeli Sande, Kodaline, Kaiser Chiefs, Major Lazer, The Pretenders, Nothing But Thieves, Slaves, Rag’n’Bone Man, Dizzee Rascal, Solange, Run the Jewels, HAIM, Clean Bandit, George Ezra, Halsey, Busted, Elbow, Jools Holland, Tove Lo, Declan Mckenna, Dua Lipa, Gabrielle Aplin, Lucy Spraggan, Napalm Death, Billy Bragg, Little Dragon, Shaggy, Annie Mac, Clean Bandit, Barry Gibb, The XX, The National, Stormzy, Chic, Major Lazer, Alt-J, Boy Better Know, Kris Kristofferson, Laura Marling, Emeli Sande, The Jacksons and a surprise secret show by The Killers.
2018 Fallow Year – once more the site was given a well deserved chance to rest and recoup from the excitement of the world’s most famous festival.
Glastonbury Festival 2019 Artists Line Up
Another stellar year is forecast for Glastonbury 2019, Emily Eavis is yet to reveal many of the headline acts
2019 Stormzy is the first headliner to be confirmed to play on the Pyramid Stage on Friday night. Kylie Minogue is also confirmed to be playing the Sunday legends slot.
Liam Gallagher has become the bookies recent favourite to headline. He headlined the Pilton Party this year and he looks likely to be taking the big slot in 2019. Pilton party has been running since the 1990s. It is put on annually by the Glastonbury Festival organisers to say ‘thank you’ to locals, workers and villagers and as a fundraising gig. The vast majority of Pilton Party acts go on to play in high spots at Glastonbury Festival ten months later. Past Pilton Party performers who have gone on to headline include, Coldplay and Florence and the Machine.
The last time the Gallagher brothers played Glastonbury they were going through a low patch due to their tense relationship at the time and they were said to struggle with a poor performance in 2004.
Noel Gallagher is also tipped to possibly headline in 2019. Would the festival organisers dare to put the two brothers on the Pyramid Stage one after the other or even on different stages at the same time? Is reconciliation possible? Could Oasis reignite some of the magic of the early years and reunite for one last set? Would it go down well? Definitely! Would it happen? Maybe?
Emily Eavis has hinted that although she would love them to play Sir Paul McCarthy, Led Zepplin, Fleetwood Mac, Abba and Madonna are not booked to play in 2019. Emily’s recent Instagram has prompted rumours that singer, rapper and songwriter Lauren Hill from Fugees fame may be a performer for 2019.
The reunited Spice Girls are rumoured to have a Glastonbury shaped availability space linked to their UK tour. Glastonbury is full of surprises maybe Victoria Beckham ‘Posh Spice’ will fly over for the set.
Mike Love has recently revealed that he and the surviving Beach Boys would love to play at the world famous festival.
After Kendrick Lamar’s stunning headline act at Reading and Leeds festival 2018 he is rumoured to be a possible Pyramid Stage performer.
Michael Eavis did let drop at the VO5 NME Awards in February that two or three acts will play that have never played before at the festival. Unbelievably Elton John has never played at Glastonbury Festival and is rumoured to have a convenient gap between his Dublin tour date and his Montreux Jazz Festival slot. Neither The Strokes nor The Stone Roses have ever played at The Glastonbury Festival and would surely both go down well in 2019. Other bookie favourites to play include Childish Gambino, Lamar, Billy Joel, Pink, Lana Del Rey, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift and The Cure who previously headlined in 1986, 1990 and 1995. As well as Stereophonics who headlined in 2002.
In 2019 Emily Eavis is planning to implement a site-wide ban on non-recyclable plastic bottles. Water Kiosks will be in place where festival-goers can fill up any type of water bottles.
Glastonbury Glamping 2019 Luxury Accommodation: If you have a festival ticket you can book a luxury 5 day glamping experience online on the Glastonbury Retreat website
Without LLMs and AI – I was so chuffed when I blew everyone out of the water, the issue I had with Barny is that he saw how easy it was for me, and wanted me to work for a cheap rate, because after all, it wasn’t really work was it?
Here’s the thing, I was his first. He was spoiled without knowing it. I worked more hours than I was paid for because of my passion and emotional investment in all of his companies. But passion doesn’t pay to feed my cat, let alone myself. When the Badminton Glamping website was pushed live in 2019, he emailed to ask me to start my 30 Day SEO Booster, however I had raised my prices slightly since we first met in 2015. He said I was too expensive.
