This year’s Glastonbury, or Glaston Berry if you’re not a UK National, was, for me, perhaps my best. The pretty awful Saturday headliner (and Friday’s headliners weren’t the best) gave us the opportunity to venture further than the Pyramid/Other stages. That’s something I’ve not greatly experienced in the past. Well, on an evening.
In general, there was less rushing around and more exploring of smaller (still pretty big when compared to other festivals) stages. Some good new discoveries were made (I mean bands, not the naked old lady in the Green Futures field).
We spent quite a lot of time in Avalon and West Holts … and bought a hammock too (I’ve had my eye on the hammock shop for years). Our companions, Karl and Michelle, were lovely; it was good to be with nice people.
Anyway, a few pictures.
There’d be a lot more, but beer makes for blurry pictures. And I tended to forget that I’d taken a camera.
One last thing I should mention was my ability to continue with a vegan diet without making an effort. But that’s only because there were a silly number of places I could eat. Needless to say, we did eat at Gandi’s flip-flop, our favourite festival eatery.
Ok, so there was one cheese pasty. But it was cheap and huge, and hardly had any cheese in it.
Addendum: I may have lasting feelings of guilt relating to the cheese pasty. I mean, the Dalai Lama might have seen me eat it. Because he was there at the time, you know. And that’s an important point. Not the pasty, but the Dalai Lama bothering to say a few words at Glastonbury.
China actually lodged a complaint with the festival. Why; because he was apparently going to say things which could be divisive for China. Oh, and because he’s guilty of (unspecified) atrocities.
Which is, of course, all complete bollocks. The man talked only about people getting along together. He was very humble and left the Pyramid stage, gesturing that everyone needed to make sure they slept. I’d been deeply disappointed to miss him in the smaller, planned setting, but the surprise appearance later in the day made up for that. I’m hoping that he may have eaten a cheese pasty or two too. Do they have cheese or potatoes in Tibet? Oh, but the Dalai Lama doesn’t live in Tibet (and hasn’t done so since 1959) any longer, does he?