Glastonbury Festival – the largest Open-Air Music & Performance Arts Festival.

The summer season has started with numerous events on the horizon, so our theme for this month’s “World Celebration” blog post is MUSIC. This time, we will take you to the green island, where at Worthy Farm in South West England, one of the largest and most popular music festivals in the world takes place – the Glastonbury Festival.

Glastonbury Festival is one of the major culture events in the United Kingdom, referring to the ethos of the hippie. Actually, the full name of the event is Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glasto, where on it scenes performed almost all of the most important artists of contemporary music and performing arts. The festival is held near the village of Pilton in Somerset during the last week of June. The dates for the 2017 Festival will be from the 21^st June to 25^th June.

For music fanatics, participating in this event is a must. The event attracts thousands of spectators and tickets are sold out at a rapid pace. The event was first held in 1970 as a Pop Folk & Blues festival, on the initiative of Michael Eavis. One year later, the festival was known as the Glastonbury Fair and it was the first time the event gained nationwide publicity. In 1971, the most famous and recognized festival stage in the world – Pyramid Stage – first appeared, where only the icons of music have performed. Nowadays, it is the largest green field open-air festival hosting over 100 venues, where beside contemporary music you can experience theatrical and circus performances, dance shows, exhibitions, poetry, film screening, green crafts, healing and much more. Each zone at this event has its own character and attraction. That’s why is worth arranging some time to visit other venues such as The Green Field, The Park with Ribbon Tower, Theatre & Circus, The Acoustic Field with Pilton Palais cinema and more. There is also entertainment for children in the special Kidz Field. You will be sure to find something for yourself.

The Glastonbury festival took its name from a nearby town – Glastonbury – known for its spiritual traditions and legends. One of them is the belief that Glastonbury was the birthplace of Christianity in Great Britain and where the earliest Christian sanctuary was built. This small town was an important pilgrimage site and the Glastonbury Abbey became the largest and the richest in England. What’s more, Glastonbury is the European capital of new age with all its mysticism, the faith of healing, magical powers, miracles as well as mystic arts and literature.

During the 5 days, the language of music and English dominates. English is a West Germanic language, which derives from Latin. It is one of the richest languages in the world with a huge vocabulary. English is the official language in the UK and is spoken widely around the world. But, you have to be aware that English in not the only language spoken in the UK. When in the UK you can meet various minority Celtic languages including Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic or Welsh. The latter together with English enjoys its official status in Wales. Still, it is assumed that over 95% of its population speak English. Even if you are not familiar with English you will still find the familiar language of music at the Glastonbury Festival.

This music and performance art festival offers a huge scale of entertainment for everyone of all ages. Undoubtedly, the Glastonbury Festival is a pure icon of music festivals and guarantees the big stars on the list of performers.

* The History of Glastonbury Festival, www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/history/, 05.05.2017.