History of Glastonbury Festival

The first Glastonbury festival was held on 19th September 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died. It was over two days and cost £1 including free milk from the farm. 1,500 people attended and acts included, Mark Bolan, Keith Christmas, Al Stewart and Quintessence. Michael Eavis was inspired to create his own festival after seeing the blues festival at the Bath and West show-ground, although his would be on a smaller scale.

The year after in 1971, Andrew Kerr and Arabella Churchill, who planned it and felt that festivals were to commercialized, moved the date to 24th June and made it a free festival. It took the tradition of, music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment. The stage was made from scaffolding and plastic sheeting, and acts included, Hawkwind, Traffic, Melanie, David Bowie, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention and Quintessence. It was estimated that 12,000 people attended 'Glastonbury Fair' on 24th June 1971.

In 1979 from the 21st - 23rd June Glastonbury Fair returned with the theme of, 'The year of the child'. Despite 12,000 people attending the festival, the organizers suffered a huge financial loss. Also, the festival cost £5 per ticket this year and acts included, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hillage, Alex Harvey Band and Sky and the Footsbarn Theatre.

In 1981 from the 19th - 21st June Glastonbury Fair, was now known as Glastonbury Festival. This was the first 'Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament' festival. The National CND then sent out information in their mailings, handled advance ticket sales and allowed the use of the CND logo. Also this year a permanent stage was built, being used as a cowshed and animal food store in the winter, and was built out of telegraph poles and ex-MOD metal sheeting. Tickets cost £8 and 18,000 people attended. The acts included, New Order, Hawkwind, Taj Mahal, Aswad and Gordon Giltrap. The year after CND was involved again and 25,000 people attended, tickets were again only £8.

The first footage of Glastonbury Festival was in 1994 and was covered by Channel 4 and MTV. The event was filmed and streamed live on both channels. MTV filmed again the following year, but then in 1996 it was taken over by BBC2. Having Glastonbury festival live on television was a breakthrough, as it allowed people who couldn't make it to the festival still see it and feel a part of it. Over the years this has become a huge part of Glastonbury and many other festivals, and thousands of people view it by television. Now all of the main festivals are broadcasted live on television and through the internet as well as radio.

Glastonbury Festival 1994

Glastonbury Festival Programme