The United Kingdom will host Glastonbury event 2023, the world's largest greenfield music and performing arts event, from Wednesday, June 21, to Monday, June 26, 2023.
The Glastonbury Festival is a contemporary performing arts festival held over the course of five days in Pilton, Somerset, England. The festival features not only modern music but also dance, comedy, drama and circus. Famous names in pop and rock have headlined, and countless more have performed on the major Pyramid Stage, smaller Stages and in various other venues in the ground. The event has been the site of numerous film and album recordings and has attracted major media attention. There are always a few hidden shows from the international superstars at Glastonbury.
At first glance, the massive scale of Somerset, England's Glastonbury Festival may be hard to imagine. Anyone who has attended the Glastonbury Festival or even just seen footage of it on television has likely been stunned by its massive size. For five days each summer, a dairy farm in the countryside near Pilton, Somerset, becomes the site of one of the world's largest music festivals.
Thousands of music lovers go to the Vale of Avalon for this renowned festival, turning the area into a veritable sea of temporary tents and parties. Between 900 and 1,100 acres make up the primary event grounds. More than 500 full size football fields could fit inside that area. The official capacity of Glastonbury Festival is a huge 210,000 people.
The huge festival site is more than 1.5 miles in length at its widest point and is surrounded by the "superfence" - an 8km long perimeter fence. The security fence is nearly four metres tall and contains a number of novel design elements to prevent tunnelling, climbing, and tampering and an external 45-degree overhang and zero nuts and bolts. There are over a thousand toilets, hundreds of restaurants and pubs, along with a medical centre, police station, and church. Numerous off-site camping spots and 61 numbered parking fields can be found outside the surrounding fence.
When Michael Eavis, owner of Worthy Farm near Pilton, attended a festival in Bath in 1969, it gave him an idea of his own. Inspired by the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music in Shepton Mallet, Somerset and the success of the Isle of Wight Festival festival co-founders Michael and Jean Eavis planned to stage a festival on the Eavis family dairy farm. In 1971, the festival changed its name to The Glastonbury Fayre and moved to take place around the time of the summer solstice, an occasion that had previously been marked at the adjacent Neolithic monument Stonehenge. A reproduction of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, the first Pyramid Stage was constructed by Bill Harkin and his team in the same year using scaffolding, expanded metal, and plastic sheeting. A three-day festival was not organised by the Glastonbury Fayre crew until 1979. Twelve thousand people paid a total of £5,000 to attend the festival. It's been extended to a five-day celebration now.
In the four decades since it started, the Glastonbury Festival has grown to become the world's most recognisable music event. There were initially 1,500 people there, and the initial admission price of £1 included free camping and free milk. In 1999, when attendance at the Festival peaked at 100,500, tickets cost £83. No over 170,000 people attend the annual Glasto music festival every summer near Pilton, Somerset. This time in 2023, a single economy ticket will cost you £335 with a booking fee of £5. A large number of individuals still attend the Somerset Glastonbury Festival every year despite the hefty ticket price.