As Glastonbury gets underway, legendary poet and music promoter Crispin Thomas recalls his memories from the iconic musical festival.
Crispin said: “My wife Jennie and I were at the 1971 Glastonbury Fayre. We slept in a van offsite with our six-month-old baby Mathew. We saw Bowie play acoustic at dawn.
“We lived in Africa from 1972-79, when there was only one festival in 1979 and went to nearly all Glastos from 1981.
“I used to get tickets via the bands I looked after, who performed there, including Afterhours and Hazel O’Connor and also through working there. I was lucky enough to get tickets performing with my own band Out To Lunch and solo in the Poetry & Words Tent & Yurt. We once played to an empty cycle powered tent!
Glastonbury in pictures
“In 2013, the year the Stones played it, I walked round the site with a flag saying Ban The Flags and performed the poem Ban The Flags on the now defunct Fluffy Rock Café Stage.
“My last visit was in 2022 when our youngest son was DJing in Block 9. I compered and backstage-managed on the Avalon Stage for several years and introduced the likes of John Martyn and once notoriously came on dressed as Darth Vader and knocked over the amps in the process when the mask steamed up in the heat.
“I ticked off my lifelong bucket-dream of standing watching on the Pyramid stage when Mike Scott of The Waterboys invited myself and grand-daughter Freya to watch from the side of stage in 2015.”
When is Glastonbury 2024?
Glastonbury 2024 starts today (Wednesday June 26) and runs until Sunday June 30. Most of the music will be on June 28, 29 and 30
