Sarfraz Manzoor

I arrived back from Glastonbury this morning having arrived at the site on Wednesday afternoon. This was my fifth festival and in that time I have only witnessed one dry Glastonbury which was my very first one. That one, in 2002, was an utterly joyful, thrilling experience watching REM and Radiohead and wandering through the site taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the entire festival. Since then each year I have been lucky enough to get tickets and have attended full of hope and each year it has been an utter washout. I should make it clear that I have never camped- instead around 12-15 of us hire caravans and this does partly mean we are protected from the worst excesses of the rain and mud. I have absolutely not problem with not camping and have no truck with the anyone who thinks that someone by not staying in a tent one is not being true to the spirit of Glastonbury. Anyway, even with the caravan the incessant rain and ensuing mud has made this year’s Glastonbury frankly harder work than I can be bothered with; each time I stood outside watching The Killers, Amy Winehouse, Arcade Fire and so on I kept thinking that actually I would much rather be watching them in an indoor venue, preferably without needing to wear wellington boots. I dont mind the toilets being a challenge and I dont mind that it gets cold at night its just it becomes such hard work schelpping from one muddy field to another that one’s enjoyment is diminished. It doesnt help of course that I dont drink or do drugs as I suspect that both must help make the conditions more bearable. The thing is that I like the ritual of attending Glastonbury, I like hearing bands I would not normally see and I like doing something among a large group of friends. But, if I am brutally honest, I cannot say I actually had a great time at this year’s festival I woke this morning at 4am and was waiting for a festival bus at 6am and was finally able to take a train at 745am to arrive back into London before 10 this morning. And as I arrived back home and threw my filthy clothes into the washing machine and had a long hot bath and put on some fresh clothes I did think to myself what on earth did I put myself through all that.  If I knew the weather was going to be a repeat of this years I think I would pass. But if the weather was glorious then I think I would be gutted if i did not attend. I am not yet sure what I will do but there is a part of me that is tempted to try and buy tickets and then base my decision on whether to actually go or not on the weather forecast in the week of the festival. It would mean taking a hit on the price of a ticket but maybe thats a price worth paying. Please God let next year be a hot one!