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<\/p>\nEXPLAINING Glastonbury Festival to someone who hasn\u2019t been is tough.<\/p>\n
Some years, it\u2019s all about the headliners, like this year\u2019s record-breaking Elton John set, while other years it\u2019s about the biblical rain and subsequent mud or simply the sheer size \u2014 it now welcomes more than 210,000 visitors.<\/p>\n
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But for most of the punters who attend, the music is just a fraction of what makes Worthy Farm the most magical place on earth for that long weekend in late June.<\/p>\n
What positions this festival above all others is everything else \u2014 the Healing Fields, the Green Fields, the Circus and Fairground Fields, the activism and the incredible history of the last half a century of cele-brations in this corner of Somerset.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been to Glastonbury eight times and have barely scratched the surface of what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n
Every time I visit, I\u2019m surprised and delighted by a new corner of the festival I haven\u2019t seen before.<\/p>\n
This year, it was the Unfairground \u2014 the field for subversive art and music \u2014 with its giant sculptures from salvaged materials and burlesque performances. <\/p>\n Multi-generational activities are wide-ranging at the festival, including at the Greenpeace Field, where both children and adults brave the eye-watering vertical slide, take turns at the skate park or take in climate change documentaries.<\/p>\n The festival caters incredibly well for kids, which may seem surprising given the sheer number of steps you take each day to get from place to place within the site.<\/p>\n This year there were miniature playgrounds near some of the more popular stages, like the Park Stage, so that parents could enjoy their favourite acts while the kids played.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The Kidz Field has stage shows featuring old TV favourites like Basil Brush, wildlife experts and circus acts, while children can get involved in all kinds of crafts in the Make And Do Tent, or learn a musical instrument at the Muzikademy.<\/p>\n Or they can check out a range of films in the Pilton Palais cinema tent, among the weary adults nursing hangovers from the night before.<\/p>\n Speaking of which, there are surely few places in the world that cater for a hangover like the Healing Fields, with their laughter yoga, masseuses and homeopaths.<\/p>\n One of my favourite discoveries in recent years has been the Lost Horizons \u201cnomadic spa\u201d, tucked away at the top of the Tipi Field with a sauna, a clothing-optional attitude and plenty of acoustic music that has the vibe of a 70s Glastonbury.<\/p>\n Equally so is the festival-favourite outdoor restaurant, Permaculture, run by Mike Feingold who\u2019s been attending Glastonbury since 1974.<\/p>\n Every day, it has only one dish on the menu. We visited for lunch each day, dining on dahl, salads and Thai curries.<\/p>\n It has the feel of a backpackers\u2019 encampment in South East Asia, with its laid-back ethos and communal eating.<\/p>\n Unlike Glastonbury-On-Sea, which brings a different kind of holiday vibe with its 60-metre-long Victorian seaside pier, designed by resident Glastonbury artist Joe Rush. <\/p>\n It has old-fashioned seaside fun with a twist with a retro pinball arcade, bingo, fortune tellers and carnival dancers\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009all bizarrely set in a field, far from the coast.<\/p>\n But, then, everything is bizarre about Glastonbury.<\/p>\n How a dairy farm can turn itself into the fourth largest city in the South West every summer in just 26 days and still maintain its uniqueness year after year isn\u2019t lost on either the punters or the performers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s rare to watch a singer, band or DJ perform without them mentioning the magic of this particular festival.<\/p>\n Even Elton John and the Rolling Stones, some of the world\u2019s most successful musicians, are visibly moved by the crowds they\u2019ve played to on the Pyramid Stage.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not lost on the festival\u2019s founder Michael Eavis either, who said: \u201cI genuinely think the best people in the world come here.<\/p>\n \u201cBands always say this audience is the most generous, respectful and up-for-it crowd there is.\u201d<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/MR-GLASTO-TIPS-COMP.jpg\")
<\/picture>SIMPLY THE FEST <\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019ve been to Glastonbury 15 times in a row – top tips to bag 2024 tickets<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/newspress-collage-24230820-1697212269351.jpg\")
<\/picture>LISTEN IN <\/span><\/p>\nWhy the real reason to visit Glastonbury has nothing to do with the festival<\/h3>\n
Most read in Travel<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24623462-1699027352983.jpg\")
<\/picture>SHIP SHOCK <\/span><\/p>\nWe were in tears when we were BANNED from our cruise ship… we lost \u00a33,500<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24622203-1699022359930.jpg\")
<\/picture>HOL’D ON <\/span><\/p>\nFirst look at new UK holiday resort – with 130 lodges, a pool and quaint farm shop<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24620475-1699023102066.jpg\")
<\/picture>GO SEA IT <\/span><\/p>\nSpanish beach resort tipped to be big in 2024 where only locals go on holiday<\/h3>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/rhmj5k-much-loved-iconic-view-634006410.jpg\")
<\/picture>THE RIGHT TRACK <\/span><\/p>\nUK’s ‘most scenic train journey’ is only \u00a33 & it has beautiful sea views<\/h3>\n
Read More on The Sun<\/h2>\n
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<\/picture>![](\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/newspress-collage-24622570-1699024145121.jpg\")
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