Fact #140115
When:
Short story:
The legendary 'Impromptu' Glastonbury Festival takes place when 500 revellers from Stonehenge descend on Glastonbury's Worthy Farm in Somerset, England, UK, Europe, under the mistaken impression that a festival is taking place. After some discussion, a free mini festival does come together, with power supplied by an electric motor in a caravan with a lengthy cable running to the stage. Many audience members remain on site as late as 8 July.Full article:
Alister Sieghart (Glastonbury resident) : The free festival at the farm in 1978 happened when a convoy had left Stonehenge after the solstice to go to another free festival we were planning.
It was the early days of making the vision of festivals being a summer-long nomadic culture real. We'd identified a field at Cinnamon Lane in Glastonbury as the site - there had been a small alternative culture settlement there for a number of years: caravans and a tipi. I'd lived there myself. But when we turned up the farmers and police knew about it and had blocked off the access.
The police radioed around and eventually came up with the venue of Worthy Farm, so we all headed there under police direction. I remember seeing Andrew Kerr there, and him saying, 'This is better than '71.' I think it was this free festival that rekindled Michael Eavis's interest in holding another festival, the '79 Year of the Child one. Actually it was Rebecca, Michael's daughter, and Andrew Kerr - it was their interest that was rekindled.
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It was the early days of making the vision of festivals being a summer-long nomadic culture real. We'd identified a field at Cinnamon Lane in Glastonbury as the site - there had been a small alternative culture settlement there for a number of years: caravans and a tipi. I'd lived there myself. But when we turned up the farmers and police knew about it and had blocked off the access.
The police radioed around and eventually came up with the venue of Worthy Farm, so we all headed there under police direction. I remember seeing Andrew Kerr there, and him saying, 'This is better than '71.' I think it was this free festival that rekindled Michael Eavis's interest in holding another festival, the '79 Year of the Child one. Actually it was Rebecca, Michael's daughter, and Andrew Kerr - it was their interest that was rekindled.