Five Reasons Why Glastonbury Blew My Mind

I'm not the most seasoned festival goer, or the biggest music lover (I tend to listen to music for background noise more than as a hobby), but whenever the chance has risen to head out with friends to watch some live music, no matter what the genre I've always been up for giving a performer a chance. My only camping festival experience before Glastonbury had been Reading in 2011, and despite the young age group in attendance and the normal practise of burning tents on the last night, as well as only really knowing the headline acts, I had had an amazing time.

So Glastonbury - I assumed it would be a lot like Reading (in the basic sense), and with it being a serious bucket list item for me - when I was a kid and watched clips on Video Hits of the festival, I never dreamt in a million years I'd be able to go one day - we enthusiastically all got up at an ungodly hour on a hungover morning in October 2012 to get tickets to a five day event where we didn't have the slightest clue who would be performing. There were rumours the Rolling Stones would be there, but I didn't want to get my hopes up about seeing one of the most famous bands in the last 50 years.

Fast forward nine months, and I am so thankful that I decided to try and get those tickets on that fateful day. Because what I experienced over June 26-July 1st was something that I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to experience again (though there are plans to do a trip back to Glasto for my 30th!). Here's five reasons why it blew my mind and surpassed every expectation I had:

1. It's not a festival, it's a town

As the days went by we began to feel more like we were part of a town than at a music festival. Getting lost on the first night while we were trying to find V Bar (which turned out to be B Bar, hence the trouble finding it), the walk around just one of the parts of Glasto took around half an hour. I've been to small towns around Europe and this could certainly have passed off as one of them. From areas with craft fields and endless shops with artwork, clothes and festival accessories, to areas for Latino food and music, to a weird 'heaven and hell' area which would be interesting to walk through on acid, to chill out and acoustic areas, to the circus tent, to the place where if i were a child, I'd be in heaven... Glastonbury really had absolutely everything and I know in the six days we were there we certainly didn't nearly see everything.

Glasto: More town than festival

2. The music you never knew before, and can't live without now

We were a rather large group, but myself and two good friends planned to navigate our own way around and meet up with the others as we went along.

I was lucky to have mates with good musical taste!

I won't say I was overwhelmed with joy at the line up (apart from the Stones, obviously) - Arctic Monkeys and Mumford & Sons are not two of my favourite bands, and when my friends moved to convince me to go elsewhere it was a rather easy task. Friday night, we saw Chic feat. Nile Rodgers, and it was like a musical education. A guy I'd never heard of before that night, has written some of the most influential songs in history, penning for Madonna, Diana Ross, David Bowie, Duran Duran and most recently his sample is on the Daft Punk song Get Lucky. He really is the musical gift that keeps on giving and I'm kicking myself for not having known him earlier. Meanwhile, on Sunday we saw American singer/guitarist Gary Clark Jnr, and he equally surprised me. He just screamed cool in ways I don't know if I've ever seen in a live show before, and he's been added indefinitely to my Spotify playlist now.

3. The headliners surpassed unbelievably high expectations

I had a feeling seeing the Rolling Stones on Saturday night, at Glastonbury, and from the planned front of the stage position we were going for, would be a performance to beat every other that I've witnessed in my life. As the days led up to their set, we all talked about the possibility of being disappointed after hyping ourselves up so much for it. I accepted it was going to be a likely fact that they wouldn't be as good as I pictured in my head. I complained when my friends made their way to the front, concerned about the pushing and the inability to pee for the next four or so hours while we waited. But as they came on, I was instantly transported back to when I was that child, watching them on Video Hits and feeling like they were so far away from reality.

He had the moves like the Jagger of old

Now, they were right in front of me, and sounded every bit as when I was on summer holidays with my parents, blaring them out of the sound system. Like their music or not, their performance within itself was extraordinary; my grandfather can hardly walk, and after years of drugs, alcohol and partying these guys still have every bit the energy you'd expect from a 20 year old performer. So Stones, I salute you, and thank you for putting on a show I'll remember till I'm your age at least.

4. The friends you make

We were lucky enough to have some great friends willing to take our tents for us on a 4am bus on the Wednesday, almost rendering our 7am trip pointless. But when we arrived to tents already set up, and a group area in place and drinks at the ready, it was like we had our own community within the Glasto town already. Whenever you needed a break from the music, there was always someone to chill out with back at the tents as we all planned our itineraries to meet up at different points of the day. I went knowing about 5 people, but have come back with an entire group of new mates, and the in-jokes, the banter, the drinking games, the 'i have never's' where I learnt far too much about these people, were as much a part of the experience as the music.

My birthday night at Glastonbury - spent with my new best friends

5. Post-Glasto Life just isn't the same

Here I was thinking that after six days I'd be desperate to go home and have a shower, eat normal food again, and have the privilege of standing up while I got changed rather than having to be creative in my tiny tent. But when I woke up on Monday morning, and looked around at the deserted camp site while struggling to compute how to start packing, the last thing in the world that I wanted was to go home. Walking through the train station back at London Victoria, people were all dressed normally, and it made me so sad! After returning to Frankfurt I've showered less than I thought I would, and my desperation for cheese toasties in the morning has grown considerably. Gigwise summed up the post-Glasto blues much better than I have, but getting ready for a night out last night, when Daft Punk came on my Spotify, I'm not going to lie, it brought a small tear to my eye.

So there you have it kids. If you get the opportunity, do Glastonbury once in your life, you won't regret it I solemnly swear. Of course, I am off to Budapest in a month for Szeiget music festival, so my blues are being soothed by this fact somewhat!

Till next time xx