Heartland

So is anyone on this forum going this year?

I honestly wouldn't go if it was free,had free beer,and strippers.

why? glastonbury is a fantastic place.

Full of f*cking hippies

lol, what you saying, markywark?

I'm saying nowt. I don't "do" tents though.

I read that there will be plenty of toilet paper this year

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-13777301

markfiend wrote:Full of f*cking hippies

If only...
Dont forget to take your flag, kids!
Mutters about good old days

Ye gods, I can think of nothing more dreary than the notion than spending a few days in a muddy field with a group of trustafarians. It's a shame, because the town itself is rather fun, watching people shell out ridiculous prices for "healing crystals", and the "spiritual types" wandering around absorbing energy from ley-lines..
I went because of the whole Arthurian connection, of which there's precious little. If I hear one more hippy refer to Glastonbury Tor as "Isle of Avalon" I will throw things..

DeWinter wrote: I went because of the whole Arthurian connection, of which there's precious little.

Mabe that's because he never existed

DeWinter wrote:If I hear one more hippy refer to Glastonbury Tor as "Isle of Avalon" I will throw things..

But it was an island and it's in, what is now known as, the Vale of Avalon.


I've seen some great bands there over the years, that well known hippy band NIN were excellent. Also the loved up Crusty hippies New Order (actually they were s**t) and the long-haired, Woodstock referencing PULP, Radiohead, Leonard Cohen, Morrisey, Nick Cave, Jesus & Mary Chain.............. Hippies, the lot of them

The "Arthurian Connection" was invented out of nowhere by the Glastonbury monks in the middle-ages to boost tourism. (Of course it was technically pilgrimage, rather than tourism in those days.)

do hippies still go to glastonbury? or are they all middle-class students twatting about in the mud, like every other indie-oriented festival these days?

dont think glasto has been especially hippyfied since the mid 90s has it?

it's all just corporate arse these days.

Quiff Boy wrote: middle-class students twatting about in the mud, .

that's the funniest f**king thing I have read in ages!!

All different types go and have fun and it's not just about the bands on the main stages there's a whole heap of crazy s**t going on from the World Famous Burlesque Cabaret Spiegelten Pussy Parlour to some obscure bands in the smaller tents. The corporate crap is on display at such crap fetivals as V and Reading.
You should experience it before you knock it.

Yeah, fair enough, my hippy comment was a bit stupid to be honest, wasn't it?

A tad niave perhaps

moses wrote:All different types go and have fun and it's not just about the bands on the main stages there's a whole heap of crazy s**t going on from the World Famous Burlesque Cabaret Spiegelten Pussy Parlour to some obscure bands in the smaller tents. The corporate crap is on display at such crap fetivals as V and Reading.
You should experience it before you knock it.

to be fair, when i was younger i hated the idea of festivals as there was nowhere to plug the crimpers in, and my winklepickers just sank into the mud

these days i'm too old and curmudgeonly - i'm fairly sure i'd despise about 90% of the f*ckwits there, and from a music point of view the lineups are usually very disappointing - especially at glasto.

i went to V a few years ago (when soft cell got back together) and it was... well.... it was meh

soft cell were great in their little tent, but primal scream on the big stage were deeply disappointing, and i dont recall anyone else apart beta band, who gave me a headache.

i guess i'm just not a huge fan of festivals, or massive outdoor gigs generally.

moses wrote:A tad niave perhaps

Ta I wasn't really serious, but that doesn't really come across very well.

Come to think of it, it always annoys me when someone posts something offensive and then tries to justify it by saying "I was only joking". So I think I'll stop digging myself any deeper into this hole...

markfiend wrote:The "Arthurian Connection" was invented out of nowhere by the Glastonbury monks in the middle-ages to boost tourism. (Of course it was technically pilgrimage, rather than tourism in those days.)

I find the Holy Thorn/ Chalice Well/ Jesus and Joseph thing funnier. Ancient British war leader buried here? Possible. Middle-Eastern Jew travels across continent and plants a tree magically? Somewhat less likely..

moses wrote:The corporate crap is on display at such crap fetivals as V and Reading.
You should experience it before you knock it.

I've experienced it plenty of times, its increasingly corporate every year and the atmosphere is nothing like it used to be. Have fun if you're going but the only difference between the current glastonbury and the other festivals is location.

moses wrote:
But it was an island and it's in, what is now known as, the Vale of Avalon.

It was an island called "Isle of Glass" in I think Welsh, or Brythonic or whatever was spoken before Anglo-Saxon in the area. Hence Glastonbury. Then centuries later the monks of the abbey needed money for restoration funds and claimed to have dug up the bones of Arthur, Guinevere and Mordred and reburied them without letting anyone see them. Of course nobody wants to call priests liars so it goes unquestioned. The Tor gets identified with Arthur's resting place of Avalon, and hey presto the area around becomes the vale.
I've no objection to a bit of romantic historical speculation, but if you want the Arthur experience you're better off with Cornwall or Wales.

I go most years and the corporate crap is hardly noticable as the festival is not sponsered by Motorola or such like, and if you stick to the smaller fields and venues you won't see any of that nonsense.
Thank you czuczu I will have fun.

DeWinter wrote:I find the Holy Thorn/ Chalice Well/ Jesus and Joseph thing funnier. Ancient British war leader buried here? Possible. Middle-Eastern Jew travels across continent and plants a tree magically? Somewhat less likely..

Well yes Having said that, the planted staff growing into a tree is quite a standard mythological trope. Even to the point that David Eddings re-uses it in the Belgariad.

The Wikipedia entry on Joseph of Arimathea is quite interesting. I didn't realise that Arimathea itself isn't otherwise attested...

DeWinter wrote:
It was an island called "Isle of Glass" in I think Welsh,

Apples - afal - Avalon

DeWinter wrote: I've no objection to a bit of romantic historical speculation, but if you want the Arthur experience you're better off with Cornwall or Wales.

HE DIDN'T EXIST!!!

moses wrote:

DeWinter wrote:
It was an island called "Isle of Glass" in I think Welsh,

Apples - afal - Avalon

DeWinter wrote: I've no objection to a bit of romantic historical speculation, but if you want the Arthur experience you're better off with Cornwall or Wales.

HE DIDN'T EXIST!!!

Ynis Wytrin=" Isle of Glassy Waters". It was never identified with Avalon in the legend until the monks of Glastonbury claimed it was written on Arthur's coffin.

And he did!! And he'll come back and save us!! It's just his alarm clock has been playing up recently..