Glastonbury

Coordinates: 51°08′55″N 2°42′50″W / 51.1485°N 2.7140°W / 51.1485; -2.7140

Glastonbury /ˈɡlæstənbri/ is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, 23 miles (37 km) south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than 1 mile (2 km) across the River Brue from Street, which is now larger than Glastonbury.

Evidence from timber trackways such as the Sweet Track show that the town has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Glastonbury Lake Village was an Iron Age village, close to the old course of the River Brue and Sharpham Park approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of Glastonbury, that dates back to the Bronze Age. Centwine was the first Saxon patron of Glastonbury Abbey, which dominated the town for the next 700 years. One of the most important abbeys in England, it was the site of Edmund Ironside's coronation as King of England in 1016. Many of the oldest surviving buildings in the town, including the Tribunal, George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn and the Somerset Rural Life Museum, which is based in an old tithe barn, are associated with the abbey. The Church of St John the Baptist dates from the 15th century.

Glastonbury Festival 2010

The 2010 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place in Pilton, Somerset, England in June 2010.

The festival was headlined by Gorillaz, Muse, and Stevie Wonder. U2 were initially announced as headliners, but withdrew on 25 May 2010 citing Bono's recent back surgery. Gorillaz were announced as the replacement.

The festival was totally rain-free for the first time since 2002, and experienced the hottest average temperatures since the early 1990s. The total attendance of the event was 177,500.

Tickets

Similar to previous years, ticket buyers were required to pre-register to buy tickets with photographic identification, a measure employed to avoid reselling and touting. Tickets went on sale on 4 October and sold out within 12 hours of going on sale; quicker than the past two festivals. The general resale commenced on 11 April at 9:00 am, with all tickets selling out within 2 hours.

Line up

On 23 November 2009, it was announced that U2 would be headlining the Friday evening of the festival. Other acts confirmed by organisers include Jack Johnson, the early winners of the Emerging Talent Competition, My Luminaries and eventual final winners Ellen and the Escapades.

Glastonbury Festival

Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemporary music, the festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other arts. Leading pop and rock artists have headlined, alongside thousands of others appearing on smaller stages and performance areas. Films and albums recorded at Glastonbury have been released, and the festival receives extensive television and newspaper coverage. Glastonbury is the largest greenfield festival in the world, and is now attended by around 175,000 people, requiring extensive infrastructure in terms of security, transport, water, and electricity supply. The majority of staff are volunteers, helping the festival to raise millions of pounds for good causes.

Inspired by the ethos of the hippie, counterculture, and free festival movements, the festival retains vestiges of these traditions, such as the Green Fields area, which includes sections known as the Green Futures and Healing Fields. After the 1970s, the festival took place almost every year and grew in size, with the number of attendees sometimes being swollen by gate-crashers. Michael Eavis hosted the first festival, then called Pilton Festival, after seeing an open-air Led Zeppelin concert at the 1970 Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music.

Glastonbury Festival 2014

The 2014 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held between 25 to 29 June 2014.

Ticket sales

Initially a small selection of tickets were sold for people who wished to travel by coach. A few days later the standard tickets were released where ticket sales sold out in record time of one hour and 27 minutes.

Line-up

On 19 December 2013, it was announced that Arcade Fire would headline the Pyramid Stage on Friday 27 June 2014.Kasabian will headline on Sunday 29 June. In early March 2014, Glastonbury announced that Dolly Parton would perform at the festival via their Facebook page, although didn't confirm if she would be headlining. Other acts that self-confirmed were Disclosure (who will play the Other Stage on the Friday), Blondie, Lily Allen and Foxes. The artist headlining on Saturday was listed as special guests due to legal reasons. Metallica were later announced as the special guests.

As of 30 April 2014, the following artists have been announced to perform:

MGMT

MGMT is an American rock band formed in 2002 by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio. Formed at Wesleyan University and originally with Cantora Records, they signed with Columbia Records and Red Ink in 2006.

On October 5, 2007, Spin.com named MGMT "Artist of the Day." On November 14, 2007, Rolling Stone pegged MGMT as a top ten "Artist to Watch" in 2008. The band was named ninth in the BBC's Sound of 2008 Top Ten Poll. They were also named as Last.fm's most played new artist of 2008 in their Best of 2008 list.

MGMT's first album, Oracular Spectacular, debuted at No. 12 on the UK album chart, No. 13 after 34 weeks in the New Zealand RIANZ charts, number six on the Australian ARIA Charts, and hit number one on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. It has also been named the 18th best album of the 2000s by Rolling Stone magazine. It was named the best album of 2008 by NME. MGMT also appeared prominently in Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 2008, coming in 2nd with "Electric Feel", 5th with "Kids" and 18th with "Time to Pretend".