The daddy, the don, the all-time festival favourite for many of us, Glastonbury Festival is as gargantuan in popularity as it is in sheer overwhelming size. The festival, which is based in Pilton in Somerset and is now in its 42nd year, covers an impressive 900 acres and has 28 different stages showcasing a plethora of bands over the course of 5 days.
But never mind that, in typical British fashion, the festival garners equal amount of focus on the weather as it does on outstanding musical talent and whether Mick Jagger is going to OD on oxygen or not. Whether its epic downpours, thunder storms and unrelenting quagmire, or scorching sun and 3rd degree sunburn, Glastonbury is as well known for its tempestuous weather as its impressive crowd-pulling line-ups and pagan hippy roots.
So what’s in store for this year’s festival goers? Mud, music and mayhem? Will it bucket it down, or will the sun shine down on sun-kissed revellers smug in the knowledge that previous Glasto compadres have floated atop a river of mud and worn sodden wellies for five day on the trot?
Well, so far the forecast for Glasto 2013 is looking pretty good. There’s no sign of the weather gods gearing up to get out the big guns, instead the weather forecast looks steady and uneventful with bright sunny spells, some showers and cloud cover comprising the (non) climatic line-up.
The Met Office has predicted scattered clouds over the next couple of days, with a high chance of unhindered sun every day. Daytime temperatures will sit in the high teens, and will pick up come the weekend. Although some wet spells are expected on Thursday and Friday, the weather on the whole is playing ball, with warm and dry weather overall and some lovely sunny evenings on the agenda.
However, notoriously changeable, our weather does like to play a fickle game – especially when there’s a festival underway. So, although the outlook is looking pretty promising, pack your flip flops and wellies, your brolley and sun cream and keep up-to-date on Glastonbury Festival’s weather forecast, here.
Did you know…
The festival sprang to life the day after Jimi Hendrix dies in 1970. Back then it was free to get in – you were also given a bottle of fresh milk straight off the farm to boot. Beats a warm can of Special Brew…
By 1971, the festival moved to coincide with the Summer Solstice and was known as the Glastonbury Fair. The festival took on a medieval tradition of music, dance, theatre, poetry, lights and spontaneous entertainment.
The festival’s name was changed to Glastonbury Festival in 1981 was the first “Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament” festival. The festival’s founder, Michael Eavis helped the peace movement by holding the Festival at Worthy farm.
Come 1990 the festival took the name of the Glastonbury Festival for Contemporary Performing Arts for the first time; so as to reflect the diversity of attractions within the Festival. This year’s festival celebrated its 20th anniversary, however, celebrations were marred by clashes between security staff and travellers looting the site.
2002’s festival brought amazing weather and a much-anticipated and highly organised line up of events. The now notorious ring of steel fence successfully kept all non ticket holders off the site, and 140,000 festival goers enjoyed sets from Coldplay, Rod Stewart and Stereophonics to name but a few.
Mud, music and merry mayhem sums up 2007’s festival. Come rain or shine, Glasto festival goers battled the mud with indomitable spirit – and lost a few wellies while they were at it… The Arctic Monkeys played their first ever Glastonbury set headlining the Pyramid Stage and The Who wowed the crowds, closing the festival in suitable style.
2013…is set to be a bumper year. Thousands of festival-goers, tents, and wellies will descend on Worth Farm to enjoy a brilliant line-up, which includes Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons, and Rita Ora. The weather looks stable with a combination of sunny, rainy and cloudy spells rolling in but nothing too dramatic. And if the weather does take a turn for the worst, at least you can sleep easy (in your nice damp, smelly tent) that rock n’ roll legend Mick Jagger will be warm and cosy in his 3,000 luxury yurt.
