Glastonbury Festival 2015 wraps up tomorrow, which is reason enough to feature a photo from last year’s musical and arts brouhaha today. Rain is the forecast, again, making self-titled “Taking Cover” timely selection. Americans doing fests like Coachella are more accustomed to sandals, sneaks, or bare soles rather than the rubber boots Glastonbury-goers wear.
I originally chose “Glastonmudbury” from the photostream of Paul Townsend. He explains the history of the event, and his storytelling is worthy of taking the Day. But I couldn’t authenticate the image, which in context of others on his Flickr is unlikely his to share. This series respects copyrights. So Tom O`Malley wins with a photo shot using iPhone 5 on June 28, 2014. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 80, 1/120 sec, 41mm. The Glastonbury Weather Twitter feed promises brighter skies today than yesterday’s bleak rain.
Fifteen hundred people attended the first festival, “the day after Jimi Hendrix died”, Sept. 19, 1970, according to the official history. “Two thousand fourteen was the year of four headliners”: Arcade Fire, Kasabian, Metallica, “and of course, Dolly Parton, who graced the front page of every national newspaper in the UK—and thousands more around the world—on the Monday morning as everybody made their way home”. Dolly Parton? Oh my.
Pyramid Stage headliners this year include: Florence + The Machine (yesterday), Pharrell Williams and Kanye West (today), and Patti Smith and The Who (tomorrow). I would be up for The Vaccines, Deadmau5, or Future Islands on the Other Stage. Instead, being in San Diego, I will watch past performances on Palladia.
Photo Credit: Tom O`Malley