Why did the event begin
Glastonbury Music and Arts festival began in 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died and it was called Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival. The festival's founder Michael Eavis was inspired by an open air concert he attended at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. The festival itself was originally influenced by the counterculture movement and hippie ethics surrounding the 1970’s
Evolution:
Now the event attracts over 100,000 guests annually and now instead of trying to object to mainstream values it aims to appeal to them. The festival secures major headliners each year that are at the height of pop culture. Another change that has been seen from the beginning of the festival to now is it’s increased commercialisation, in the beginning this festival was firmly anti-commercialism due to its countercultural roots but over time has adopted more and more aspects of it. In complete contrast to Glastonbury's counter-culture origins the festival, along with many others is now firmly implanted into the culture of a British summer.
Future of the Event
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With this continued growth comes concerns about the location of the even and founder of the festival, Michael Eavis, voiced concerns that the festival may have to move sites in the future due to the increased size of the festival and the fact that only part of the land the festival is held on is owned by Michael Eavis (Eavis, 2015.) If Glastonbury were to move it could be detrimental to the success of the festival. Paul Stokes, the editor of Q Magazine identified this as a problem and risk for