Glastonbury 2008

I went to Glastonbury last weekend, campaigning with CND. It was my first time there, and it was quite an experience. The site of so many people in a large field was quite something, like a city. Most people were there for the music, there were big names playing like Amy Winehouse, JayZ, The Verve, Gossip and The Kings Of Leon. Many of the acts were big names from the past, like Gilbert O'Sullivan, Shakin' Stevens, Neil Diamond, Joan Baez, Suzanne Vega, Sinead O’Connor and Leonard Cohen.

But there was so much more there, as well as the main stage there were perhaps a dozen smaller ones. Then there was the other areas such as the healing fields, left field, Greenpeace had an area (with showers!), Trash City, Shangri La and many more. I didn't visit all the areas, the site was so vast, and the paths were muddy the first days. We were lucky with the weather though, after a heavy downfall on the Thursday evening, there were only occasional showers.

There were lots of interesting shops and stalls, including a place to change up mobile phones by solar power, another by pedal power (see pic below). I bought a solar panel that can be attached to my freeloader to charge it more quickly, http://greenreading.blogspot.com/2008/06/freeloader.html

Abandoned tents were to be donated to the Give Me Shelter campaign run by the Global Hand charity. Tent pegs made from potato were available for campers, as the fields are turned over to pasture for the rest of the year and cows can swallow the metal ones.

CND gave out thousands of leaflets, sold hundreds of badges and many flags. The Theatre of War went out entertaining people with plays about the effects of nuclear devices. We asked people how they would like to spend the £76 billion destined for Trident, and got some great answers.


Charging phones with bike power



Pyramid Stage and the crowd




Theatre Of War


Peace Tank