Glasto gridlock

Levellers headline first night, but fire is causing travel chaos

26 June 2008 - This year's Glastonbury festival is underway with the first acts appearing on the Left Field stage, Queen's Head and Lounge Stage with DJ sets at other locations.

However, a fire at a scrapyard a mile from the festival site this lunchtime has meant roads have been closed, which is causing big queues as fans arrive in large numbers. There are warnings that if people travel this afternoon they face hours of delays.

"The traffic is absolutely horrendous, I've been stuck in traffic for an hour and a half," said Dave Bennett from the RAC. The A37 wad closed where it meets the A361, which is near the festival's northern side.

Acts on the bill for the first day's action include Make Model, Glasvegas, Santogold, Roisin Murphy, The Rascals, Cut Copy and The Levellers, who headline the Leftfield stage.

However, the event is still not sold out. Festival Organiser Michael Eavis blamed the weather. "Three years of mud... Wouldn't that put you off?" he said.

"Three years of mud - wouldn't that put you off?"
Michael Eavis

Eavis also admitted he's lost sleep over the slower ticket sales this year and the £800,000 clear-up after last year almost put him off staging it again.

He said: "I thought it for a moment, I thought I don't think I can go through this again. But then you get over it, it's like having a baby. It's painful at the time, but you get over it."

The festival's popularity was dented this week after it emerged that thousands of tickets remained unsold, although organisers say there are now only about 800 tickets left.

Rapper Jay-Z has been blamed by some for the ticket slowdown and he has divided opinion on whether it was a good move to book him for Saturday night.

"When he comes on the Pyramid stage, I'm going to be heading to the other side of the festival," said one fan who's already on the site. Several bands have defended Jay-Z, though, including Coldplay.

A lack of rain and mud so far on the first proper day suggests Glastonbury will get off to a better start than recent years. Neil Diamond's playing on Sunday and he's completely optimistic.

He said: "It's an enormous music festival and I'm looking forward to it. Have I got my wellies? It's not going to rain, it's going to be beautiful."


Andre Paine