Glastonbury festival is not the only major musical event happening in the UK this year. Plenty of others will be staged in parks and fields and beaches over the summer, but none will be as well attended – or receive anywhere near the same amount of attention.
And while other events struggle, with estimates that as many as 100 are likely to call it a day this year, Glastonbury thrives. Tickets (£355) sell out at warp speed (before lineups are even announced), no one seems deterred about the price of food and drink, and thousands turn up before the gates even open.
So Glastonbury is clearly a big business, a totemic symbol perhaps, of the commercialisation of rock festivals. And one of the reasons for its continued success could be the enormous amount of television coverage it receives.
