Brian Carson, 1979

1979 was the very first three day event and it was called Glastonbury Fayre. Acts included: Peter Gabriel, Steve Hillage, Alex Harvey Band - Tickets £5 they Sold 12,000

Sure these days everyone knows there is a Glastonbury Festival but back in 1979 - there was no Internet {WWW}

No mention of it on television or national radio and my mates and I had never heard of it ' in London ' - not counting the time people showed up when there was no event there was only two previous events in 1970 and 1971.

I got roped in as a booker working for Glastonbury asked a mates band to play and I was one of the drivers. They were a pub band, playing at the Half Moon Pub in Putney and right out the blue they were asked if they could play at Glastonbury Fayre the month later - all the details were noted down on a beer mat.

None of us had ever been to Shepton Mallet before  but we were told Pilton was 1/2 the way to Glastonbury Town and it was "‘on the left’. We struggled to find Pilton on a normal map. It was as unspecific as that - anyway we did find it - I drove down some of their gear and and another friend drove down the rest. We found the windy path and at the bottom was a garden shed {this is where the guy checks the tickets}. It was rough and ready - most attending appeared to be locals {25 miles}.

One of them showed the beer mat as the booker had signed it - he showed it to the guy in the shed but he had no radio so he just let in the Campervan and the two cars and he was asked to go to the Farm House. These days even with the right Crew Pass its difficult to get though the gate but in 1979 it was simple to get in just with a beer mat.

1979 map - red dot is the entrance - guy in a ' shed ' who was selling tickets at the gate - we camped beside our cars - blue dot {common then to camp beside a car}

What was annoying was the fact that they did not hold a event in 1980 - I believe it was shortage of funds.