2013 Glastonbury Festival tickets: Prices and details announced

“OK, I think I understand now. It sounds like you prefer a festival that's a little more 'focussed' on the strip of the musical spectrum to which you're locked into. That's fair enough but the festival's full name, "Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts", really should have given you a clue that it's not for you.”

“So, Saxondale, you only want to go to a festival that's playing only the bands you like? Just sit on your back garden with your U2 (one of the worst bands of all time) cd and get pi$$ed on your own then. You sound like such a throw-back old bore I'm shocked anyone would actually want to go to a festival with you.”

“Bertie, I was attracted ( as everyone else was ) to the reading and IoW ( and Knebworth btw , 1990 was a classic year) festivals by the astonishing list of the top bands playing there. Similarly, looking at the Glastonbury 'festival', with the exception of U2, I wouldn't cross the street to suffer the rubbish on offer. No wonder Floyd never played there, they'd have been too embarrassed.
On the subject of embarrassment, don't you feel just a little strange as an old bloke shuffling your feet to the gangsta rap krap?
Some people have no standards or are just too thick to realise when they're being laughed at.

Then we move on to the other "attractions" as listed by "sunny bath", I'm only surprised that Damien Hirst isn't on the list but you never know, there's time yet. Whoopee.”

“Pebbles, how do I start to understand and more to the point take seriously the obverse opinion of someone who hasn't even been to the festival, and makes a judgment from his own living room ?

You cant qualify to comment on an occasion you have never witnessed first hand in an accurate manner, a child of 8 could understand that concept but you clearly can't.”

“Way of the world I guess. Even little Ashleworth Show had the audacity to charge an entrance fee this year - £7 for a family of 5 and for what? And that's even before you started spending your money! Not to worry - tomorrow's Newent Onion Fair promises to be a great day out as always and it is FREE!”

“Glastonbury is SO last year, I'm going to St Pauls next year. It's the coolest place on earth apparently.”

“OK Pebbles23, describe the components of your ideal festival? I think we've got a good idea of what you don't like but, personally, I'm struggling to see what's left!”

“theatre, poetry, political speakers, cabaret, art installations, dance and fire shows. The effort that goes into the themed night-time areas is mind-blowing, last year's festival saw a London tower block with crashed tube train , a New York street , a pre-apocalyptic dystopian city and the indescribable Arcadia "

I think I'd rather stick pins in my eyes.”

“I don't pretend to be anything like the Glastonbury expert that Pebbles23 is, after all I've only been to the 1998 festival and then from 2003 onward. However, my experience doesn't match Pebbles23's description at all. T

here are around 70 separate venues featuring music at the festival (from tea shops up to the ~100,000 person capacity pyramid field) with pretty much the whole musical spectrum represented in there somewhere whether that be African, bluegrass, electronica, folk, classical, disco, opera, klezmer, dubstep, country and western, techno, ska, gypsy jazz or, heaven forbid, pop.

Then there's the non-musical entertainment with theatre, poetry, political speakers, cabaret, art installations, dance and fire shows. The effort that goes into the themed night-time areas is mind-blowing, last year's festival saw a London tower block with crashed tube train ( http://tinyurl.com/9tt29jo ), a New York street ( http://tinyurl.com/9tt29jo/the-nyc-downlow ), a pre-apocalyptic dystopian city ( http://tinyurl.com/8nezxm4 ) and the indescribable Arcadia ( http://tinyurl.com/lr6wr9 ).

Then there are the people; all ages, nationalities and parts of society are there, all determined to have a great time whatever the weather might throw at them.

I think it's reasonable to say that if you're bored of Glastonbury then you're bored of life. I won't deny it's hard work; it's a huge site with far too much see and I always leave in a state of exhaustion needing a good rest!

You really can't judge it from what you read in the press or watch on TV, you need to try it for yourself but I fear you've already closed your mind on this matter...”

“Bertie, I'm amazed that you haven't been to Oz because you encapsulate my observations of Canberra really quite well, other than that the proportion who wear the corked hats is a little bit less and that VB and Tooheys are the preferred tipples. Redback and Huntsman spiders together with the lethal Brown snake are really quite commonplace, don't get me started on Sydney.
You do however have a problem understanding the written word and accepting the obverse opinion to your own which put simply is tha Glastonbury, by comparison to the really great festivals, is garbage. I have no need to blow a couple of hundred to confirm that view, just as I don't need to go to the Kalahari to make sandcastles.
I didn't say that the 70's festivals were drug free, far from it. The issue on that subject is that back then the production of 'recreational' drugs was more precise and far from dodgy resulting in much less dangerous products.
You are however fully entitled to your opinion of what constitutes music, no matter how misguided that opinion may be. Suffice to say that in 10 years time 99% of the performers at Glastonbury will have sunk into justified obscurity and forgotten like a bad smell.
That you've even heard of Hendrix proves the point. I wonder if Fat Boy Slim and all of the other talentless clowns will be so revered 40 years after they shrug off this mortal coil.
I don't think so somehow.

Well done for proof-reading your latest 'contribution' although I'm a little unsure as to what "dieases" might be.

9/10 for effort.”