Glastonbury 2015: The highlights and lowlights
- Published
The Glastonbury Festival has finished for another year, and 177,000 dazed festivalgoers are now heading back to civilisation.
The Who, Kanye West and Florence and the Machine headlined the event, while Lionel Richie, Pharrell Williams and Paloma Faith got some of the most enthusiastic reactions from the crowd. And that was just on the main stages.
Meanwhile, some rain fell, giving revellers a chance to slide around in some traditional Glastonbury mud.
Here, fans reveal their highlights and lowlights from the weekend - from the star performances to the weather and the toilets.
"My absolute highlight was Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Richie," says Ben Sinclair without hesitation.
"All of my mates had been on someone's shoulders at some point but I hadn't and my mate said 'get on my shoulders'. Just thinking about it makes me tingle."
The low point, he says, was the stage invasion during Kanye West's set. "That idiot Lee Nelson ran onto the stage trying to get attention for himself and ruined what could have been something very special," he says.
"But I still got something out of that gig. I'm not going to watch anything with Lee Nelson in ever again."
What was the best bit? "Getting my hand signed by Dynamo!" nine-year-old Daisy Livingstone shouts immediately. "She wouldn't bring it out in the rain today," her dad Adam says, explaining that she did not want it to wash off.
For seven-year-old sister Freya, the highlight was the climbing wall in the Kidz Field. "She went up it about 10 times," Adam says. "It's been a really good year."
His wife Susan picks out the circus and cabaret fields for praise. "They are always amazing," she says. "The Mexican Flying Men were really good. "From a family point of view there's loads to do. There's something to do all the time. They're never bored. Even in the rain."
That was the only small negative this year, Adam says. "The rain and the mud. As always."
"Lionel Richie and Pharrell Williams were definitely the highlights," declares first-timer Shelley Jones (second left). "Both had a really good atmosphere and got everyone going. Everyone was happy and singing the songs."
But she adds: "Kanye West was definitely not a highlight. People say Glastonbury's not just about the headliners. I didn't really understand that before, but I get it being here. There's a lot more to it than the headliners."
Steve Jones, meanwhile, has been before - but not since 2002. "It's changed loads," he says. "I think the legends' slot is now the headline slot. Looking at Kanye, the field was half empty.
He adds: "There's so much more here than there used to be. Everything's improved. Even the toilets have improved."
During Kanye West's performance, Carl XXX (he shows me his driving licence - that is his real name) lost interest and stumbled upon the highlight of his weekend.
"I found a little rave tent playing psychedelic '90s trance and had a full-on stomp for about an hour. It was brilliant."
He drives recycling lorries on site and his low moment came when one started skidding in the mud early on Sunday morning. "I stopped but that was a scary moment," he says.
"People were off their face and not aware that you're a lorry and they're a person, and they walk out in front [of the lorry]."
Jax Noble and Adele Bruce agree on their musical highlight. "I became a fan of Paloma Faith," says Adele. Jax adds: "She knocked spots off everyone else."
She continues: "The circus fields are wonderful. Even if you never went to a main stage you could spend all day in there.
"Whoever's organising this needs to be running the country."
The pair struggle to think of any disappointments before Jax finally says: "The downside is it doesn't go on for longer."
At her first Glastonbury, Sharon Wasley from Newcastle, who came with son Jacob, was impressed by how children were catered for.
"We love the Kidz Field," she says. "And we love the NCT [National Childbirth Trust] tent at the back of the children's field, where you could get free juice and coffee."
As for the music, she and Jacob rated Paloma Faith and Lionel Richie.
The downside? "The crowds," she says. "I didn't realise it was going to be so busy. We researched and the trike [a type of buggy] was the best thing to buy, but pushing it through the crowds was hard. People wouldn't give way."
For Jenny Scott from Sheffield, two things stand out. "The Libertines because we didn't know they were going to be performing," she says.
"And last night Arcadia was amazing." Arcadia is a dance area with a giant mechanical spider that is at the centre of a spectacular laser, fire and acrobatics show every night.
This was the first Glastonbury for Jenny and Steve Scott. "The first night we wondered if it's a bit overrated," Jenny says. "But we saw Arcadia and thought, no, you wouldn't get this at any other festival."
The worst bit is the exhaustion, she says. "It's pretty hard work because you want to see as much as you can."
Pharrell beat Kanye hands down, according to Ken John. "He's a musician. I'm a musician and his music is an inspiration. Lionel Richie was good too."
Ken comes every year and says there were no low points.
"This year's better than last year," he concludes. "Last year it was Maxi Priest and Dolly Parton, but the line-up was better this year."
"My highlight was Andy Fairweather Low in the Acoustic [tent] with Nick Lowe and Paul Carrack," says Linda Hewitt (right) from Weston-super-Mare, who is working in the festival car parks for the Festive Lizards charity.
"The atmosphere in there was absolutely electrifying.
"The lowest point was when we were up in the Green Field when the rain came down on Friday and we couldn't get out of it."
Another tricky point came when they tried to cut through the Pyramid Stage crowd to get to their accommodation while Kanye West was on. "We are first-timers and we were stupid enough to think we could get through," she says.
"Lionel was a big highlight," says Tori Gibson. "And Kanye was a big fat disappointment."
And she picks out some much-maligned festival facilities for praise. "I've been impressed by how clean the toilets have been this year," she says.
And the weather was not a problem for Tori and boyfriend Andy London. In fact, Andy says: "We like a little bit of mud, You need some Glastonbury mud."
