LIVE EVENTS

The first-ever Glastonbury Festival was held in 1970, one day after the death of Jimi Hendrix. Now, 45 years later, Glastonbury 2015 rages on. Running from June 24-28 this year, Glastonbury s line up includes Patti Smith, The Who, Kanye West, The Chemical Brothers and Ryan Adams. We dug around in Glastonbury s historical galleries and hand-picked some cool photography and interesting artwork from the library.

1971

The second-ever Glastonbury festival saw an attendance of 12,000 people.

Pyramid under Construction by Peter Ball

It was in this year that the first pyramid stage was constructed out of scaffolding and expanded metal covered with plastic sheeting, built on a site above the Glastonbury-Stonehenge ley line.

The pyramid stage would go on to become an enduring symbol of the festival

1979

1982

by Jason Pring

1983

A long way from 1971 View Of Pyramid Stage And Tents
by Stuart Thorpe

1985

It rained at Glastonbury 1985, turning the parade ground into a huge mud pit.

1989

And suddenly, punks:

The group s spot. You don t get that much space these days, I m sure.
by Matty

1993

Rave culture is in full-swing in 1993, as this group of festival goers party under a parachute.

Dropzone
by Clive Moore

2002

By 2002, festival attendance was at 100,000. This is what Glastonbury 2002 looked like from the air:

Arial view, Glastonbury, 2002

2005

The morning after the storm on Thursday night, taken from the old railway track
by rachel osborne

2007

The pyramid stage isn t the only Glastonbury tradition: braving the mud in a set of wellies has become a traditional Glastonbury experience.

2015

Bringing us, finally, to the present. Glastonbury organizers posted this instagram shot of the pyramid stage going up for its 45th year: