Yahoo News How Glastonbury Festival grew from a £1 'Folk Festival'
TODAY we're looking back to September 1970, when the first Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival took place at Michael Eavis' Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset.
A crowd of 1,500 attended, all paying £1 for a ticket - complete with free milk from the farm's herd.
The first headliner - confirmed at the last minute - was T Rex, who reportedly turned up on the working farm in a purple velvet Cadillac.
What we now know as the Glastonbury Festival - full title the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts - was born.
Now, more than 54 years later, the event is seen as a cultural icon in its own right, alongside its founder. It is a staple on 'bucket lists' for children and adults alike.
The festival spans more than 900 acres of farmland in the Vale of Avalon, has raised millions for good causes and welcomes more than 2,000 volunteers from charities and organisations each year.
Yet Michael Eavis is not a media mogul, nor a billionaire cashing in on the latest trends.
He is a Somerset dairy farmer who enjoys seeing his daughter Emily putting together a show for more than 200,000 people, quite literally, in his backyard.
He remains the figurehead of Glastonbury, which he ran with his wife, Jean, until she passed away in 1999, but daughter Emily Evis is now at the helm.
Speaking in 2016, he said: "I've got no idea why it grew like it did really.
"We did some different things along the way. I mean, 50,000 people without tickets; the whole traveller thing, welcoming them.
"No one else would have done that would they? Not that I could hold back 50,000 people, even if I wanted to.
"And we had 2 million people trying to get tickets this year, so people still want to come."
Mr Evis added: "I think the basic lesson is that all races, sexes, whatever you are, you can live together and have a really good time. That's what people learn from Glastonbury.
"They are all on a level playing field, that's why they're there. In the fields of Worthy Farm, everyone feels part of something - and no one cares about race, creed, or anything."
"And it's the greatest time in the world isn't it?"
