Glastonbury
Complain all you like but Glastonbury has delivered the goods again
There’s yet to be a Glastonbury line-up that hasn’t provoked a chorus of naysaying. Refrains like ‘looks rubbish. I wouldn’t…
The true valour needed to go on pilgrimage in Britain
Oliver Smith finds sanctity in remote peninsulas and holy islands, but is less impressed by the tacky ephemera that decorate our more accessible shrines
Glastonbury has become a singalong event for OAPs
‘Well, it’s just not Glastonbury, is it?’ said my daughter aggressively, when told that our yurt featured an actual bed,…
Long live the rock dinosaurs!
When the Oldie changed ‘leadership’ a few years back I swooped on the new editor, young Harry Mount, like a…
Zelensky’s peculiar Glastonbury appearance
Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t quite make it onto the Glastonbury line-up posters. Perhaps Michael Eavis, the owner of ever-so Worthy Farm,…
Old rockers with a Peter Pan syndrome
What do the following individuals have in common: a political activist from Suffolk; a chartered psychologist from Oxfordshire, who enjoys…
Henry VIII’s windfall from the monasteries was shockingly short-term
In 1536 there were 850 monastic houses in England and Wales; just four years later they were all gone. The…
Floods you with fascinating facts: Trees A Crowd reviewed
Listening to Trees A Crowd, a podcast exploring the ‘56(ish) native trees of the British Isles’, solved one of childhood’s…
The festivalisation of TV
Televising Glastonbury has changed the festival, and in turn transformed television, says Graeme Thomson
How many 999 calls are genuine emergencies?
To debate or not to debate Is Boris Johnson wise to shun TV debates? — Prior to the 2015 Labour…
Rory’s classic mistakes
If Rory Stewart had taken full advantage of his education at Eton and read classics at Oxford rather than PPE,…
Steve Hilton's model for policy reform: Glastonbury (yes, really)
Glastonbury is a model for radical policy reform, says Steve Hilton
Paganism is alive and well – but you won’t find it at a Goddess Temple
The rise of modern paganism – and the persistence of the real thing
The rise of crowd culture – a generation scared to do anything alone
Individualism is dead: we have succumbed to the lure of the crowd
A Glastonbury adventure with Led Zeppelin, Lana del Rey, drug dealers – and my son
‘Charlie. E. Powder,’ said the friendly, helpful man working his way through the crowd during the mindblowing Friday-night headline set…
The Stones at Glastonbury: the greatest show EVER
Yes, I’m sorry, the Stones at Glastonbury really were that good and if you weren’t there I’m afraid you seriously…
