The Archive .
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Formatted at 1280 X 1024. Updated June 2023 .
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June 20-23rd 1979. Peter Gabriel, Steve Hillage, Mother Gong, Tim Blake, John Martyn , Tom Robinson, UK Subs, Sphynx ,Sky,Footsbarn Theatre ,Nona Hendryx , Alex Harvey, Leighton Buzzards,The Pop Group/The Slits and The Only Ones. |
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Festival Welfare Services Report.
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Photo © Michael Cashman |
Glastonbury Fayre, June 21 - 23, 1979 . Approximately 12,000 people attended the festival over three days. The 150 acre grassy site was on the slopes of a valley with a view of Glastonbury Tor. The weather was mainly fine over the festival, but a storm and strong winds got up over Saturday night. The strong winds on Sunday were an encouragement for many campers to leave the festival. The audience attracted by the festival seemed to be mainly older and experienced festival-goers.
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Toilet Facilities Roundabout toilets were supplied in adequate numbers and well distributed around the site. There were no queues to use them. The toilet tanks were emptied once, after becoming smelly during the hot weather. The toilets were cleaned and had soft toilet paper replaced re B regularly by Civil Aid. There were some complaints that the toilet seats in the 'roundabouts' were too high,especially for children and pregnant women. Water Water was supplied near the toilet units, in large barrels. There was also a tap near the farmhouse. The water and toilets were easily findable. All water points had washing-up bowls and soap provided at them for washing. Food & Drink There was an excellent range of foods and drink available, both prepared and for own catering. It was mainly vegetarian wholefood at very reasonable prices. There were no free food kitchens, but free meal tickets were available for volunteers who worked on site. There was a slight concern that the food being sold from one van might have been contaminated as two cases of diarrhoea and vomiting were traced to the same van; but there were no other outbreaks. |
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Refuse Disposal There were large oil drums scattered around the site which were regularly emptied. The site was kept very clean of litter. Rubbish from the containers was burnt in a large pit on the site. Noise Noise levels from the large stage were low at the edge of the site. There were some complaints that the sound was too loud at the mixing tower. Near the front of the stage the sound level was thought to be excellent, as the banks of speakers were set up well to the sides of the stage. |
Photo © Michael Cashman |
Welfare facilities
A medical service was provided by local doctors and nurses, in conjunction with the Red Cross. The medical service operated from a large marquee in the welfare area, and a doctor's surgery was in operation from early morning until 2 a.m. The Red Cross and Release doctors were on call during the night. Red Cross personnel patrolled the arena and campsites during the day and the evening. The medical service tended a steady stream of minor ailments, but there were no serious casualties.
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Photo © Michael Cashman |
Release
operated a legal advice and drug counselling service. The Samaritans
ran an emotional counselling service in the Welfare area. Neither group
saw people with serious drug or emotional problems. Also in the welfare
arena was a range of alternative medical services provided by healers,
masseurs, homeopathists and accupuncturists, for those people who preferred
to be treated by these means. Co-operation between groups providing
medical services was good. Civil Aid units provided a range of services.
They set up and operated a field telephone communications system, ran
cheap mass catering facilities, and cleaned the toilets on site. The
toilet cleaning service was very necessary as the 'roundabout' style
of toilets tend to get very messy. |
Source provided a team to supervise the three very large crash marquees. The marquees were used during the day for theatre groups, lectures, and the child-minding service, and at night they were used as 'crash' tents by people who hadn't brought their own sleeping shelter. The tents were not crowded at night, as the majority of people attending the festival had come well-prepared for camping, and there was little theft (if any) of camping equipment on the site.
Miscellaneous
1. Information
Point
The information point was very efficiently run. It provided a wide range of
information, including times of events and lectures, bus and rail timetables,
lift services, lost people information, facilities on site, and acted as a
centre for volunteers wanting to help with the festival. The information point
was open continuously for the duration of the festival.
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Photo © Paul Seaton |
6. Telephone
There was only one coin box telephone available near the farmhouse. This had
long queues on it most of the time. It was felt that more pay telephones would
have been well used if available.
General
The festival
seemed to have been extremely well-run and efficiently organised. The site
facilities were excellent, and hardly any complaints (except about the toilets)
were heard. Prices, both admission to the festival, and those charged for
goods on sale at the site, were reasonable and the selection of entertainments
was very wide, especially for children. It seemed that the festival was thoroughly
enjoyed by all who attended. It was felt that a lot of care had been taken
to ensure that the festival-goers had all the facilities that they needed.
Penny Mellor
June, 1979.