The "Glastonbury" festival is actually something of a misnomer; the site at Worthy Farm, owned by the festival organiser and farmer, Michael Eavis, is in the village of Pilton, situated just a couple of miles south of Shepton Mallet on the main route through to Glastonbury. Festival season sees the village invaded by music lovers from all corners of the globe and has increased in size over the years to entertain well over 100,000 people in 2004.

The festival does have its critics, not least of all the residents of Pilton, who see their village transformed for a week: lanes are blocked to prevent illegal parking, pubs and shops fill with music lovers, and there are the inevitable problems that are always going to occur when a population of 100,000 invades a tiny community. But, of course, the vast, vast majority of people are just there for the music and trouble rarely raises its head.

The guest list at Glastonbury over the years is like the definitive list of musical talent from the era, and Michael Eavis has often featured up-and-coming bands in an attempt to bring their music to a wider audience as well as launch their careers. In 2003 the "new hope" was The Darkness and look where they are now!

For the rest of the year, Worthy Farm is just that, a working arable and livestock holding, but come summer, the farm takes on its secondary (some would say primary) role of hosting the world's largest organised music festival.