Glastonbury Festival opens gates as music fans begin to set up camp

Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest music festival, has opened its gates to fans today, welcoming an influx of people, tents, rucksacks and beer. Thousands of ticket-holders have flooded onto the event site since its opening at 8am this morning, with many sleeping in their cars overnight in the hope of ensuring the best camping spot. The festivities do not kick off until Friday however, when Arctic Monkeys top the bill on the main Pyramid Stage, followed by The Rolling Stones on Saturday night and Mumford & Sons on Sunday. 135,000 ticket holders are expected to arrive in the next few days, with the weather mercifully set to be warm and mostly dry. Founder and organiser Michael Eavis says he expects this year’s festival to be ‘unusually good’. ‘The whole thing is fantastic,’ the 77-year-old farmer said. ‘There are 1,000 acres of creativity on a massive scale and to a very, very high standard. You won’t see anything else like this in the whole world.’ Glasto took a fallow year in 2012 to coincide with the Olympics and allow the farm land on which it takes place time to recover. Festival-goers can expect improved facilities this year, with a converted tractor offering Wi-Fi and a new toilet system in place that sees waste go straight into the ground, designed to combat the infamous foul smell. Tickets for the event, which also sees performances from The xx, Primal Scream and Dizzee Rascal, cost £205 and sold out in a record one hour and 40 minutes. by metro