Glastonbury locals warn that festival crowds turn up at wrong town every year

Brits who live in the town of Glastonbury say they are braced once more for the area to be flooded with festival goers. This is despite the fact that Glastonbury Festival is actually located in Pilton – nine miles away.

Each year excited festival ticket holders turn up "laden with tents, boots and rucksacks" in the Somerset town, claims David MacGeoch, vicar of Glastonbury. Around 210,000 people attend the festival and plenty don’t seem to have done their research correctly each summer.

David lives in Glastonbury – the town – and says every year he helps direct lost celebrants towards their destination. He was speaking as part of a special BBC Radio 4 broadcast from St John's Church in Glastonbury on Sunday (June 18), reports SomersetLive.

READ MORE: Teens enjoy 'mother of all benders' in wild festival with nudity, pranks and £100k buses

Mr MacGeoch said: "This Wednesday will be no exception to what I see every year at the start of Glastonbury Festival. Out of my window I watch a number of parents in their cars, dropping off their youngsters laden with tents, boots and rucksacks, and as I walk down the roadside, an excitable young person will ask 'Which way to the festival?'

"I should say that at the same time, their family have now driven off. With a smile on my face, I say it's nine miles that way and it's on Worthy Farm in a little village called Pilton.

"You can see the dismay on their faces. But they do cheer up when I direct them to the nearest bus stop."

Glastonbury Festival was not originally named after the Somerset town – which is rather famous for its historic tor, witchy bookshops, alternative folk and plenty of crystal stores. In 1970 the festival was called the Pop, Folk and Blues festival.

A year later it adopted the name Glastonbury Fair as the Pyramid stage was placed on a ley line between Glastonbury and Stonehenge. Over time it took on the name Glastonbury Fayre, Glastonbury CND Festival and then finally in 1989 Glastonbury Festival.

While it’s not known why a festival in Pilton took the name of a different town it may have been to attach some of the mysticism and folklore of the area. After all, plenty of tales link it to both Jesus and King Arthur.

One person who is bound to know how to get to the correct festival ground is Mary Horesh, 47, who has been to Glastonbury Festival five times for free! The charity worker discovered she could guarantee a free place by volunteering to guard attendees' personal belongings at one of the festival’s "lock ups". People leave everything from passports to instruments inside.

Mary works around 25 hours in total volunteering at the lock up from Wednesday to Monday – including one eight hour night shift. After that she’s free to enjoy the festival and watch her favourite performers.

She commented: "I'd definitely recommend volunteering. It's such a unique way to experience Glastonbury and I've probably saved thousands."

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