Black and White Photos of Glastonbury Festival in 1982

Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, in England. In addition to contemporary music, the festival hosts dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret, and other arts.

Leading pop and rock artists have headlined, alongside thousands of others appearing on smaller stages and performance areas. Films and albums recorded at Glastonbury have been released, and the festival receives extensive television and newspaper coverage.

Regarded as a major event in British culture, the festival is inspired by the ethos of the hippie, counterculture, and free festival movements. The majority of staff are volunteers, helping the festival to raise millions of pounds for charity organizations.

After the 1970s, the festival took place almost every year and grew in size, with the number of attendees sometimes being swollen by gatecrashers.

These black and white photos were taken by Simon Evans that documented part of what happened in the 1982 Glastonbury Festival.

“This was my first Glastonbury. My first festival of any kind actually, and it was a muddy, wet one. A bunch of us set out from Carmarthen, no tents, just sleeping bags, a few quid, a supply of Golden Virginia and Rizzlas. It turned out to be a fantastic, traumatic, unforgettable experience!”