Well, I've made it. After one plane and three bus trips, I've joined the 177,500 other fans of music and mud at the biggest Glastonbury festival ever - this year's festival is up in capacity by 43,000, is 1,000 acres larger since the last one in 2005 and its abolutely kicking with atmosphere.
People started arriving on Wednesday and by 3pm on Friday, there were 148,000 people and 30,000 cars on site, and 160,000 rolls of free toilet roll had been distributed - that would be 4,000 kms worth if it was outstretched!
Now to the big story - the mud gage! Glastonbury takes place on a farm and as there were four big downpours on Thursday, the rivers of mud had well and truly started flowing by day one, Friday, but most people are well equipped with wellies and once you've had your first few splashes of mud - or even undignified falls - you don't worry about the 'mud look'. In fact, it would look strange not to have some! But it's nothing compared to what has been dubbed as 'Brown Friday' in 2005, where a month's worth of rain fell in two hours and many campsites were only reachable by boat after that! Apparently the organisers invested £100,000 in new drainage systems since 2005 and are delighted to see them working, so there is a bright side for some!
The music kicked off officially at 10.30am on Friday with Adjegas on the Pyramid Stage and Mr Hudson and The Library on the Other Stage and the excitement was building all day. Amy Winehouse took to the stage at 3pm on Friday, followed by The Magic Numbers, Bloc Party and The Fratellis. Kasabian brought the night in with the backdrop of a beautiful Glastonbury suset, an the Arctic Monkeys closed the Pyramid Stage with a fantastic performance until 12.30am. Over on the second largest stage, the Other Stage, Rufus Wainwright played an early evening set but the hightlight of many people's night was Arcade Fire who brought the house - or should that be field - down with an explosive collection of big sounds. This was followed by Bjork who despite a slightly late start, thrilled crowds with her own eclectic mix of chords and dischords.
Over in the Dance Village, The Klaxons played a really funky, upbeat hour of tunes and Fatboy Slim brought the village into the early hours. Apparently Kevin Spacey was watching from backstage. The Lost Vagueness village proved popular later on in the early hours, when hundreds of people descended for treats of acrobatic shows in the Ballroom, dance music in the Chapel and lots in between including delicious organic and veggie munchies and an oxegen bar to revive the senses!
With over 2,000 of the world's best bands on offer, the choice of music is amazing and sometime it's hard to choose who to see where. It's a big big site - it took us an hour to walk from Lost Vagueness back to the Dance Village last night - you're battling with the mud as well as the pedestrian traffic, and trying to make sure you don't lose a welly, but the atmosphere is amazing and everyone is happy to wander with no rush. And it's fab to just stumble into a tent and discover a new band and hang out for a while.
The plan for today, Saturday, is to see new area The Park, a new area which is being organised by Emily Eavis, Michael Eavis's youngest daughter, and to also check out the healing fields, circus fields and Jazz World. The sun is coming out and the mud is being soaked up with fresh deliveries of straw and woodchips. So, until later and the next report, it's back out into the Glasto mud and mayhem.
Yvonne Gordon