Thread by @petepaphides

I got back from Glastonbury late last night. I’ve been to every Festival since 1992 when I got some work there as a steward, checking wristbands on the gates. (1/17)

Back then I was 23 and I didn’t notice the invisible stuff that, even though it’s not glamorous, is actually the difference between an enjoyable festival and one that leaves you feeling a little short-changed. (2/17)

All the things that made this year’s Glastonbury so wonderful – perhaps my favourite ever – were things that the organisers didn’t really have to do. Indeed, they could have saved a huge amount of money by not doing them. (3/17)

The hundreds of extra workers dotted around the site with hi-vis jackets saying that they were here to help whatever questions or problems attendees had. (4/17)

The several hundred water taps, water stalls and people with water-dispensing backpacks giving out water to anyone who needed it. Festivals make huge money from the sale of single use plastic water bottles. But Glastonbury 2019 did away with all of that. (5/17)

And for people who didn’t want tap water, every stall was made to sell water in cans. Suddenly that most common of noises at festivals – the crunch of massed feet on discarded bottles was gone. (6/17)

There was also the on-site supermarket run by the Co-op, which sold thousands of sandwiches in compostable plastic – developed especially for the Festival but which Co-op is now planning to roll out across the country. (7/17)

The main thing that gets reported about the Festival is the music coverage. So let’s talk about the music at this year’s Glastonbury, with an unprecedented amount of female performers... (8/17)

And also its commitment to a bill which seeks to reflect the way music is changing, and also the way Britain has been changing. (9/17)

For years the lack of cultural and ethnic diversity among mainstream festival audiences has been one of those things that you notice and feel a bit uncomfortable about. This year’s Glastonbury was by far the most diverse crowd I’ve seen at the Festival. (10/17)

And even if that wasn’t always immediately apparent by looking at the people gathered at the Pyramid stage, across the site – especially around the Silver Hayes area, where a lot of grime and British rap artists played, it was really noticeable. (11/17)

Glastonbury tickets go on sale before the lineup is announced. Over the next few years, we need to get to a point where fans of all the artists listed by Stormzy in his astonishing headline set, will buy tickets for the Festival, knowing their music be represented there. (12/17)

This year’s Festival – with euphorically-received sets by Little Simz, Lady Leshurr, Bugzy Malone, Stefflon Don, Ray BLK and Dave was another step towards that point. (13/17)

I was 10 when 2-Tone blew up around Britain, and black and white school kids around the country were all united in their love of The Specials, Selecter, The Beat and also UB40. (14/17)

Watching young people from different backgrounds enjoying some of the artists I mentioned earlier put me in mind of that time. (15/17)

I ended up spending most of Saturday night going from stage to stage at Silver Hayes (Young T & Bugsey, Lady Leshurr, and also Peggy Gou) in the Silver Hayes area, just enjoying the energy of the crowds there. (16/17)

So, basically, cheers Glastonbury. I’m feeling a strange emotion which might be optimism about the future, and it’s all because of the weekend you just laid on for us. (17/17)