I am, of course, a HUGE Glastonbury Festival obsessive: I’ve done 10 Glastos (at time of writing) and basically it is my favourite place in the world, bar none. Ask me about Glasto and I get this glazed look in my eyes; I can’t help but smile. When the 50th Anniversary festival was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, and then subsequently the 2021 festival also… I’d not gone more than one year (usually a fallow year) without spending time on the hallowed ground of Worthy Farm since that first 2008 festival. It was like a pilgrimage at this point, I needed to visit the site to pay my respects, even with no festival there for two whole years.
Lucky for me, in the summer of 2021, the farm decided to run Worthy Pastures; a one-time only (or hopefully maybe not?) summer of camping on the Glastonbury festival site. For 6 weeks, you could book into pre-pitched tents amongst the festival grounds for 3-, 4-, or 5- nights, and enjoy exploring the grounds, as well as taking part in some workshops, eating excellent local festival food, visiting the beautiful local Somerset countryside – including the Glastonbury Tor, and there were also lots of things to do with kids on site too.
The Worthy Pastures Pre-Erected Tents – Two People in a Scout Tent
We booked a two person scout tent for me and my boyfriend Ben because we thought the cheapest option would be fine for us, however to be honest, after booking we were a bit worried! We are both over 6ft, him with big shoulders, me with big hips & bum, and we were concerned that the ‘Two Person’ option would not be big enough – because as we all know ‘2-man tents’ are basically like coffins with no space for bags. However we did check the dimensions provided on the booking site, and thought we would give it a go, despite the one image provided showing children sat in the porch!
When we arrived we were actually pleasantly surprised. Even for us two ‘large humans’, we could still just about stand up in the middle of the tent, and our double air bed fit on one side of the inner compartment, with the other half giving us ample space for lots of luggage, and we still even had some floor space available. We were able to set up two camping chairs in the porch, which when it rained and we had to quickly close the front zip, did become a bit tight to sit in, but still enough room for wellies, our rubbish bags, and our plates & cooking bits. These tents were also made of canvas so very sturdy and waterproof, and manufactured in Yorkshire by BCT Outdoors. We were both super impressed by these tents and both said we would 100% be keen to stay in them again, perhaps if they are listed as pre-erected tent options at the festival itself?
There were lots of other options for bigger tents, which if we had been going as a larger group we would have booked, but I am happy to report that these tents are ‘accurately sized’ – in that a 2 person tent really was enough for 2 people plus bags, food, booze, and chairs. If I was staying for a full week and was feeling flush, I would maybe go for the next size up so we could sit our chairs fully INSIDE the tent. But that really would feel like an upgrade to be fancy, not out of necessity.
Exploring the Pyramid stage, the Stone Circle, the Kids Field pink castle, and the Stone Dragon
For me, and all the Glasto nerds (which was almost 100% of the Worthy Pastures campers), the appeal of the campsite was of course being able to free roam around the site that on most summers hosts our favourite festival. Though the fields are empty, there are still some of the landmarks that stand year round. Of course there is the famous Pyramid Stage structure, standing bare and undressed. We spent a lot of time in the Pyramid field just reminiscing, it was lovely to hang out there at sunset.
There was also the Stone Circle with it’s amazing view over the site – lots of people were up here for the camping weekend with music and chill vibes. You could visit the Stone Dragon as well which was a first for me – I’d never tried to find it during the festival for fear of failing! The Pink Castle in the Kids Field is usually off limits to us childless adults so that was great to visit too, even if I didn’t go down the slide. And finally, in what is usually the Greenpeace field, you could go in the wood maze. This field hosted the Joint Charities for Worthy Pastures, with workshops and games, more on that later…
What we got up to – activities and fun
Bin Painting with Hank
Bin Painting is usually reserved for the incredible crew of bin painters in the few weeks before the festival. It’s basically the most exclusive job on site, spending two weeks painting the festival’s iconic bins. At Worthy Pastures, the legendary Hank the Bin (as he is affectionately known) ran workshops in the afternoons so we could paint a bin ourselves. I had always wanted to do this, but it turns out my creativity and painting skills were not as brilliant as I imagined them to be 😅 Meeting Hank was great though, and he told some fun stories as we all sat around the marquee painting.
Other workshops and games – Joint Charities Field
At Worthy Pastures there was a great line up each day of workshops and activities, mainly aimed at kids, but a few were adult friendly too. We only actually took part in the Bin Painting workshop, but I wanted to mention the Joint Charities field which was near the Pirate Ship (usually the Greenpeace field at the festival). There were lots of sustainable cooking workshops happening, along with crafting, yoga sessions, and some excellent lawn games like volleyball, Cornhole, and Kubb that you could just rock up and play. The field also had some hammocks in, which we chilled in for quite a while.
Each Sunday of the 6 weeks of Worthy Pastures, they hosted a Craft Market in the field too. The lovely Glasto Postcards were there with some especially designed WP postcards, and some lovely local artisans too.
William’s Green – food, chill out area, and evening fires
The main food and hang out area was William’s Green, which mirrors what the area is known for at the festival itself. There were lots of spaced out benches, a dragon boat fire pit, the main info & merchandise tent, and of course lots of food.
I was super happy to see the fabulous Tea & Toast van there, one of my favourites for breakfast for obvious reasons. I also had an amazing toastie one lunch time, and a really gorgeous ice cream from a local producer. We actually brought a BBQ and food to cook up by our tent so I maybe didn’t partake in as much street food as I normally would!
This area was lovely to hang out at during the day and in the evenings. The sunsets were just gorgeous. We brought our MiniRig speaker down one evening and played some disco sat at the benches which made us many friends. If there’s one thing Worthy Pastures was lacking, it was a bit of music!
Goose Hall Bar
The bar of the site was at the famous Goose Hall, again usually off limits to ticket holding punters at the festival, and what a treat it was. Drinks prices were super reasonable – all pints were around £4, and cocktails were £6.50. They even did a big jug of Pimms for £20 which was great. The bar had a lovely atmosphere in the evenings, however as mentioned, it was just missing either some great music on the speakers, or an acoustic performer or two. We know the reasons and rules were because of COVID, but because at the time of the campsite opening, rules were relaxing and pubs/music venues were open – we really did feel that this would have been the cherry on the cake for the campsite. It did feel eerily quiet.
Overall impressions of Worthy Pastures – the Glastonbury Festival campsite of 2021
We had an absolutely wonderful time at Worthy Pastures, it really was the tonic to heal a couple of years’ pain of missing Glastonbury Festival. Even just the reassuring sight of the Pyramid Stage undressed and empty felt like home.
I really really hope they decide to do this again during the fallow years of the festival, or perhaps once the cleanup of the festival is done, maybe a few weeks of camping in late August each year? Either way I really enjoyed our time and would love to return for another delightfully chilled long weekend.
I’ll finish with a few more photos of our time there, and I can’t wait until next year’s actual festival!
