The fates may not have smiled on the England team but the Sun gods certainly grinned over the 40th Glastonbury festival.
Temperatures soared to 27C (80F) during the “sunniest Glasto ever”, turning unprepared festival-goers a painful pink. In footwear more appropriate for the usual mudbath, many sported the “welly tan”.
More than 3,000 people were treated by medical staff, a significant proportion for dehydration and sunburn. Drinking water pumped through the farm’s new water system at a rate of 20 litres a second as 177,500 overheated but enthusiastic music fans slaked their thirst. It certainly wasn’t being used in the showers.
Michael Eavis hailed the weekend as “the best party of my life”. The most famous dairy farmer in the world dubbed Saturday night’s mainstagers Muse “the headliners that we’ve been waiting for”. Next year’s three headline acts have already been booked, he added, while confirming that the team would be having “a year off” in 2012.
The Pyramid Stage began with the bizarre and ended with the sublime. Annual Glastonbury favourite Rolf Harris opened with his wobble board while Stevie Wonder was due to close the festival with a Motown groove. The Pet Shop Boys sprayed their fans with plumes of fluttering white paper as they closed their Saturday set beneath the fullest moon for 20 years.
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As deflated football fans made their way to the Pyramid Stage for Ray Davies’s rendition of Victoria, flanked by members of the Crouch End Festival Choir, one girl told her boyfriend: “This will cheer you up.”
The annual pop-up village had its highs and woes. Two people died on Friday after heart attacks. Festival baby Reuben Jenkins was born on Friday, returning to the site the next day. He now has a ticket for life.