Glastonbury Festival was once a byword for narcotic abandon, poor hygiene and comic criminality, as thousands of scallies leapt the fence before partying round the clock inside a glorious
temporary madhouse.
Now, fence-jumping has been replaced by queue-jumping, as debutantes are dodging the new ticketing process that means regular punters must register online if they are to have a hope of getting in.
Ticket registration for Glastonbury closes on February 28, and when lines open on April 1, hundreds of thousands of hopeful festival-goers will be hitting redial as they try to buy their tickets.
But for just £6,000 (plus VAT), you can barge to the front of the queue and stay in Camp Kerala, a luxury tent village set up alongside the main festival site.
Behind an eight-foot fence peering |
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imperiously down upon the festival site, local farmer Jennifer Lederman will build the village of 'ethically produced' Rajahstani shikar tents.
Two years ago there were 50 tents there, now the site will have 75. If they are all sold, the turnover for the patch of field will be more than £500,000 for the weekend.
Every luxury is included, from king-sized beds with duck-down duvets to sheepskin rugs. And if your hippy conscience needs salving, take comfort in the fact that the wellies included in the price are made from sustainably sourced rubber. Food, cooked by world-class chefs, is extra.
But doesn't a camp like this betray the festival's egalitarian ideals? A farm spokesman says: "Well, we get a mixture of people who just want the experience of a lifetime. And nowadays, everything upgrades."
So, that's a yes, then. 
FIRST POSTED FEBRUARY 26, 2007
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