TEENAGE ANGST

We're actually quite glad that Glastonbury is taking a break next year, as we're finding it hard to keep up with how the Eavises view teenagers. In 2002, talking to Music Week, Michael Eavis was convinced that teenagers represented a threat to the stability of the festival:

"The amount of 17 and 18 year old students was grossly reduced. I can see a change going on that i wish we could avoid, but you can't have the nice kids without the bad kids, so there was no choice, really."

Then, in 2003, in the Guardian, he seemed to be having second thoughts:

"Mr Eavis conceded, however, that the ticketing restrictions - the full allocation of 112,500 sold out in 18 hours - meant that many Glastonbury regulars had been excluded. In particular, he said, he was considering ways to boost the numbers of teenagers and students among a crowd that seemed slightly older than usual, and was overwhelmingly white and middle-class. "

This year, then, teenagers were back, and the 360 degree full turn had been completed:

"There are a lot of students here this year," said Emily Eavis, festival organiser and daughter of festival founder Michael Eavis. "That's good, is n't it? We estimate that 60% of the people here are first-time festival goers."

Of course, the difference is that the teenagers going in 2005 were able to pay the 2005 ticket prices. But there's no guarantee a middle-class kid is going to be any better behaved than one who can't afford the ticket price. We wonder if teenagers will be getting patted on the heads or ticked off in two years time?

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