Kinky Does Glastonbury!

 
We're back from the biggest - and the best - festival in the world!

Two weeks ago we climbed into the van and headed to Glastonbury, staying at a hotel in the town centre so we could be onsite at our alloted arrival time of 8am on Monday morning.

After an emotional reunion with our festival family we cracked on with building our stall. The recent heatwave had dissipated and it was chilly enough to need coats beneath our hi-viz. By 7pm we were all but done and, joined by our mates Stuart and Steven, drank and chatted into the early hours.

After testing out the trader showers behind Bread & Roses, we breakfasted, dressed and rolled up the shop front for the first time this season. Although Glastonbury doesn't open to the public until Wednesday, there's over 45,000 workers on site and, after years of festival trading, we've acquired a loyal following amongst the crew, keen to peruse our rails.

 

When we were packing in record-breaking temperatures, just looking at synthetic dresses and jeans made us break out into a sweat but thank goodness we insisted on taking them, Tuesday had a distinctly chilly nip in the air!

I first met Caitlin of The Octopus's Garden, back in 2019, She and husband Mark are absolutely lovely. We can't wait to hang out with them at Beautiful Days.

After a decent day of trading, joined by Stuart, we headed over to Steve's campsite for a home cooked dinner of steak and halloumi (for me!), salad, asparagus and new potatoes in his very swanky campervan. The skies were illuminated by strobe lights and fireworks from the dress rehearsal of tomorrow night's opening ceremony on the Pyramid Stage. 

Despite another late night I was awake early and popped over to the trader showers, bypassing the queue of workers intent on waiting for the hot water to be switched on at 8am. I love the days before the festival opens to the public and giggled at myself, walking past the Pyramid Stage dressed in a vintage nightie and a pair of Crocs with a towel wrapped around my head, clutching a bar of soap and a sponge. Oh, the glamour!

The gates opened to the public at 8am and, as always, the noise from the legions of media helicopters buzzing overhead, keen to broadcast the "Glastonbury Carnage" made us feel like we had starring roles in Apocalypse Now. 

Back in the days of being normal Glastonbury punters, Wednesday was mostly spent lying around the campsite, absolutely knackered from pitching our tent and the numerous return trips to the car. We're always surprised by the hardy souls who have the energy to explore the festival. Our shop is directly opposite the Bandstand, the only stage to offer live music before the Pyramid Stage officially opens and therefore a fantastic spot for trade. Those who've never been to Glastonbury bleat on about commercialism and mainstream acts but, with its eclectic line-up, the Bandstand really does encapsulate the true spirit of Glastonbury, a celebration of music from every genre from across the globe. On Wednesday we had acts fusing opera with hip hop, Slovenian psychedelia, Palestinian folk, Moroccan jazz and Brits in wizard capes playing Medieval chamber music. 

By 9pm the temperature had dropped and I threw another layer on over my dress. Our friend Caroline of Pilgrims, who was trading up in the Green Fields, popped over with a bag of Indian treats she'd bought back for me from a recent trip to Delhi and I put these pretty earrings on straightway.  

The cooler temperatures were great for our fake fur sales. These guys, who work on one of the food stalls, were jealous of the 1980s leopard print coat their mate had bought from us last year and decided they each needed one. The lad in the waistcoat was planning on wearing his to see Scissor Sisters on Saturday night.

Team Kinky was completed when Stuart's partner Kim and their daughter Lily arrived at 9pm. They headed up to the Pyramid Stage to catch the opening ceremony and, once we'd closed the shop (our trading hours are 10am - 10pm), we followed them up there. Needless to say, as there were about 100,000 people already there, we didn't find them but met up for a few drinks later back at the shop.

Devastatingly for the Glasto haters who love nothing better than a mudfest! front page headline, Thursday proved to be another scorcher.

As a festival of contemporary performing arts, we were treated to all manner of crazy impromptu performances outside the shop.

 

Business was brisk which meant I couldn't take as many customer photos as I'd have liked but here's two robotic band members from Berlin, fresh from their appearance at The Pier, delighted with their purchases. Jon decided that this 1970s Californian-made suede jacket needed to be in his wardrobe. We'd every plan to go out and explore Arcadia after we'd shut up shop but it started to rain so the gang made an executive decision to have an after hours party in the shop instead.  

Friday was the day the Pyramid Stage opened which to many, marks the first proper day of the festival. Not that it stopped the shoppers, keen to raid our rails.

 

And here's Team Kinky members, Stuart and Kim. Kim's dress is from the Kinky rails....I knew she'd look amazing in it the moment I found it! 

Leaving Jon in charge, the gang & I went to see Wet Leg slaying the Other Stage.

When you're in the thick of it it never feels as busy as it looks in the photos. Despite my legendary talent for getting lost, I made it back to the shop all on my own and, despite there being tens of thousands in the crowd, I still managed to bump into a few people I knew. 

After closing time, we posed for photos in our evening attire before heading out for the night.

We caught Loyle Carner's set over on the Other Stage and were thrilled when he brought out Sampha followed by Walsall legend (and neighbour), Jorja Smith, who we've known since she was a little girl! 

It was Loyle's biggest gig to date and he was phenomenal.

We'd planned to meet Stuart and Kim along with Shilpa Silver's Heidi and Shaun over at Avalon but we got word that it was full so we walked down to the post-apocalyptic world of Carhenge instead.

Rumoured to be a Banksy installation, Terminal 1 is a social comment on borders and migration. 

Meanwhile, outside, on a trailer dragged by a Mad Max-esque Mutoid vehicle, flanked by two guards armed with flame throwers, you'll find the Notting Hill Carnival Band, performing throw-your-hands-in-the-air joyous soul and feel-good retro disco tunes amongst the rusty ruins. 

Saturday was scorchio!! 

Kim and Stuart babysat the stall whilst we walked over to West Holts to watch one of our favourite live bands, Bob Vylan. 

I must admit we were a bit surprised that their performance was being live streamed...they're a famously outspoken anarchic punk band. How on earth would their act go down with the BBC viewers? Unless you live under a rock I think you know the answer to that. 

Meanwhile, back at the shop where Kim, Stuart & Lily had done a sterling job minding it in our absence,  we were visited by a a handful of happy buyers who'd come back to show us that they were wearing their Kinky Melon purchases ....I love it when that happens!

A 1960s cotton mini dress and some Minnetonka fringed boots - styled to perfection!

We're dressed for a Saturday night out! 

We don't often see acts on the Pyramid Stage (the area known as Babylon by long-time Glasto goers) but were curious to see Neil Young and his band, The Chromehearts. To be honest, I didn't think I knew much he'd done and was more interested in catching a glimpse of his wife, Darryl Hannah, who I've had a massive crush on since seeing her in Splash! in the 1980s. 

What can I say? Neil Young's set was amazing and the crowd was mesmerised, you could have heard a pin drop and blew Elton John & Paul McCartney's previous headline performances out of the water. And the media chat about the Pyramid Stage being empty? Utter rubbish! 

No photos exist of the rest of the night but we met Stuart, Kim and Lily over at Carhenge and danced to the Notting Hill Carnival Band until the early hours of Sunday morning. A night of sheer, unbridled joy! 

Who needs sleep when you're at Glastonbury? On Sunday morning we rolled up the shop front for the last time, ramped up the Northern Soul and continued with the dancing.

Alex, a happy customer & a fellow vintage stallholder treated us to vegan Portuguese custard tarts from the vegan Portuguese food stall opposite - yum! 

Leaving the crew in charge Jon and I had a walk up to Green Futures to say hello to some of our trader mates catching a bit of Black Uhuru on the way.

We popped into Fat Belly Puppet cafe to say hello to boss Joy, who we discovered is a Walsall girl but missed her as she was taking a nap. 

Caroline and James' stall, Pilgrims. We know them from Womad.

Chillo - aka Michelle and partner Sean - are our neighbours at Beautiful Days.

Caroline! 

The Rodigy!!!

The tenth largest urban area in the UK! People as far as the eye can see. 

Back at the shop we posed for a photo with Steve.

And after the crew came back from Snow Patrol, we got a passerby to snap all of us together.

Although we had plans to see Alabama 3 over on Avalon, a regular customer popped in just before closing time and we missed it. So it turned out to be another night spent over at Carhenge - not that we minded, it's become a Glasto highlight! And, once again, we ended up going to bed far too late! 

The following morning, after waving off Kim, Stuart and Lily, we started on the break down. The thermometer in the tent read 41°C and although we absolutely love the heat, it was possibly the hardest pack down ever. Eventually, extremely sweaty after eight hours of back-breaking manual labour, we were given the go-ahead to leave the site and after bidding fond farewells to our trader family we left the farm.

As is traditional on our journey home we stopped at Gloucester Services, the independent, family owned motorway service station which only sells locally produced food (no fried chicken or Mcburgers!) and just like last year, I managed to snaffle the last vegetarian pie on the shelf!

Glasto 2025, you were an absolute blast! The festival is having a fallow year in 2026 so we'll be 60 next time we're on the farm....how the f*ck did that happen?!!!