Rain fails to dampen Glastonbury spirits

Glastonbury supremo Michael Eavis today insisted his “fantastic” festival had not been ruined by the relentless rain.

The event has been a complete washout, as heavy downpours throughout the three-day turned Worthy farm into a giant quagmire.

Steady rain since Thursday led to the now familiar scenes of rain-soaked revellers braving the elements as the rolling green fields turned brown.

It is the second successive festival hit by heavy rain.

In 2005, hundreds of tents were washed away in freak, flash floods.

This time Mr Eavis made sure the show would go on, whatever the weather, by spending £750,000 on flood prevention measures.

And it seems to have worked. No-one has been left homeless so far this year as a result of the appalling weather, although many fans spent a slightly damp night in their mud-splattered tents.

Mr Eavis said: “It has gone very well in spite of the rain, in spite of the mud.

“The drains have actually worked, and it’s been a fantastic weekend – from John Fogerty to The Killers to Arctic Monkeys.

“I’m very pleased. Someone phoned me from Spain the other day and said they would swap all this sun for the Glastonbury culture.

“The sun’s not everything, but we do welcome it.”

Despite the rain, Mr Eavis said he would not move the festival to a drier time in summer and has already booked next year’s headliners.

“We cannot change the date of the summer solstice.

“No weekend is better – perhaps we should move the summer instead.”

Mr Eavis, 71, took to the skies yesterday to get an aerial view of the site and said there were no plans to change the layout of the site to accommodate more revellers.

He added: “I think the layout is fine. For the first time in my life I flew in a helicopter and I was amazed to see there was still camping space.”

Two Pilton villagers complained about noise at the festival.

Mr Eavis, who this month received the CBE, added: “It’s normally 13 – what happened to the other 11?”