What is the full official name of the Glastonbury Festival?

The full official name of the festival is Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. Most people shorten it to Glastonbury Festival, or casually call it “Glasto.”

The longer name reflects the event’s scope. Although its headline acts and most famous moments come from music, Glastonbury also presents theatre, dance, comedy, circus, cabaret, poetry and other forms of live performance. It takes place at Worthy Farm near Pilton in Somerset, England, and was first held in 1970 as the Pilton Festival.

The festival’s name has changed over its history. The 1971 event was known as Glastonbury Fayre, while the modern official title makes clear that it is not solely a music festival. “Glastonbury Music Festival” is a popular but unofficial shorthand, and “Pilton Pop Festival” refers to an earlier historical name rather than the current official title. The town of Glastonbury itself is also several miles away from the festival site, another frequent source of confusion.