MY FIRST FESTIVAL

Stephanie Tompkins fulfilled a lifelong dream

- RACHEL TOMPKINS

My face painted with glitter and a flower crown on my head, I sang at the top of my lungs as my friends and I danced amongst other revellers. It was June 2022 and I was enjoying every moment of Glastonbury - the bands, the crowds and even the wellington boots! It was my first time at the festival, but far from being in my late teens or early 20s, I was a 67-year-old grandmother.

In 2019, my friend, Jane, and I decided to book tickets for Glastonbury. We'd always wanted to go, and now, both retired, and with our adult kids living their own lives, it seemed like the perfect time. My daughters, Louise, then 40, and Rachel, then 42, had both been to plenty of festivals over the years and they'd always had amazing experiences. 'Don't drink too much and don't stay out in the sun too long,' I'd tell them before they went, to which they'd just roll their eyes.

They'd come home days later (slightly hungover) but full of stories, huge smiles on their faces, and now, I wanted to experience that too.

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