The very first Glastonbury festival took place on September 19, 1970 - poignantly a day after Jimi Hendrix died. 34-year-old dairy farmer Michael Eavis was inspired to put on his own event after visiting the Blues Festival in Bath a year earlier. The one day extravaganza was attended by 1,500 people who each paid £1 a ticket - the price poignantly included free milk from the farm. Headlined by Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex, other performers included Keith Christmas and Al Stewart.

In 1971 the festival was dubbed The Glastonbury Fayre and moved to the weekend of the summer solstice (June 20-24). A four day event, an estimated 12,000 people attended, but despite the larger scale entrance was completely free. Featuring David Bowie, Hawkwind and Fairport Convention, the first Pyramid Stage was created out of scaffolding and sheet plastic.

It took another seven years for a festival of sorts to happen again. Now know as the “impromptu” festival, it happened when a convoy of travellers arrived from nearby Stonehenge during the summer solstice thinking a festival was taking place. Around 500 people turned up to the unplanned 'event' with the power on the main stage powered by a generator in a caravan – a stark juxtaposition to the colossal festival today.

In 1981 Michael Eavis took complete control of every aspect of the event and renamed it Glastonbury Festival. It was run in conjunction with the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament (CND) who received a £20,000 donation from Eavis to help their cause. A permanent Pyramid Stage was built which curiously doubled as a cow shelter and food store in the winter months. Around 18,000 people paid £8 to see acts including New Order, Ginger Baker, Hawkwind and Aswad in action.

After a spattering of rainfall during the 1971 festival, the first real Glastonbury mud bath happened exactly in 1982 when the highest June rainfall in 45 years bucketed down on the Friday. A tradition was born. 25,000 people attended the ever expanding festival which now boasted a laser show. Van Morrison, Tubeway Army and Roy Harper were amongst the performers.

In 1983 a local Government act was put in place across Britain which gave local authorities power over live events. Mendip District Council fortunately granted Glastonbury a licence but limited the capacity to 30,000 and also stipulated controls over hygiene, road access and stage times. Revellers paid £14 to see the likes of Marillion, Julian Cope, Curtis Mayfield and UB40 perform in the blistering sunshine.

Before the 1984 festival even took place, Michael Eavis was took to court by Mendip District Council who accused him with five counts of disobeying the previous year's inaugural licence. Fortunately the charges were dismissed, but Eavis was forced to dig deep and spend £2,000 on a new licence. The 35,000 capacity crowd were treated to sets from The Waterboys, Elvis Costello, Ian Drury and an iconic performance from The Smiths.

Blighted by torrential rain, Glastonbury 1985 was the muddiest year yet. It was also the largest yet, with the site enlarged after Michael Eavis purchased the neighbouring Cockmill Farm providing ample, if ridiculously muddy room for the 40,000 strong crowd. The Boomtown Rats, Ian Drury and the Blockheads, The Pogues and Midnight Oil all braved the adverse conditions.

The capacity in 1986 took a gargantuan leap to 60,000 festival-goers. Glastonbury benefited partly from the collapse of the nearby Stonehenge free festival which saw revellers look for an alternate place to convene. Due to its now impressive size, more stages were introduced to cope with the dozens of live acts, while a theatre and family area were also created. The festival was headlined by The Cure, Psychedelic Furs and Level 42 while Billy Bragg, Madness, The Housemartins and Loudon Wainwright III all augmented the bill.

Due to the grip of the Thatcher government, in 1987 many live events in the UK were having their licences turned down. Amazingly, Glastonbury only had their refusal overturned a month before the event. Despite the adversity, the event was a relative success raising an impressive £130,000 for local charities. It was, however, reduced to only two days from three the previous year, while it was the first time since 1978 that the festival's capacity didn't expand.

For the first time in the decade, no festival was held in 1988 as organisers tried to remedy some of the licence problems from the previous year. The festival returned in June 1989 with a little help from the police who advised on its organisation. Despite the capacity being capped at 65,000 people, it's thought an extra 40,000 or so bunked onto the site. Bigger than ever, Glasto now featured 13 stages and big names including The Pixies, Van Morrison, Throwing Muses, The Wonderstuff and more.

. For the first time in the decade, no festival was held in 1988 as organisers tried to remedy some of the licence problems from the previous year. The festival returned in June 1989 with as little help from the police who advised on its organisation. Despite the capacity being capped at 65,000 people, it's thought an extra 40,000 or so bunked onto the site. Bigger than ever, Glasto now featured 13 stages and big names including The Pixies, Van Morrison, Throwing Muses, The Wonderstuff and more.

A hiatus was taken in 1991 due to the troubles of the previous year, but thankfully Glasto came back stronger than ever in 1992. 70,000 (plus those who bunked in) enjoyed a weekend of almost unabridged sunshine and sets from Blur, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey (pictured), Carter USM and The Fall. The Jazz World Stage was also introduced adding yet more eclecticism to the festival. Sadly for Smiths purists, Morrissey dropped out at the eleventh hour only to be replaced by James. Shame.

The capacity was increased to 80,000 in 1993 as Glastonbury really started to take stride. For the second year on the bounce the weather was baking hot adding to the festival spirit. Defining performances from The Orb (pictured), Suede and Velvet Underground helped strengthen Glasto's growing status.

. In 1994 Glastonbury penned a television deal with Channel 4 - for the first time festival highlights were beamed into millions of viewers' living rooms. However, weeks before the festival kicked off a fire burnt down the Pyramid Stage, forcing organisers to build a temporary main stage. Despite this adversity, the festival was a resounding success boasting performances from Orbital, Beastie Boys, Manic Street Preachers, Ride and Rage Against The Machine and some band called Radiohead. Sadly, however, the festival's first death was recorded when a young male died of a drug overdose.

In keeping with the explosion of dance music in the charts, the dance tent was introduced in 1995 and was headlined by Massive Attack and Carl Cox. Thanks to the even bigger explosion of Britpop, Oasis and Pulp provided show-stealing performances at the festival. Around 80,000 bought £65 tickets to the event, but it's thought that at least double that bunked in after the perimeter fence was brought down at the north side of the site.

Following a year break, Glastonbury returned in 1997 for arguably the most memorable festival yet. Torrential rain lashed the site turning it into an unprecedented mud bath – so much so, it's now known as the 'Year of the Mud'. Despite the mud, the 90,000 revellers trudged on in the newly expanded site. It also featured one of the greatest Glastonbury headline slots of all time – Radiohead on the Pyramid Stage on the Saturday. The BBC also took over television rights, increasing Glastonbury's profile even further. Above, the late-great Joe Strummer trudging in the mud backstage.

Rain and mud once again blighted the festival in 1998, fast earning the festival notoriety for bad weather – despite the glorious sunshine of the festivals earlier in the decade. Thanks to his smash hit, Angels, Robbie Williams stole the show with his Saturday afternoon slot on the Pyramid Stage, while legendary crooner Tony Bennett dazzled in a resplendent white suit despite the mud. Headline sets on the Main Stage – renamed for one year as the new Pyramid Stage was yet to be built – came from Primal Scream, Blur and Pulp. For the first time, the official attendance hit over the 100,000 mark.

Just when revellers thought Glasto was synonymous with mud, in 1999 the sun finally shone again. It's estimated that 250,000 people were on the festival site due to the growing number of fence jumpers, taking the attendance to well over double the 100,500 tickets sold. Manic Street Preachers, R.E.M. and beguilingly Skunk Anansie headlined. The event was overshadowed by the death of Michael Eavis' wife some months previous to the festival. Fireworks were set off in her honour.

30 years after he first performed at Glastonbury, David Bowie returned in 2000 to headline the newly rebuilt Pyramid Stage – now 100ft high and silver. His closing Sunday night set was nothing short of legendary and a perfect anecdote to the piss-poor Travis the previous night. Once again, a vast number of fence jumpers made it onto the site, causing a headache for organisers and stretching facilities to the limit.

Due to safety fears, there was no festival in 2001. It returned a year later in glorious style with a newly erected 'superfence' to keep gatecrashers out, but an increased 140,000 capacity. Tickets went on sale in February and were all gone within weeks. Coldplay headlined the Pyramid Stage for the first time, while crooner Rod Stewart closed the festival on the Sunday night. New area Lost Vagueness was created in near the Green Fields and played home to 24hr weirdness and debauchery.

In 2003 ticket prices tipped the £100 mark for the first time ever, but this didn't deter people as all 150,000 tickets sold out within 24 hours. It was widely proclaimed as the best Glastonbury ever due to its strong line-up (Radiohead, Primal Scream, REM, Love with Arthur Lee etc.) and stunning weather.

2004 boasted yet another strong line-up with headline slots from Oasis, Sir Paul McCartney and Muse. Rain on the Saturday meant that it was a muddy year, although nothing compared to the quagmires of 1997/1998 and the ensuing years. Once again tickets sold out ultra fast with over two million attempted internet connections hitting the Glastonbury site within the first five minutes of them going on sale.

On the Friday morning of Glastonbury 2005, the festival was hit by a downpour of almost biblical proportions. Several stages were hit by lightning causing a delay to the start of proceedings, while flash flooding in areas submerged hundreds of revellers' possessions. The site was quickly transformed into an unprecedented mud bath. Sunday night headliner Kylie Minogue was forced to drop out after being diagnosed with breast cancer, paving the way for Basement Jaxx. Coldplay and The White Stripes also headlined. The New Band Tent was renamed The John Peel Stage in honour of the influential disc-jockey who died the previous October.

A year off in 2006 meant that anticipation was stifling a year later. Unfortunately, 2007 was another year of persistent rain and mud which transformed the site into a vast swamp despite the improved drainage and facilities. It was the first year of Emily Eavis' new love child The Park Stage and also of strict anti-tout regulations which saw every ticket include a photograph of the user. Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and The Who headlined.

2008 became the most-talked about Glastonbury ever when it was announced that Jay-Z would headline. It provoked a massive backlash, most notably from Noel Gallagher who was mocked by the rapper during his eventual triumphant show. The other less notorious headline slots came from Kings of Leon and The Verve. Ticket sales were slower than usual, not selling out until the eve of the festival, causing Michael Eavis much worry and the prospect of having a £5million deficit. A new Shangri-La area replaced Lost Vagueness.