Drawn to Glastonbury

I have lived in Glastonbury for just over 20 years, it is a town that has become my home. This quirky little place is fun, colourful, vibrant and with its many characters, perfect for the artist’s sketchbook.

So what’s the draw? For me it is the characters, idiosyncrasies and costume drama at its best. Turn up, tune in and be who you want to be, become who you want to be, find yourself, lose yourself but above all rest up and have some fun.

Witches, fairies, a wizard, dragons and more. A man with a bucket on his head walks into the bakery…no problem, the lady in the bakery sporting purple hair hands him a cake. Singing, dancing, parading, shouting, sometimes screaming or ringing a bell, “oh yea, oh yea” this town is big enough for all of us.

There are so many colourful events in Glastonbury, for example, our Beltane celebrations which are not that far away. A May King and Queen adorned in robes sit on thrones at the market cross. Crowds look on, sing, dance and chant. People in an array of costumes, dogs dressed up with flowers, wings and more. Witches, and fairies hold up wands, or their phones to capture the special moments of the day. The banging of drums, colour, drama and a sacred candle. The town crier appears hat, robe and scroll in hand, "oh yea, oh yea it's May". Men with green faces and twigs in their hair transport the giant maypole to its special place. And here, all together, we sing, dance, drum, smile and all join in and welcome the spring, this is all quite Normal for Glastonbury and the Glastonbury Way.

Drawn to the funny side....... Every day in Glastonbury provides new resource material. A midst the day to day happenings there is usually something unusual or fun going on. Word gets round fast and Vicky Steward, who could perhaps be described as our local reporter has a knack of capturing those moments. Her colourful photographs, humorous and informative Blogs keep us all up to date. A while back I discovered Vicky's book “Normal for Glastonbury”. which resulted in tears of laughter. My immediate thoughts were I must meet this lady, which resulted in the illustrated version of "Normal for Glastonbury". It was a great pleasure and so much fun working with Vicky. This lady is very talented, an excellent interviewer, writer and natural comedian.

There is another special side of Glastonbury, those who have lived and worked here all of their lives. From my experience these people have been both friendly, warm and welcoming and I think it important that we never lose that. We are all part of this unique community, an island perhaps, but above all, together we make it what it is.

Debbie de Mornay Penny