Explosive Parties, Secret Sets… Glastonbury 2013 Kicks Off

It’s the place to be for hardcore ravers if you can handle the queue.

The magic of Glastonbury.

Block 9 is the area festival organiser Emily Eavis has said she’s most excited about.

Beats Laser Quest.

We guess campfires can have a soporific effect.

The Beat Hotel is the location of a St John restaurant pop-up. Doughnuts ahoy!

There’s always something gorgeous and mind-blowing to feast your eyes on at Glastonbury.

The theme of this year’s Shangri-La is Heaven and Hell.

Alt-J played a storming secret set at William’s Green to an adoring crowd.

The Mercury Prize-winning fourpiece ran through their album from start to finish.

There’s Gus Unger-Hamilton, surely the man with the greatest name in indie rock.

Thom Sonny Green showed off his mad drumming skills.

The crowd went mental for ‘Breezeblocks’, ‘Tessellate’, ‘Matilda’. Hell, all of them.

Before Alt-J, Django Django more than warmed up the crowd with their bouncy math pop.

NME voted the album ‘Django Django’ #10 in its Best of 2012 Albums.

Django Django will play The Park stage at 9pm.

Django Django filled the tent with a high-energy set including the tracks ‘Storm’, ‘Skies Over Cairo’ and an opening ‘Hale Bop’.

Arcadia, the Dystopian spider where you’ll lose your mind, is still one of the greatest things about Glastonbury festival.

Come on, baby, light my fire.

When back at home, away from the madness of Glastonbury, you’ll wonder if what you saw was actually real…

Just up the railway track, Shangri-La has kicked off. This year’s site is even crazier and more amazing than normal.

A reveller getting carried away? Nope, a circus performer hammering six-inch nails into her face through her nose. NO KIDDING.

Look away if you don’t want nightmares! This guy’s the compère of “Shangri-Hell”, an area in, erm, Shangri-La. Terrifying.

Slamboree, the neo-Balkan rave circus, tore it up in Shangri-La.

It’s started. Glastonbury 2013 is underway (the official music begins tomorrow). Thursday night is party night, before the main stages swing into action at Friday lunchtime.

The heavens opened later in the day…

And revellers were forced to head for shelter.

While it’s damp, the site’s not as muddy as previous years (yet).

Revellers arrive at Worthy Farm for the weekend.

The campsites fill up with thousands of music fans, anticipating a weekend of music and vibez.

Since 2011, the last Glastonbury festival, the Eavises have rearranged the site slightly. No one messes with the Pyramid Stage, though.

Baked Potato = classic festival nosh at 4am when you’re feeling ropey.

No idea what’s going on here but we like it.

He’s singing ‘Call Me Maybe’.

This guy? No, us neither.

Glastonbury starts properly on Friday but there’s quite a lot of stuff happening tonight (Thursday), including some secret sets (no spoilers).

Nice ride.

Highlights on Thursday evening are Zebra Katz and The 2 Bears.

The weather started to deteriorate on Thursday afternoon.

Hula hooping is to Glastonbury what milk is to cereal.

Chilling like lovely cicadas in the Worthy Farm breeze.

Our favourite is the tiger on the tuba.

The spirit of jazz got to this guy even before he erected his tent.

Feeling stressed? Get a massage.

The calm before the beautiful storm.

Who said the 70s hippy dream isn’t dead?

There’s all sorts to do at Glastonbury Festival – it’s not all about music.

Glastonbury Festival started in 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died.

Tickets for the first ever Glastonbury in 1970 included a pint of milk and cost £1!

Uh oh. The rain begins…