Glastonbury Fayre (film)
1972 film by Nicolas Roeg
Glastonbury Fayre is a 1972 documentary film directed by Peter Neal and Nicolas Roeg. It covers the 1971 Glastonbury Festival (then known as the Glastonbury Fayre) which took place on 20 to 24 June 1971 in rural Somerset in England. It was released in May 1972.
The film is a mix of performances by musical artists such as Traffic, Fairport Convention, Melanie, Terry Reid, and Arthur Brown, along with extensive footage of the attendees dancing to the music, playing in drum circles, camping out, and otherwise enjoying the festival. It also includes part of a lecture given by Guru Maharaj Ji, referred to in the movie as "Maharishi". It does not feature any footage of David Bowie, who played at dawn, but he is on the soundtrack.
Music
The film includes performances from:
Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come – "All Forms and Distinctions"
Family – "Drowned in Wine"
Fairport Convention – "Dirty Linen"
Gong – "Tried So Hard"
Linda Lewis
Magic Michael
Melanie – "Peace Will Come (According to Plan)"
Quintessence – "Giants"
Terry Reid (with Linda Lewis) – "Dean"
Traffic – "Gimme Some Lovin''"
Trumpton and the Riots
Tonto's Expanding Head Band
Production
Glastonbury Fayre was the first film about the Glastonbury Festival, which in 1971 was in its second year. It was one of the first movies produced by David Puttnam.
Home video
The film received a VHS release during the 1990s. A DVD of the film was released with the CD edition of the Akarma reissue of the album.
The public source identifies “Glastonbury Fayre (film)” as 1972 film by Nicolas Roeg. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Glastonbury, Fayre and film.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Glastonbury Fayre (film)”, the useful work is to connect “1972 film by Nicolas Roeg” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5567220. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972 and 1971.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Glastonbury Fayre (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Glastonbury Fayre (film) primary sources, Glastonbury Fayre (film) archive and Glastonbury research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Glastonbury Fayre (film)”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Glastonbury Fayre (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.