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By Simon Cable
Boot camp: These girls all brought their Hunter wellies yesterday, despite the promise of dry weatherThese days the hippies and new-age travellers are something of a minority at Glastonbury.
Instead the music festival is increasingly the preserve of the middle class – notably represented yesterday by gaggles of young women.
But there was no sign that they would make proceedings any more genteel – arriving as they did laden with alcohol.
Among them was Stacey Arrowsmith, proudly wheeling a teetering tower of beer and Diet Coke, while others were seen filling plastic bottles with vodka and wheeling crates of cider on to the site.
Within hours of arriving at the Somerset festival, many had posted messages to their friends on Twitter, with one claiming: ‘Too drunk already!’
Another wrote: ‘Glastonbury. Yeah! Drunk.’
However, there was no disguising the upmarket credentials of many of the fans.
Most of the young women among the 60,000 revellers who arrived at Worthy Farm were clad in designer Wellington boots, Topshop frocks and straw hats.
Trilby time: The hat is a must-have at the festival. Right, Stacey Arrowsmith wheeling a tower of beerHunter boots, costing £125 a pair and worn by Kate Moss during festival season, already appear to have become something of a must-have item at this year’s event.
Other must-haves are trilby hats as well as the Barbour jacket, worn by Fearne Cotton at the Isle of Wight festival
Rolling up: Hannah Denny, 21, arrives at the festivalThe music will not begin until Friday morning, but thousands arrived early after organisers agreed to show England’s football match against Slovenia on a giant screen.
Today Prince Charles will visit the festival as president of WaterAid, a charity which campaigns for sanitation the Third World and which is being publicised at the festival.
This year, music fans will be celebrating the 40th year of the event, with 140,000 expected to visit, each having paid almost £200 per ticket.
Many had been buoyed by the forecasters' predictions of high temperatures and sunshine for the three-day event, in place of the downpours of recent years.
Meteogroup is predicting the sunshine should hold out over the weekend, when headline acts such as Gorillaz, Muse and Stevie Wonder take the stage.
Forecaster Aisling Creevey said: 'It's looking really good. It's going to be dry, there will be some gentle south-westerly winds with maximum temperatures up to 21C.
'That's a little bit above the average for this time of year.'
Hundreds of different acts will perform over the weekend - from rock to jazz, hip-hop, trance and indie and everything in between.
The coveted Pyramid Stage headline slot has an eclectic mix this year.
Gorillaz - the animated, musical project which began life as a spin-off for Blur frontman Damon Albarn - will hope to impress the crowds on Friday after they filled U2's slot.
On Saturday, Muse will perform their stadium-pleasing heavy rock, while soul supremo Stevie Wonder closes the festival on Sunday night.
Other performers include Brit Award winners Florence And The Machine and Eighties electro stalwarts Pet Shop Boys appearing on the Other Stage.
Festival fashion: Playsuits and floral frocks with Hunger wellies are de rigeur at Glastonbury this year. Temperatures are predicted to soar this weekend
Here come the crowds: Thousands pour into Worthy Farm at Glastonbury Festival after gates opened at 8am on Wednesday Upcoming acts Ellie Goulding, The xx and The Drums appear on the John Peel Stage - named after the late Radio 1 DJ.
Dance music aficionados can get their fill in the Dance Village - where live performances from N-Dubz and Kelis and DJ sets from Zane Lowe and Simian Mobile Disco are set to please.
Comedy, politics and theatre are all on offer too.
All 140,000 tickets to this year's event have been sold and in an attempt to ease traffic flow, which marred the opening of last year's event, the festival organisers opened up the site's car parks on Tuesday night.
Wellie wearers: The forecast is good for the 40th anniversary of the music festival. But canny campers know even a brief shower will turn the festival site into a mud bath
Everything but the kitchen sink: Music fans arrive with tents, gazebos, sleeping bags and all-weather clothing as well as plenty of alcohol as they search for the perfect camping spot
Thirsty work: Despite forecast of warm sunshine supplies for the weekend include wellies, hoodies and sleeping bags as well as shorts and plenty of cider - it is Somerset after all
Fashionistas flock in: Sunnies: check, wellies: check... the rest comes down to personal tasteOn the opening day of last year's festival, there were tailbacks for miles and hours of delays as almost half of all ticket-holders arrived on the first day.
Avon and Somerset Police said the festival got off to a smooth start but said there were still the huge volumes of traffic filling the narrow country lanes surrounding the village of Pilton.
A spokesman said: 'It seems to be running smoothly, the only issue that we've been picking up is the traffic around the area.
'We had 15,000 vehicles on site by 10am, and there was still a lot to come.'
Carting the essentials: It's a long way from the carparks to the campsites... Revellers make the trip even though the music does not start until Friday
An innovative way to cart your supplies: Festival goers cart their belongings on trolleys and in wheelbarrows as they arrive at Worthy Farm in Somerset She went on: 'Our advice would be to make sure you bring plenty of food and drink and be prepared for long queues.
'Everyone will get in eventually, it may just be a long wait.'
A spokesman said: 'If the weather is good - which it is expected to be - we expect more to turn up today than last year.
'We opened the car parks on Tuesday night in an attempt to ease the traffic jams we saw last year on the first day.'
In 2005, storms and flash flooding caused havoc at the site, with many festival-goers having to use their tents as makeshift boats to float around waterlogged areas.
In 2007, more rain ensured a similar mudbath, though a new draining system meant a repeat of 2005 was avoided.
Train to the festival: Castle Cary station is packed out as campers descend on the small town
Preparations: Festival-goers on their way to Glastonbury stop off at a shop in nearby Shepton Mallett to empty alcohol into plastic bottles - as glass is banned from the festival[endtext]
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