Glastonbury: The best party on the planet

Traditionally, only farmers and sailors regard the weather forecast with any more than merely passing interest. But this week, a whole other, less rural constituency will be keenly following the meteorological mysteries of these islands, as they are divined by the weather-wizards with their charts featuring ancient mystic symbols of sun and rain and lightning-bolt. And all to see whether or not to pack both wellies and walking-boots. Decisions, decisions!

For this weekend sees the return of the annual pilgrimage to Glastonbury to experience the world's greatest aggregation of mummers and minstrels, jokers and jugglers, accompanied by thousands of fellow travellers, many bearing the heraldic device of their calling, the floppy-spiked felt hat of many colours. In the process, they will push their personal-hygiene envelopes to newly aromatic levels, misplace many of their possessions, and acquire a crust of fine Somerset mud that will still be ingrained in their jeans after a year's diligent laundering. Such are the trials and tribulations faced by the modern festival-goer. Butwhatever obstacles and pitfalls they face, the possibility of disappointment is simply not on the agenda: these brave souls are determined to gorge themselves on the experience, a now-traditional rite of passage involving cheap wine, stir-fry noodles, an illicit spliff or two and, with any luck, a bunk-up in the pup-tent with someone with coloured hair. Ah, Glastonbury! Thy mystic history is born anew!

Last year, the Glastonbury Festival was voted one of the best parties on the planet in a survey on the Rough Guide website – beating out such events as the Trinidad Carnival, New Orleans Mardi Gras, Munich Oktoberfest and the Burning Man Festival. And deservedly so: none of these other events so assiduously ups its ante each year, through pioneering programming initiatives that constantly seek to broaden the festival's cultural range – and other, more ecologically conscious innovations, like the biodegradable tent-pegs that are to be distributed to festival-goers, made of material derived from wheat and potatoes (the pegs, as well as the festival-goers) which breaks down naturally if left behind.

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• Andy Gill's pick of the Glastonbury festival
• Glastonbury virgins: the festival's first-timers
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This year, one of the more controversial innovations is the headlining presence of rapper Jay-Z on Saturday night – a sore thumb in an otherwise thoroughgoing indie line-up, he's even been blamed for the event's failure to sell as many tickets as in previous years. Noel Gallagher, for one, reckons he's just "wrong" for the event, and even Dizzee Rascal, while delighted that Jay-Z is appearing, is uncertain whether he has the crossover appeal of Eminem or Kanye West.

It's easy to understand the misgivings: as anyone who has attended hip-hop events can attest, a rapper's impact tends to be in inverse proportion to the size of the venue. What can be gripping and incisive in the intimate surroundings of a small club becomes less impressive in an arena, and utterly ineffectual at stadium-size, where even a dynamic rhymer like Eminem struggles to glean entertainment value from the staple stage diet of hectoring whilst grabbing his crotch. And when it's somebody simply celebrating his wealth, his business acumen, his success with the ladies, his cars, his jewellery, and himself in general, as Jay-Z does, the affections of a mud-drenched crowd subsisting on baked potatoes and beer may be a little hard to win.

The other headline story in the run-up to this year's festival concerns the appearance – or otherwise – of Amy Winehouse, who's been in hospital since June 16 receiving treatment for emphysema. The most recent reports confirm she'll be there, though her "support" slot immediately prior to Jay-Z's surely undervalues her achievement as the most successful and magnetic performer of the last few years – and does the rapper few favours, either. Expect a sizeable exodus in the direction of the Other Stage following her set, for Massive Attack's headline appearance there. Canny punters, however, should make sure they stick around between The Raconteurs' set and Amy's to catch the performance by Manu Chao.

The temporal arc of the festival is fairly predictable by now. Friday's line-up tends to feature unchallenging, meat'n'spuds rockers to loosen the punters up a bit, and this year's is no exception, with sundry Fratellis, Editors and Subways supporting Kings of Leon. Elsewhere, thesmaller stages offer the most interesting prospects, with sets from Jimmy Cliff, The Ting Tings, Candi Staton, John Cale, Pete Doherty, Santogold, Alabama 3, Sinead O'Connor and Seasick Steve, the latter's headlining stint – a taster to his Pyramid Stage appearance the following day.

Besides the acts already mentioned, Saturday's bill includes sets by Duffy, Elbow, Hot Chip, British Sea Power and Gruff Rhys's latest project Neon Neon, along with the mouth-watering prospect of Gallic slackers The Teenagers, hot New Yorker combo Vampire Weekend and the enticingly-named Holy Fuck on the John Peel Stage. Perhaps dreaming of a Neil Diamond-style career revival, old hands Gilbert O'Sullivan and Andy Fairweather-Lowe both appear on the Acoustic Stage on Saturday; but the day's most intriguing listing is surely on the Park Stage, where Brazilian indie-dance group CSS, math-rockers Battles and American alt.rockers MGMT are supported by Music Through Unconventional Means with Shlomos Vocal Orchestra & Special Guests: if that isn't code for something to do with Damon Albarn, well, it ought to be.

For a festival which prizes and promotes new music, Sunday's line-up is dominated by old-timers and comeback kings, with The Verve's headlining reunion show supported by sets from septuagenarian Leonard Cohen, 68-year-old "King of Rock & Soul" Solomon Burke and 67-year-young Joan Baez. Not that the day is exactly starved of either mainstream names or new young talent, with Groove Armada, Goldfrapp, Mark Ronson and The Zutons sure to draw substantial followings, while more exploratory ears will be turned in the direction of Crystal Castles, White Denim, American nu-folkies Vetiver, the genre-crossing Tunng and Caribou, and precocious folkie songwriter Laura Marling on the various other stages. But with The Verve also playing that night, there's an added frisson to the appearance on the John Peel Stage of Jason Pierce's revitalised Spiritualized, which on the strength of the recent comeback album Songs In A & E could well be one of the highlights of the entire weekend.

Gill's pick of the festival

Amy Winehouse (Pyramid Stage, Saturday)

For all the obvious reasons – but mostly because she's the pre-eminent vocal interpreter of her era, blessed with gifts that most of the weekend's line-up would give their right hands for.

White Denim (Park Stage, Sunday)

This Texan trio's endlessly involving debut album attempts to redefine the whole indie aesthetic. One of the breakout acts of the year, not to be missed.

Leonard Cohen (Pyramid Stage, Sunday)

Partly because there probably won't be too many further opportunities to catch him and partly to see whether that elegant baritone charm can work its magic as well over a field of people as it does over a theatre audience.

Spiritualized (John Peel Stage, Sunday)

Jason Pierce's return from the brink of death has imbued his music with a new depth and soul. Promises to be the weekend's most moving experience.

Manu Chao (Pyramid Stage, Saturday; Jazz World Stage, Sunday)

The most charismatic crossover act in world music, Manu Chao combines dub-funk grooves laced with oud trills and arabesques, and the natural stage appeal of Charlie Chaplin. A huge talent in a surprisingly slight body.

Glastonbury virgins: the festival's first-timers

Gwilym Gold, lead singer Golden Silvers

"We are the winners of this year's New Talent competition, when an unsigned band gets to play at Glastonbury. Our manager put us forward without telling us. Then we had to go down to Glastonbury a couple of months ago and do this little 20-minute set in front of judges, when they picked us. We are now playing on the Other Stage but we weren't expecting to play on such a big stage. We have too many songs to choose from, actually, but we will perform our debut single, 'Arrows of Eros', out next month.

"Any tricks to entice the crowd? A big fire show planned but I don't want to say more than that and give it away. I don't want to spoil the mystery. To perform at Glastonbury is not beyond our wildest dreams, to be honest.

"If you are a singer/musician, hopefully it wouldn't be beyond your wildest dreams, otherwise your wildest dreams must be pretty tame. This is going to be our biggest gig yet – but we have supported Mystery Jets and The Wombats on tour. I want to watch Leonard Cohen, Mystery Jets and Buddy Guy on the Jazz World Stage."

Joe Van Moyland, lead singer, Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong

"This is the first time my band has performed at Glastonbury. It is such a big festival and we are a bit nervous because we have only just passed the 100-gig mark. It is a big deal for us but the day is going to be so hectic because we are arriving from a gig in Norway. We are just going to have to get our heads down, really. But every gig that we play gets better. We have had to grow up in public since we got signed last summer. We are going to do what we always do... go on stage and make a racket.

"I don't have a clue how many people will be in the audience; we are playing on the Other Stage around lunchtime. Not many people go to look at the earlier gigs. For me it is not the first time ever I have been on stage at Glastonbury. Last year I was the drummer with The Pipettes on the Pyramid Stage – but it's a dream for every band to play at Glastonbury."

Dizzee Rascal

"I feel good. I'm looking forward to my first time at Glastonbury. It's the biggest festival. It's the first time I've been invited. It took me to go on stage with the biggest band without permission for them to invite me to perform in my own right – Arctic Monkeys invited me last year. Maybe they've come to realise I'd suit the Glastonbury audience because I've been doing the indie thing for a while now. I'd never been to Glastonbury before – these festivals aren't really for me, I don't really go to festivals, I don't do the camping thing. When I play on Friday there will be a lot of excitement. I've got three albums' worth of hits and visuals."

Matt Berninger, The National

"I've never been. It's the big kahuna of festivals, right? It's a legendary, big, epic, famous festival – we'd heard about it and always seen the muddy pictures, so it will be nice to put a foot in that water. I just hope we don't intimidate all the other bands with our majestic heart-crushing songs. We're bringing chocolate for everyone. We do what we do. We still tread the stage, close our eyes, and pretend we're inside a club at night-time. We don't do anything bigger than normal. I think our songs can fill a space without us having to soup them up. We just opened for REM so we got used to that. Ninety per cent of people had never heard of us, but we left an impression.

"We won't get to Glastonbury until the Sunday, the day we play. Neil Diamond is playing on Sunday on the big stage so hopefully I'll see him, but I think Leonard Cohen is playing at the same time as we are. It'll be fun. Yeasayer are also from Brooklyn but I've never seen them live, and I really love their record so I'd like to see them. It's nice to see a festival featuring Neil Diamond, Panic at the Disco and us. Bringing in a big hip-hop artist sounds like a smart move to me. There are a lot of festivals who've done that. It's a good idea."

Edwyn Collins

"It's my first time at Glastonbury. I've never been asked before. I used to say rather strong things about festivals. One of my best songs actually goes, 'Yes yes yes it's the summer festival, the truly detestable summer festival.' But I'm nice and mellow these days. I'm so happy to be playing live again. Singing with my band means everything to me. At this stage of my life I don't need to win the masses over. But I hope they love me nonetheless. I don't know. I don't really know what to expect. The Park Stage has a really good bill. I'm in good company. Are there young people at Glastonbury? Or are they all old, like me? Fun for all the family."

George Craig, lead singer of One Night Only

"I'm going to wear my sparkly white jeans or my gold satin jeans when we play our first ever gig at Glastonbury on Saturday. I'm not joking! I've got lots of amazing jeans. I'm only 17 and I never imagined I'd be playing Glastonbury. I have never even been to Glastonbury, let alone performed there. It dawned on me the other day that we were actually really doing it. It is all a bit surreal – especially because I am so young. The bigger the show, the more excited we get. We just love performing live and I think it will be a moment we will never forget. We will play to our advantage. Well, I've got my ways and then we have got the songs as well.

"We have to leave for Holland straight after our gig, but I am going to watch my brother James play as he is the drummer in Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong. I will manage to sleep the night before even though I'm excited. I will get up really early and have a cup of tea and walk around to soak up the atmosphere before we perform on the Other Stage on Saturday."

Johnny Flynn

"It felt really good to be playing at Glastonbury until the other night when we got attacked on our way back from a gig in Stockholm. Four guys ran after us and started to punch us. The cellist, Joe, has had his arm dislocated and he can't play at Glastonbury now. He will still come with us but we will have to do without him on stage. Other than that I am pretty excited. I've never even been to Glastonbury before, so I don't know what to expect. I prefer smaller festivals, because logistically, if you are a small band with no help, bigger festivals can be a nightmare. You have to carry everything such as the drums and the amps across fields on your own. And with no tour bus, we are roughing it a bit. But it will be fun. I always try to respond to the environment when we play. What is really nice after a few days is that everybody at the festival has been on some kind of journey together. People feel unified and I like to acknowledge that fact while on stage. I'm interested in the spiritual aspect of the festival; the idea that it's on a holy site and it takes place around the time of the summer solstice, which is a good time to have a big gathering."

Katie Melua

"I've never been asked to perform at Glastonbury before. I am playing on the Avalon Stage. I'm used to playing in front of more people. I played to 60,000 people last week at a festival in Oslo. The fact is my music isn't indie rock, which a lot of Glastonbury-goers are used to.

"Glastonbury is such an institution and I think it is everyone's dream to play here. I've tried to go there every year for the past 10 years as a punter – but every time something has come up and I haven't been able to. I'm so happy to be finally going, plus I get to play there, which is pretty cool. Yes I'm a big star, but it is amazing to do smaller gigs, because this is how I started out. It is more intimate and you get to see people's reactions much more clearly. To go from one extreme to the other means that you never get bored, and that is one of the keys to staying in the industry. I can't wait to watch Leonard Cohen but I'm gutted because MGMT, my favourite band, are playing on Saturday and I won't be there."

Interviews by Charlotte Cripps and Elisa Bray