Original photos from Glastonbury 1971: Hippies, solstice and the first pyramid stage

As Glastonbury begins this week, we look back at photos from the festival over four decades ago

What began as a hippy celebration of solstice four decades ago has become Britain’s most famous music festival.

Click here or on 'view gallery' for more photos of Glastonbury 1971

Glastonbury Fayre, as it was known in its second year in 1971, saw a number of hippies flock to its site in Pilton, Somerset, as well as the first incarnation of the pyramid stage.

Built as a one-tenth replica of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, performers to the stage in 1971 included David Bowie, Fairport Convention and Skin Alley.

Since then it has become the festival’s main stage, welcoming high-profile acts such as Radiohead, Morrissey, Pink Floyd, Sinead O’Connor, Paul McCartney and many more.

This year will see Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling Stones and Mumford & Sons headline the pyramid stage when the festival kicks off on Wednesday 26 June.

Warning: The photos contains some images of nudity.