MY LIFE IN FESTIVALS

Heidi Reid, 54, reveals how her love of live music has shaped who she is as a person

- JOHANNA BELL

As I get ready to head to Glastonbury Festival this weekend for the 17th time, I can't help but reflect on how music festivals have played such a huge part in my life. Now in my 50s, I'm married, with two grown-up children, and while partying in a field, often knee-deep in mud, may not sound like your idea of fun, it is mine...

A TRADITION IS BORN

I can still remember lying down in the back of my dad's orange van as my parents drove through the night, from our home in Kent, to take me and my little brothers to our first weekend-long festival in 1979. My mum Lin, then 27, and dad Alan, 30, were big music lovers, but, aged nine, I had no idea what to expect when we arrived at Worthy Farm in Somerset for what was then known as 'Glastonbury Fayre'.

It was like nothing I'd experienced before. Dad set up our tent close to the Pyramid Stage and his bright orange tarpaulin meant we could find our way back easily. Dressed up like my idol Adam Ant, who I watched on Top of the Pops every week, I wore a rag in my hair and eyeliner, and painted a white stripe over my nose.

My youngest brother Josh, then two, stayed with our parents while Matt, six, and I headed off for the day with 10p in our pockets. It was a different time back then and we were so lucky to have that freedom at such a young age. We made friends in the children's play area while the grown-ups watched the acts. I told my parents later that it was the best weekend of my life. I didn't know it then, but that feeling would only grow stronger.

A SULKY PRE-TEEN