Irvine Welsh on Glastonbury: 'You build a city in a field and make your own rules'

There’s no other music festival like it, says the author, who describes past misadventures and the party tune playlist for his guest DJ slot

I did a walking tour of Spain this year, the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James. I walked the whole thing. It ends in the town of Santiago de Compostela, where you stay in a huge former monastery. It was lovely. Glastonbury feels like an extension of that, because you’re walking all the time.

I went to my first Glastonbury in the 80s but I don’t remember who the main acts were, or even if I had a good time. That was kind of irrelevant back then. You just sort of took off on these suicide missions. That would destroy me now. I can’t go full-on nuts any more. These days, I’ll have some red wine, meet some friends, have some posh food.