Glastonbury: Muddy. Happy. Massive. Toilet. Commercial. Ethical.

That was the running order of last month’s poll results. Victoria Watts asks which word best describes the Glastonbury Festival.

''Glasto is the muddiest place I have ever laid my eyes upon but, coupled with the massive amount of smiling happy people and overload of excellent music, you really can’t let it get you down.'' ''The campaigning itself really was fun. I got to speak to hundreds of people and it’s an excellent feeling to either find people who already support your cause or, better still, who are persuaded by you to recognise it.'' Credit: Pete Axford/Oxfam ''We even managed to get Tony Benn and George Monbiot to sign our petitions - result!''

I’d say all the words in the title are fitting descriptions for Glasto. Yes it’s the muddiest place I have ever laid my eyes upon - resembling some sort of war ground once the day is over - but, coupled with the massive amount of smiling happy people and overload of excellent music, you really can’t let it get you down. And, yes, the toilets are less than wonderful, but sometimes you hit the jackpot and stumble across a recently cleaned one. It’s the small things that keep you going. And commercial? Well, it’s hard to escape the commercial sprinkles nowadays, but with Glastonbury sprinkles are all there are, and it’s nowhere near the commercial overload of other festivals such as V, or the Pimms-sponsored Cornbury.

And last but not least: it’s ethical. For me this would definitely not have come out bottom of the list, but maybe that’s because I went to Glastonbury as a climate change campaigner for Oxfam. This is something I’d really recommend – 4 hours a day getting signatures for a climate change petition in return for a free ticket to the festival, meal vouchers and staff camping (an escape from the dreaded mud, with showers, and a cheap bar/cafeteria too!).

But it’s not just about the perks – the campaigning itself really was fun. I got to speak to hundreds of people and it’s an excellent feeling to either find people who already support your cause or, better still, who are persuaded by you to recognise it. My boyfriend and I even managed to get Tony Benn and George Monbiot to sign our petitions - result!

My only Glastonbury complaint is that it’s just impossible to do it all. You want to be in the craziness that is Lost Vagueness, but your favourite band/DJ are playing at the opposite end of the festival. You get entranced by the circus tent, only to realise you just missed Tony Benn’s speech. And then you reach the last day realising you didn’t get to peruse the green fields, missed a surprise performance by Madness, and hadn’t even realised there was a whole stage you’d failed to think about. But these things are barely a hardship, and it’s part and parcel of the Glastonbury experience. You never will get to do it all – but make the most of what you do do and it’s pretty much guaranteed to be fun.

Essentially, as with most things, Glastonbury is whatever you make of it – a wild dance festival, a peaceful green gathering, or a booze-fuelled adventure into debauchery. You can’t spend your time stressing over what to do, you have to just go with it and throw yourself into what surrounds you. It’s a weekend of opportunities, there’s nothing else like it, and I for one – mud, smelliness and all - can’t wait until next year. Bring on 2008.