Glastonbury's mud, sweat and beers

When the rain's coming down in sheets and the earth's being splattered about faster than an Olympic mud-pie fight, music lovers at the Glastonbury festival will do anything for a little respite.

And last weekend's extravaganza proved no different - apart from the near-naked mud-wrestlers relishing the slime after the skies opened on Thursday. One spot where you could be sure of some sanctuary was at one of the backstage bars hosted by event sponsor, Carlsberg.

Decked out with bean bags and sofas, plus a very welcome supply of beer, this was where the pub-goers lucky enough to have won free tickets courtesy of Carlsberg were hanging out.

And those we met couldn't have been happier about the VIP experience they had received, regaling stories of celebrity antics backstage and revelling in the luxury of having their tents pitched for them.

One was so overcome that he insisted on showing his gratitude to a member of the Carlsberg team by inviting him to try on a special hat he had made from plastic cups.

We weren't certain whether he was actually able to see out of it, but it seemed like a good device for keeping dry and a useful way to measure how much rain actually fell.

Elsewhere, Brothers, the official festival cider was doing such a roaring trade that crowd-control teams were called out to stem the flow of customers.

But one fan of the drink not caught up in the fray was Lily Allen, who asked Brothers to deliver a few bottles to her trailer backstage.