Rob da Bank has a confession to make. Long before he became a Radio 1 DJ and successful festival promoter, back in the days when his name was plain Robert Gorham, he used to get into Glastonbury over the fence. “I’m embarrassed about it,” admits da Bank, “especially as I now know Michael Eavis. I’ve never had the nerve to tell him. He’d be so disappointed in me. ”

Still, it is with obvious fondness that da Bank describes his break-ins. “The first time, Josie — then my girlfriend, now my wife — and I spent six hours running round the fence, being chased by people on horses,” he grins. “We finally got in at dawn, and crawled half a mile so nobody would spot us.

“I’ll never forget the sight when I stood up — a small city, spread out across fields, and armies of people who looked as if they had come from another planet.”

A decade on, and da Bank, by then a club DJ and party promoter, was hosting his own tent, Sunday Best, at Glastonbury. In 2004, he and Josie, a designer, launched their own festival, the award-winning Bestival, on the Isle of Wight. Last year, they added a smaller, sister event, Camp Bestival, to their indie empire.

The pair’s latest project is a glossy coffee-table book: Rob da Bank’s A-Z of Festivals — My Life of Music, Mud and Mayhem in 26 Letters. Da Bank wrote the text — mixing descriptions of 100 of the best-known festivals in Britain and abroad with often tongue-in-cheek tales of his own experiences — while Josie did the striking, colourful illustrations.

“Please don’t call it a coffee-table book,” pleads da Bank, whose ponytail, scruffy clothes and laid-back demeanour are more mature student than modern-day music entrepreneur. “It sounds horrible. Besides, I don’t even own a coffee table. I prefer to call it part travel guide, part stupid stories, part art book.”

He admits, however, that it is a book to dip into, whether you are a festival regular or a newcomer. “I don’t pretend to have been to them all,” he adds. “Writing the book reminded me that I’d love to visit Fuji Rock, and that, this year, I’m determined to get to Exit, in Serbia. Even I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of festivals there are now. When I was a student, there was only really Glastonbury and Reading, unless you were into Womad or the Cambridge Folk Festival.”

The biggest changes da Bank has witnessed since he first DJed at Glastonbury are increased security, the commercialisation of the larger festivals and the explosion in so-called boutique festivals, including his own Bestival.

“There is still some resentment over festivals becoming more commercial,” he says. “I admit that even I was up in arms when cash machines and phone masts first appeared at Glastonbury. I was one of those middle-class kids in my combats, moaning at how it had sold out. But that’s what had to happen so festivals could survive. Yes, the frisson of danger at festivals has gone, but who really enjoyed being assaulted on a bridge after dark? In terms of safety and all-round family entertainment, festivals now are infinitely better.”

In recent years, it has been the family crowd — or at least older, more affluent music fans — who have shaped the flourishing boutique festival scene. “A boutique festival is a bit like a boutique hotel,” da Bank explains. “It’s about good food, a nice atmosphere and comfortable accommo­dation. It’s concerned with the trimmings, rather than just the music. I guess you could call boutique festivals a bit posher, though we get all kinds at Bestival. There are the rich dudes from London, who drive down in their ­Mercedes and wave around their iPhones, but there are also scallies from Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight, all running amok.”

There are mixed reports on how the recession is set to affect festivals. A few less established events have already been cancelled, but ticket sales — while slightly down on last year — remain healthy. While most promoters concede that the potential audience will probably opt for one festival over two, all are aiming to cash in on the weak pound, which they hope will persuade people to stay in Britain. “This year, more than ever, promoters are selling festivals as an alternative ­summer holiday destination,” explains da Bank, who has also launched the Association of Independent Festivals, which is working in conjunction with VisitBritain to promote UK festivals abroad. But what about the weather? “My best festival ­memories are mostly from muddy Glastonburys,” da Bank insists. “I was camping there the year of the huge storm, when the stages sank. Josie and I were in a Mongolian yurt, and the roof was caving in with the weight of the water.

“At 3am, in a howling gale, I went outside in my pants to try to tilt the roof and the whole thing collapsed. I was close to tears, but the next day I was back out in my muddy trainers, laughing about it.”

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