Glastonbury Festival has always been a place where young hedonists dance alongside people old enough to be their parents, but that is usually only true of the audience. This year, the seasoned veterans will be shuffling on to the stage.

The presence of long-established performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Status Quo and Crosby, Stills and Nash means that the average longevity of the bands on the main stage is 22 years — longer than most festival-goers have been alive.

The average age of lead singers performing on the Pyramid Stage is 44, close to the age of most fans’ parents.

Glastonbury is not usually such a haven for dad rock. Pyramid Stage artists last year had been performing for an average of 14 years and lead singers had an average age of 37.

The generation gap has not put off younger fans, some of whom were obliged to wait on the platform at Castle Cary, the nearest railway station to the festival, for more than three hours after traffic diverted from serious accidents on the M4 and M5 prevented shuttle buses from reaching them.

Jack Hirons, 16, a student at North Devon College, said: “I’m not here for Tony Christie or Status Quo. I’m more interested in more contemporary acts like the Rakes and View.”

Grace Collins, 20, a dance graduate from Shrewsbury, said: “I think it’s weird because a lot of the bands have been together for longer than I’ve been alive. I would rather see acts that are more my age.”

Her friend Elizabeth Rhodes, 21, said: “My Mum thinks Glastonbury is all about bringing the old and young together, but I don’t think she meant the bands. We want to see Blur, but they’re not even a current band.”

Most of the fans have come equipped for rain. The performers, too, are prepared for the worst. Paul Smith, the singer in Maxïmo Park, the Newcastle band that will open the festival this afternoon, said: “The last two occasions we played Glastonbury it was a mudbath. For the band, there is a mild fear of electrocution in a thunderstorm but people seem to rally together. Last time I put plastic bags on my feet to walk across to the stage but you can still look sharp in the rain.”

In previous years some bands have had to abandon their slots because they could not get their equipment to the site. But Smith said: “We are in the van now hurtling to Worthy Farm. We will body-surf through the mud to get there if we have to.”

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