Reuters reports:

The Glastonbury festival opened its gates on Wednesday to 150,000 fans ignoring forecasts for rain and muddy fields to hear U2 and Beyonce alongside a bewildering choice of smaller acts from Spliff Richard to punk poet Attila the Stockbroker.

Now in its fifth decade, the event has grown from a humble gathering of 1,500 people on Michael Eavis's Worthy dairy farm in 1970, each paying one pound ($1.60) and receiving free milk, to a giant five-day celebration of music costing 195 pounds for a basic ticket.

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Hayley Davenport carries her guitar as she arrives in the mud at the Glastonbury Festival site at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 22 in Glastonbury, England. Heavy rain and mud greeted music fans as the gates to the five-day festival opened to the public Wednesday morning.

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A man drags a wheelie bin as he arrives at the Glastonbury Festival site.

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A festival goer laughs as he arrives at the Glastonbury Festival site.

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Music fans arrive in the mud and the rain at the Glastonbury Festival site.

The main talking point in the build-up to the festival, held most years on a sprawling site set in picturesque southwest England, is the weather, and the outlook this year looks more mixed than the sun-baked 2010 edition.

Heavy rain means shin-deep mud, leaking tents and sodden crowds, but Britain's Met Office is predicting sunshine, clouds and light rain at the event which ends on Sunday night, and punters are advised to pack sun cream as well as raincoats.

Read the full article at TODAY.com and take a look at our list of ten more great music festivals.