Among the 137,000 people attending this week's Glastonbury Festival, no one will be revelling in the experience more than the BBC's Edith Bowman.

Edith, who is co-presenting BBC Three's coverage of the event with Reggie Yates, just can't wait for the music to kick off.

"I absolutely love it," she beams. "I first went seven or eight years ago, before I started working at it, the year Coldplay were headlining on the Friday night, so that'll be 2002. I thought 'Hello, I like this. I could get used to this'."

Although it might come a distant second to actually being there, this year's TV and radio coverage is better than ever, with more live feeds, broadcasts and highlights to watch than ever before.

The BBC television coverage begins on Friday, with five hours of live footage straight from Worthy Farm. "We start the show from this amazing viewpoint by the cowshed, we always do the first link from there," says Edith.

"We stop for EastEnders, obviously, doesn't everything? Then we go up to the tree-house. If you're looking at the main Pyramid Stage, it's across and to the left of it. We can see the whole of the stage, a really privileged position to be in.

"We're going to go out and do some live pieces as bands are going on stage as well. We've done live bits the last few years, and it's great to talk to the people down at the front who've been waiting for hours and hours for that moment when the band comes on, it's an amazing atmosphere."

One downside of the job is having to stand in front of camera filling in airtime until bands decide that the time is right to walk out on stage.

"You get this dreaded hand signal from the director behind the camera where they tell you you have to fill in," she says. "It could be 10 seconds or it could be a minute, or 10 minutes! That's the excitement of live telly, though, and it does give you the opportunity to talk to the people in the front row.

"What we maybe won't do again is get other people in front of the camera. During one of those moments a couple of years ago, we had Bobby and Mani from Primal Scream come in. They had a right old rant about Basement Jaxx, using a load of words I won't repeat!"

Being given a backstage pass and access to the festival's biggest names doesn't sound like work to many people, but work it is. As a result, while Edith and the rest of the presenting team are sometimes only metres away from the action, they have to stay where they are during performances and watch on small screens like everyone at home.

"The daytime is when I see my bands," says Edith. "I run around like a mad thing trying to see as much as possible, then from 5pm, when we have our production meeting, I don't get out.

"The year Doves headlined The Other Stage is my favourite Glastonbury moment.

"I'd been trying to see them play live for about six months, but because of work things I never got a chance. I was there, about 200 yards from them performing and couldn't get to see them but Colin (Murray) said 'We've arranged for you to go and see them,' so off I went. I pegged it to the front of the stage and jumped around like a mad thing."

The headliners this year are Neil Young on Friday and Bruce Springsteen on Saturday while a reformed Blur will close the gathering on Sunday night.

Edith admits to not knowing a lot of Neil Young's music, but will watch his set for educational purposes.

"That's the great thing about the festival, you can dip into things to learn about music you wouldn't normally listen to. You can get a recommendation from a friend or wherever, and just get out there.

"Blur reforming is a big deal, though. I was talking to (BBC DJ) Steve Lamacq the other night, and he'd seen Blur at one of their tiny warm-up shows recently. Now they're right musos, so you'd think they'd be playing a load of B-sides and things, but he said they were doing one hit after another. They're going to be amazing."

Aside from the headliners, Edith intends to watch The Maccabees, who released their second album Wall Of Arms earlier this year, The Boxer Rebellion, who released their recent album Union without a record label, hotly-tipped British electro band Friendly Fires, and Doves.

"I think Doves' set is going to be one of those special Glastonbury moments this year," predicts Edith. "They've got such big emotional songs, and they always go down well there."

Gearing up for her seventh Glastonbury festival - there was no event in 2006 - Edith has various rituals to get her through the long days.

"It's all about doughnuts," she says. "I have to make a trip to the stall every day to get some fresh doughnuts. You need that sugar intake to keep you going."

Her days could be even more tiring this year too, as she'll have one-year-old son Rudy with her.

"He was only two weeks old at last year's. We're not camping, though," she says, referring to partner Tom Smith, who fronts Editors. "Rudy's not been camping yet, so I don't think it's fair for Glastonbury to be his first time camping. He's a little bruiser though, he's going to love it.

"I have done my time camping. I've woken up in 10cm of water, with people's tents washing past me. Four years ago, I woke up to someone yelling 'Don't move, don't move.' If we had have moved, gallons of rainwater would have come into our tent and sleeping bags. It was a washout, my friend's tent disappeared in a cloud of mud and rain, you name it.

"I've just accepted it now. You stink for five days, and look awful, but it's part of it."

Maybe staying at home to watch it doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all?

EDITH BOWMAN - EXTRA TIME :: Edith was born in Anstruther, Fife on January 15, 1975.

:: She made her TV debut in 1997 as a newsreader on MTV.

:: She began her Radio 1 show with Colin Murray in 2003. Since 2006, she has presented the show on her own.

:: In 2005, she won the Comic Relief Does Fame Academy competition in aid of the charity. She sang Oasis's Champagne Supernova, backed by Jools Holland's Rhythm And Blues Orchestra.

:: She and partner Tom Smith live in London. She gave birth to Rudy Brae Bowman Smith on June 10, 2008