Glastonbury ‘going from strength to strength’

Glastonbury Festival founder Sir Michael Eavis says the UK event is “going from strength to strength” after the doors were opened for its 38th edition yesterday.

Running from 26-30 June at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, performances on its main music stages kick off tomorrow. Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA are this year’s Pyramid Stage headliners, with further acts including LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Little Simz, Burna Boy, Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Kiwanuka, Paul Heaton, Keane, Paloma Faith, Oliva Dean, Ayra Starr and Seventeen, who will become the first K-pop act to perform on the stage. Shania Twain will occupy the coveted Sunday teatime “legend slot”.

Speaking to the Glastonbury Free Press, Eavis, who launched the now 140,000-cap festival 54 years ago, said: “It’s all going from strength to strength… you have to see everything. Get out there and explore. I recommend going around in the middle of the night. That’s the best way to catch all the exciting things that are really going on. You need to stay up until five in the morning. Then you’ll see all sorts of incredible stuff!”

The recently knighted 88-year-old highlighted the positive weather forecast and the Arcadia stage’s new dragonfly installation as reasons for cheer, as well as the new Terminal 1 venue in Williams Green.

“It’s dealing with the issue of immigration,” he said. “They’re taking the approach that we can solve it. We can be friendly to these unfortunate people in the boats. It’s demonstrating – the whole festival is, really – that you can get on with your neighbour. And they’re putting all of that into a show.

“It’s so important that this festival stands for something,” he added. “That’s the guts of the event, really. It’s why we’ve backed the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) since 1981.”

The Other Stage, meanwhile, will be headlined by Idles, Disclosure and The National, and will also host the likes of D-Block Europe, The Streets, Two Door Cinema Club, Anne-Marie, Camila Cabello, Avril Lavigne, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bloc Party, The Last Dinner Party, Nothing but Thieves, Confidence Man and Headie One.

“We wanted to create a space that not only showcases the incredible talent within our community but also fosters a sense of belonging”

The largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world, Glastonbury will also unveil its first-ever dedicated South Asian stage this year, operated by South Asian cultural organisations, Dialled In, Daytimers and Going South.

The stage, named Arrivals, will be part of the Shangri-La area and feature the likes of Anish Kumar, Baalti, Nabihah Iqbal, Gracie T, Nikki Nair, Bobby Friction and Raji Rags. Its debut follows rising calls for greater representation of British Asian music and artists.

“We wanted to create a space that not only showcases the incredible talent within our community but also fosters a sense of belonging,” said Dialled In curator Dhruva Balram.

For the first time, the BBC will globally livestream headline Glastonbury performances, with Dua Lipa (28 June) and Coldplay’s (29 June) Pyramid Stage sets available to view on the recently relaunched BBC.com. Lipa will be making Pyramid Stage bow, while Coldplay will be headlining the festival for a record fifth time, and for the first time since 2016.

The festival’s exclusive broadcast partner is providing six weeks of build-up and coverage of Glastonbury 2024, running content from 3 June to 14 July, in its longest celebration of the festival yet.

“At the BBC, we bring Glastonbury to you, and we’re incredibly proud of our coverage,” says BBC director of music Lorna Clarke. “It enables millions of people to access the magic of Emily and Michael Eavis’ festival each year. The global streams of Dua Lipa and Coldplay’s performances are another exciting addition to our offer, allowing us not only to unite music fans across the country, but across the world with the opportunity to experience these world class performances as they happen.”

Glastonbury organiser recently told the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast that the festival is likely to to take a year off in 2026 to allow the ground to recover on the Worthy Farm site. It most recently took a fallow year in 2018, although the 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled due to the pandemic.

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