Release Date

27 Jun, 1997

Total Episode/Season

860/30

Synopsis

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world. The festival is best known for its contemporary music, but also features dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and many other arts. For 2005, the enclosed area of the festival was over 900 acres, had over 385 live performances and was attended by around 150,000 people. While the villagers of Pilton have been complaining about the noise generated during the weekend for many years, in 2007 over 700 acts played on over 80 stages. Glastonbury was heavily influenced by hippie ethics and the free festival movement in the 1970s, especially the Isle of Wight Festival.

Original Title

Glastonbury

Photos

Glastonbury 1997

27 Jun, 1997

Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts returned in 1997 after 1996's fallow year. The attendance was 90,000 and tickets cost £75 including official programme. What was different this year was a a major sponsorship from The Guardian and the BBC, who had taken over televising the event from Channel 4. This was also the year of the mud, with the site suffering severe rainfalls which turned the entire site into a muddy bog.

Glastonbury 1998

In 1998 the Glastonbury festival was once again struck with severe floods and storms, and again some festival goers departed early – but those who stayed were treated to performances from acts such as Pulp, Robbie Williams and Blur. Tony Bennett, however, overcame the messy environment in an immaculate white suit and tie. 1998 was also the first year that attendance officially broke the 100,000 mark

Glastonbury 2010

The 2010 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place in Pilton, Somerset, England, 23 - 28 June 2010. The festival was headlined by Gorillaz, Muse, and Stevie Wonder. U2 were initially announced as headliners, but withdrew on 25 May 2010 citing Bono's recent back surgery. Gorillaz were announced as the replacement. A crowd of 177,500 people attended the event, which was totally rain-free for the first time since 2002.

Glastonbury 2012

The festival was not held in 2012, giving the site and organisers a "fallow year" which originally would have been in 2011, in keeping with the tradition of taking a break every fifth year. BBC however, still filled the TV slots with musical content.

Glastonbury 2014

25 Jun, 2014

The 2014 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held between 25 and 29 June 2014.

Glastonbury 2015

26 Jun, 2015

Glastonbury 2016

25 Jun, 2016

Glastonbury 2017

25 Jun, 2017

Glastonbury 2019

29 Jun, 2019

The 2019 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 26 and 30 June. The three headlining acts were Stormzy, the Killers, and The Cure. This was the last regular edition until 2022 when the subsequent two editions were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, known as enforced "fallow" years. Kylie Minogue's much anticipated performance in the Legends time slot became the most viewed Glastonbury performance in the festival’s history with 3.9 million viewers, marking the Australian's return to the festival after being forced to pull out in 2005 after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Partway through the Killers' set the stage was swept by Jimmy Carr.

Glastonbury 2021 (Live at Worthy Farm)

24 Jun, 2021

In 2021, Glastonbury produced a film recorded on the Glastonbury site, Live at Worthy Farm, with performances by acts including Coldplay, Haim, and Damon Albarn.

Glastonbury 2022

24 Jun, 2022

Glastonbury 2023

22 Jun, 2023

The 2023 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 21 and 25 June and followed the 2022 edition of the festival. The three headlining acts were Arctic Monkeys, Guns N' Roses and Elton John, with Yusuf / Cat Stevens performing in the Legends slot. Over 40 hours of television coverage of the festival was hosted by Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne, Jack Saunders and Clara Amfo and aired on BBC. Over 85 hours of live radio coverage was broadcast on BBC Sounds. For the first time, British Sign Language was included for all Pyramid Stage performances. Several documentaries were released in the lead up to the festival and a selection of highlights from previous years was made available to stream.

Glastonbury 2024

28 Jun, 2024

The 2024 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 26 and 30 June at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset. The three headlining acts were Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA, with Shania Twain performing in the traditional Sunday Legends slot.

Glastonbury 2025

27 Jun, 2025

The 2025 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 25 and 29 June at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Glastonbury. The three headlining acts were the 1975, Neil Young, and Olivia Rodrigo, with Rod Stewart performing in the traditional Sunday Legends slot. This edition of the festival became famous after anti-Israel and pro-Palestine statements from the bands Kneecap and Bob Vylan led to international political controversy.

Glastonbury 2026

27 Jun, 2026

During Glastonbury 2025, the Eavis family announced that the festival would not be organised in 2026 to allow the natural environment to recover, with the festival due to return in 2027. This will be the first fallow year since the COVID-19-related cancellations of 2020 and 2021. BBC covered the slot with a "best of" special.

Actors