Glastonbury opens its gates as UK temperatures soar to 30C
Glastonbury attenders were setting up camp in sweltering temperatures as the 54th edition of the UK’s best-known festival got under way on the hottest day of the year so far.
Temperatures in the UK soared to 30C on Wednesday, and at Glastonbury music fans were sprayed with water as they made their way around the 364-hectare site, which opened at 8am to fans who had queued overnight by the organiser, Emily Eavis.
Eavis, who was accompanied by a small brass band as she counted down to opening the gates, said it was “the best moment of the year”.
“This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. We work on it all year to open the gates and see everyone here, it’s amazing,” she told the BBC.
On site the temperature reached 27C as many of the event’s 200,000 attenders arrived for a weekend. It sold out within hours of tickets going on sale and is a notable success story in a tough period for festival organisers.
This year 50 music festivals have either been postponed or folded entirely, with inflation driving up build costs and people staying away due to the cost of living crisis.
Glastonbury hasn’t been entirely insulated from that environment: the event is now the most expensive festival of its kind in the UK, with tickets costing £360, an increase of £75 from two years ago.
Even in that competitive and volatile environment, the organisers have taken some chances with this year’s lineup, opting for a mix of newer names and tried-and-tested acts for the headliners.
Dua Lipa returns for her first-ever headline set on the Pyramid stage, after previous appearances in 2016 and 2017, while on Saturday night Coldplay will make their fifth headline appearance.
Sunday’s bill is topped by SZA, a Glastonbury debutant, whose booking turned heads because of her relatively low profile in the UK, but is also in keeping with the festival’s lineup, which is arguably the most diverse ever.
Burna Boy, Femi Kuti, Tems, Janelle Monáe, Little Simz, D-Block Europe, Michael Kiwanuka and Olivia Dean are on the bill, while Notting Hill carnival and St Paul’s from Bristol are teaming up. There is also a dedicated South Asian music area in Shangri-La called Arrivals.
Organisers haven’t expressly said it, but the bookings look partly designed to attract a more diverse crowd, after criticism – including from Lenny Henry – of the event attracting an overwhelmingly white audience.
For those who can’t make it down to Worthy Farm, there are still ways to watch the action. This year Dua Lipa and Coldplay’s sets will be streamed globally for the first time, meaning 2023’s streaming audience of more than 21m on the BBC will probably be exceeded.
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Football fans at the event will have to be creative when it comes to watching England’s last-16 tie on Sunday afternoon, after the festival confirmed it would not be screening the match. The game also clashes with one of the highlights of the weekend: the Sunday afternoon “legend” slot, which this year is occupied by Shania Twain.
The singer promoted her appearance by telling the BBC that she hopes to ride on horseback to her set. “I love horses,” she said. “I love all animals. I’m going to go see if there’s a horse around I can borrow – maybe I could go riding, that would be awesome.”
The usual rumours of surprise sets were already circulating around the site. Last year the Foo Fighters played on the Pyramid Stage in front of an enormous crowd after they appeared on the bill under the pseudonym the ChurnUps.
There will definitely be a huge moment for fans of K-pop, as the South Korean superstars Seventeen make their debut on the Pyramid stage on Friday afternoon. They are the first ever K-pop group to grace a stage at Glastonbury.
Seventeen were the second-biggest-selling act of 2023 globally, surpassed only by Taylor Swift.
The sweltering conditions on Wednesday, with weather warnings put in place around much of the UK, will be replaced by temperatures of about 18C to 20C for the rest of the event, with a small chance of scattered showers.
The Met Office predicted the weekend would be “mostly warm, dry and settled”.