Lenny Henry: Why so few black faces at Glastonbury?
SIR Lenny Henry has spoken out at the scarcity of black people in the crowds at Glastonbury Festival.
The actor and comedian, 63, said he was ‘surprised by the lack of black and brown faces’ at festivals in the UK generally.
He was speaking to BBC journalist Clive Myrie about the integration of those with Caribbean heritage in Britain.
Discussing diversity and places where different groups do not mix in the interview for Radio Times, Sir Lenny said: ‘It’s interesting to watch Glastonbury and look at the audience and not see any black people there. I’m always surprised by the lack of black and brown faces at festivals. I think, “Wow, that’s still very much a dominant culture thing”.’
The delayed festival – the 50th in its history – takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset next week.
Sir Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and rapper Kendrick Lamar are headlining. Curtis Mayfield became the first black artist to headline Glastonbury in 1983. There was criticism from Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher when rapper Jay-Z headlined the Pyramid Stage in 2008. Grime star Stormzy became the first solo black British headliner when the festival was last held in 2019 and co-organiser Emily Eavis admitted it was ‘a little bit late maybe’.
On the festival’s website, organisers state: ‘We realise we can always do more to ensure that we are being proactive in embedding diversity and inclusion in everything that we do.’
Sir Lenny, who is presenting a documentary on Caribbean culture in the UK, said of Mr Myrie becoming the first black host of long-running BBC quiz show Mastermind: ‘Somewhere the gatekeepers have changed. But how long did that take?’ Glastonbury was contacted for comment.