The Glastonbury hordes descend — as potty as ever
IT has become as much a part of the British summer as Wimbledon, Henley and fickle weather.
And yesterday Glastonbury was back for the first time in three years. Little seemed to have changed since the last music festival in 2019 as the crowd of 200,000 gathered at Worthy Farm in Somerset.
Certainly there was no sign that rail union strikers had managed to frustrate fans’ efforts to get to the site.
Among the 101 bars, 100 stages and 500 marquees, there were typically long queues for the loo, yoga workshops, and naturists with little more than body paint or bag straps to cover their modesty.
And there was an outbreak of engagement fever, with at least four men popping the question, including two who got down on one knee in front of the Glastonbury sign and triggered raucous cheers as their partners said yes.
Lucy Barnes accepted Ben O’Hara’s marriage proposal on Wednesday evening as the sun set in front of a watching crowd.
Another man, Liam, proposed to partner Fern early in the festival ‘so he didn’t have to carry around the ring box’, friends said.
Glastonbury co- organiser Emily Eavis, whose father Michael founded the festival, said: ‘I genuinely think the best people in the world come here.
‘Bands always say this audience is the most generous, respectful and up-for-it crowd there is.’
Miss Eavis added: ‘We’ve definitely been through some financial struggles. It’s been very hairy. People forget that we’re still an independent festival.
‘It’s a long road for us to recover from the last two years, but the important thing is that we’re back.’
Glastonbury organisers revealed yesterday that 138,000 revellers bought tickets and 67,000 staff were in attendance.
Last night Mr Eavis, 86, performed on stage with his band – following on from a DJ set by former Spice Girl Mel C.
Headline acts of this year’s music extravagnaza include Billie Eilish, rapper Kendrick Lamar and Sir Paul McCartney, with Diana Ross filling the Sunday Teatime Legends slot.
Sir Paul will hold a warm-up gig in nearby Frome before his headline performance on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury on Saturday night, it was announced yesterday.
Fans queued around the car park at the Cheese and Grain venue in the hope of securing tickets after it was announced they could only be bought in person.
The ex-Beatle will become Glastonbury’s oldest-ever solo headliner when he takes to the stage only a week after celebrating his 80th birthday.
But British band Wolf Alice, who were due to perform on the Pyramid Stage today, will not make it after their flights from Los Angeles were cancelled.
Glastonbury last took place in 2019, with the 50th anniversary festival in 2020 cancelled due to Covid. The last time it took a break that long was back in the 1970s.