UK’s Glastonbury Festival welcomes back fans after pandemic
LONDON » Thousands of people are returning to England’s Glastonbury Festival as the five-day music and performing arts event reopened Wednesday for the first time in three years after being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival, which is marking its 50th anniversary, has 3,000 performers scheduled, including Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney. McCartney’s weekend gig will make him, at age 80, the festival’s oldest solo headline performer.
Festival-goers started lining up to enter the gates at Worthy Farm in Somerset, southwest England, early Wednesday.
Many struggled to get to the site because the festival coincided with the largest rail strike that Britain has seen in decades.
Just 60% of trains were expected to run on Wednesday, with more walkouts planned for today and Saturday.
Some 200,000 people are expected to attend the festival, which runs until Sunday.
“The wait has been so long and it’s just the biggest build up we’ve ever had,” festival organizer Emily Eavis said. “Getting Paul McCartney for us is just the ultimate, just the person to have this year to actually bring this whole thing back and bring everybody together.”