The Guardian view on Glastonbury’s enduring appeal: a show like no other
More than 200,000 people will head for Worthy Farm in Somerset this weekend for the 2023 Glastonbury festival. Since 1970, when tickets cost £1 (including a pint of milk), it has grown to become the UK’s largest festival and a rite of passage for music lovers. Despite its sometimes otherworldly appearance, Glastonbury (of which the Guardian is a longstanding media partner) is not immune to the cost of living crisis. Since organisers put up a “super fence” in the early 2000s as a condition of keeping its licence, changing its nature but securing its future, it has faced ever-rising costs.
In pre-pandemic 2019, the last time tickets went on sale, they cost £265; this year they have risen to £335. The co-organiser Emily Eavis has cited the knock-on effects of cancelling two festivals during Covid. In contrast with other more corporate events, Glastonbury offers free tickets for children and works with food vendors on affordable options – but even so, there are fears that younger music lovers could end up priced out.
Festival financing has become harder. The Association of Independent Festivals says the costs of energy, staging and security have jumped 30% since 2019. Last year, several British festivals were forced to cancel because of a lack of ticket sales, while others have launched crowdfunding and pay-it-forward schemes to attract crowds. Nevertheless, as one of the world’s premier music gatherings, Glastonbury’s appeal remains undimmed. The festival sold out in a couple of hours in November 2022.
Its Pyramid stage has hosted such acts as David Bowie and Stevie Wonder, while Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Adele have performed career-defining sets that challenged the festival’s traditional focus on rock. The festival also rightly pushes boundaries in other areas – using revenue to support charities and striving to remain environmentally friendly.
Last year, the headliners broke barriers. At 20, Billie Eilish became the youngest ever singer to top the bill, followed the next night by Sir Paul McCartney, who became the oldest performer, before rapper Kendrick Lamar stole the show. This year’s headline trio – the Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John – represent a restoration of a rock aesthetic. It is disappointing that the main stage headliners feature only a single female bandmember, Guns N’ Roses’ Melissa Reese.
Much of the beauty of Glastonbury is to be found amid its myriad smaller stages, away from the headliners that command the attention of TV audiences. And Ms Eavis, whose father founded the festival, says she remains committed to balancing the bill, not only in terms of gender but in “every aspect of diversity”. She has been a leading voice on the issue and is right that the music industry has a “pipeline problem” that begins with record labels and radio playlists.
Prominent female artists such as Lizzo and Lana Del Rey could bring the Worthy Farm house down this weekend. Glastonbury has the power to turbocharge careers. In 2019, the grime artist Stormzy was the first black British solo artist to headline the festival, after releasing just one album. Twenty-two years earlier, in 1997, Radiohead played OK Computer one month after its release to a festival blanketed in mud. On Sunday, all eyes will be on Elton John closing the festival with what may be his last ever UK show. But Glastonbury also retains enormous cultural power to open ears and minds to what is new.