
‘Curate your own Glastonbury': the BBC team bringing festival into millions of homes
'What makes me so proud to be part of the coverage is a very, very small minority of people actually get to go to Glastonbury,' says the BBC presenter Jamz Supernova. 'It brings it into your homes, whether you have a desire to go one day or you never want to.'
The 6 Music DJ, also known as Jamilla Walters, is part of a small team of broadcasters bringing this year's Glastonbury festival into the homes of people across the UK on television, radio and online.
She will be presenting on radio, iPlayer and TV channels with other big broadcasting names including Dermot O'Leary, Greg James, Jo Whiley, Lauren Laverne, Nick Grimshaw and Zoe Ball.
BBC iPlayer will offer more than 90 hours of performances with live streams of the five main stages: Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and the Park. The Pyramid stage sets will be available to stream live in ultra-high definition and in British Sign Language.
'I used to watch Glastonbury on the TV,' says Jamz. 'I remember being like 19 and watching artists like Janelle Monáe performing, but it wasn't as interactive. With the iPlayer it's all happening live and you're able to almost build your own festival from the performances. There is something for everyone.'
The dizzying scale of the task of broadcasting the festival falls to a team at BBC Studios, the broadcaster's commercial subsidiary, lead by the executive producer Alison Howe. The operation will feature more than 90 artists across more than 90 hours of coverage, using 58 cameras and 50km of fibre cable, and is months in the making.
'The performances alone, that's a bit of a task – a brilliant and beautiful task, I may add,' says Howe. 'Some artists want to work quite intimately with their performance and how we capture it. Others are very happy to just let us get on with it, because we have a good rep there for making all artists look and sound good on the BBC.
'Then there's the amount of hours across all the TV, curated and presented coverage, and then all the live streams. So when I sit and think about that, I feel sick.'
Jonathan Rothery, the BBC's head of pop music TV, works with Howe in effect as commissioning editor for Glastonbury festival to shape the offering. He is still in awe at the scale of the challenge. 'I remember having a moment there a couple of years ago,' he says, 'after a very busy day … just looking at all of the cablework running across the site – I'm not a technical person so it blew my mind.'
This year the producers face a headache over the inclusion on the lineup of Kneecap, a trio of Irish republicans who have been accused of making statements on stage in support of Hamas and Hezbollah, an allegation they have strongly denied. One of the group, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, has been charged under terrorism laws and is currently on bail.
There has been political pressure – including from the prime minister – on festival organisers to drop the band and on the BBC not to broadcast their performance.
Asked about the issue, Rothery says: 'Our plan is to bring as many of the sets to our audience as we possibly can but obviously we have editorial guidelines, and we need to make sure that any artist on the stage, regardless of who they are, fits within our guidelines and is appropriate for the audience. We have those conversations and make those decisions all the way up to the festival and over the weekend.'
Howe and Rothery work closely with festival organisers, including Emily Eavis, months in advance and are privy to the lineup before its general release. With the overwhelming choice on offer, Rothery says, the television and radio package manages to navigate any clashes. 'That's why the live stage streams are super useful. So if you want to curate your own Glastonbury, you can fill your boots.'
Howe and her team work closely with the artists to make sure the live performances are represented well on television. 'We offer to talk through meetings on – site. At festivals, no one gets a sound check, so a lot is at stake,' she says, en route to a run-through with the Friday night Pyramid stage headliners, the 1975.
Jamz Supernova's hot tips for the weekend include Alanis Morissette on the Pyramid stage, Ezra Collective on the Other stage, Yussef Dayes and Doechii on the West Holts stage and Anohni and the Johnsons on the Park stage.
She holds great respect for the scale of the undertaking, having experienced Glastonbury as a performing DJ and as a reveller and now seeing it from the other side: 'All these people, all these nuts and bolts, come together to make it happen. I was so amazed at seeing it through sober eyes. Now I feel like I'm part of the army bringing it, it's like my mission.'
The BBC will cover this year's Glastonbury festival across TV, BBC iPlayer, radio and BBC Sounds
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Scotsman
25 minutes ago
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When is Lewis Capaldi playing Glastonbury? How to watch the Scottish star on television
It's looking like a big year for Lewis Capaldi. | Getty Images It looks like the Scottish star is about to make a big comeback. Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... It's looking like a big week for 'Scotland's Beyonce', as Bathgate-born singer Lewis Capaldi seems set to make a live comeback - and release a new single. It's been widely reported that Capaldi, who has only played a couple of tiny gigs since his Glastonbury set in 2023, will perform a surprise set on the festival's Pyramid Stage tomorrow (Friday, June 27). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Last time he was at Worthy Farm he famously needed the crowd's help to finish a song due to his much-publicised health issues, which led to him taking a career break. And, as if a live comeback wasn't enough for his huge fanbase, it's also rumoured that he'll be releasing a single at the same time - his first new material since Strangers and A Cure For Minds Unwell more than a year ago. Here's everything you need to know. When is Lewis Capaldi playing Glastonbury? If the rumours are true, Lewis Capaldi is playing the Pyramid Stage before Alanis Morissette on Friday, June 27, at 4.55pm. He'll be fourth on the bill behind Morissette, fellow Scots Biffy Clyro and headliners The 1975. How long will Lewis Capaldi play for? The schedule has him playing from 4.55-5.30pm - so he'll be performing a 35 minute set. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad What will Lewis Capaldi play at Glastonbury? It's expected that Capaldi will play his new single, along with his biggest hits including Someone You Loved. Can I watch Lewis Capaldi play Glastonbury on television? The BBC are streaming live coverage of the Pyramid Stage on Friday, so just pop over to the iPlayer at 4.55pm and you'll be able to watch Lewis live (if the rumours are true). What happened last time Lewis Capaldi played Glastonbury? After performing his song Bruises at Glastonbury two years ago, Capaldi admitted he was having voice issues, telling the crowd: 'I'm going to be honest everybody but I'm starting to lose my voice up here, but we're going to keep going and we're going to go until the end.I just need you all to sing with me as loud as you can if that's OK?' He continued to apologise to the crowd, and the Eavis family who organise Glastonbury, for his voice starting to go – but the ocean of fans replied by cheering him on and chanting 'oh, Lewis Capaldi'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Before his final song, Capaldi told the crowd: 'I recently took three weeks off just because I've been non-stop the past year and I wanted to take a wee break from my head for my mental health. 'I wanted to come back and do Glastonbury because it's obviously so incredible, so I just want to thank you all for coming out. I was scared, but you've really made me feel at ease so thank you very much for that.' Capaldi added: 'I feel like I'll be taking another wee break over the next couple of weeks so you probably won't see much of me for the rest of the year, maybe even. But when I do come back, when I do see you, I hope you're all still up for watching.' He closed his set with his Grammy-nominated track Someone You Loved, telling the crowd 'I love you all' and became emotional as they chanted back the lyrics to him when he was struggling to sing some of the notes. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad In a statement after the performance he said: 'First of all, thank you to Glastonbury for having me, for singing along when I needed it and for all the amazing messages afterwards. It really does mean the world. 'The fact that this probably won't come as a surprise doesn't make it any easier to write, but I'm very sorry to let you know I'm going to be taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future. 'I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I'd hoped 3 weeks away would sort me out. But the truth is I'm still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette's and on Saturday it became obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come. 'I know I'm incredibly fortunate to be able to take some time out when others can't and I'd like to thank my amazing family, friends, team, medical professionals and all of you who've been so supportive every step of the way through good times and even more so during the past year when I've needed it more than ever. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I'm so incredibly sorry to everyone who had planned to come to a show before the end of the year but I need to feel well to perform at the standard you all deserve.


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26 minutes ago
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Telegraph
39 minutes ago
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Move over Gareth Southgate, the Lionesses have a new ‘It' waistcoat
Footballers are in fashion right now. This week, Dior released two videos on Instagram featuring French footballer Kylian Mbappé, teasing its spring/summer 2026 collection under new creative director Jonathan Anderson. And while the Women's Euros don't officially kick off in Switzerland until next week, the Lionesses have just unveiled their official tailoring collection: 13 mix-and-match pieces the fashion-forward players will wear for all their official off-pitch moments. The 2025 Womenswear FA Collection, designed by Marks & Spencer – the official tailor for the England teams – features some winning looks. Highlights include an asymmetric waistcoat (£35), barrel-leg trousers in a soft but stretchy twill (£39.50) that build on the success of the sell-out Sienna Miller jeans, and a cropped cotton shirt with exaggerated cuffs that looks far more expensive than its £25 price tag. This is the second time the retailer has designed a collection for the Lionesses, following its debut ahead of the Fifa Women's World Cup in 2023. 'Last time, we wanted to present a tailored collection that feminised and personalised key styles that might have felt unexpected for sportspeople,' says Lisa Illis, head of womenswear design at Marks & Spencer. 'This year, we wanted to elevate that even further – bringing in some unexpected elements and including as many trend-led pieces as we could.' That meant looking at the pieces the M&S customer was already buying into – such as waistcoats and barrel-leg trousers – and incorporating them into a capsule collection of coordinating separates in ecru, black and khaki, designed to be styled in multiple ways. The campaign imagery features players Beth Mead, Jess Park and Nikita Parris wearing key looks from the collection, including a short-sleeved jacket and matching shorts – a winning office heatwave outfit for the rest of us, too. Many members of the team are invested in fashion off the pitch. JW Anderson previously invited Lioness Alessia Russo to his show during London Fashion Week, dressing her in a double denim ensemble. Leah Williamson has had deals with Gucci, while teammate Chloe Kelly starred in a Calvin Klein campaign shot by New York-based photographer and creative director Brianna Capozzi. Illis says the players had input into the design: 'We asked them for input along the way, showed them sketches and fabrics, and fitted them at training sessions – so it was a very collaborative process.' Illis says the players loved the design details – from the dramatic cuffs on the shirt, which 'add a bit of drama,' to the buttons that 'deserve being looked at.' The knee-length shorts (£29.50), a trending length this season, feature a 'tailored waistband with belt loops that really emphasise the waist in a way that's key right now.' The waistcoat – a trending piece for M&S, with 81 womenswear styles currently available online – also offers a playful nod to former England Women's manager Gareth Southgate 's now-iconic waistcoat from the 2018 World Cup. 'It's a funny take on that, but designed in a new and feminine way,' says Illis. The fabrics have been carefully chosen to provide the flexibility athletes need – even off the pitch – while also meeting sustainability standards. The trousers, for example, are made from a twill blend that includes Ecovero, a recycled polyester, while the black vest is crafted from sustainably sourced viscose and the white shirt from responsibly sourced cotton. 'The fabrics are fit for purpose – so the players feel comfortable on the tour bus, but still flattered when doing official duties or appearing in front of the camera,' says Illis. The players then selected styles from the collection to coordinate their own looks – something James Gray, the FA's Commercial Director, says 'showcases the squad's unity, while giving our players the freedom to express their own identity and personal style.' The Lionesses, who won the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 with a 2–1 victory over Germany, have fared better in the style stakes than the men's team – who, despite coming close in 2020, have yet to win the Euros. On the pitch, the women present a united front, but off it, they each have a strong sense of personal style. Russo, a regular at London Fashion Week – including the JW Anderson show – often favours sleek tailoring and glamorous dresses. Teammate Mary Earps has worn designs by David Koma, the London-based designer who has dressed Beyoncé and created a range for Victoria's Secret. Lauren James, by contrast, leans into street style, often wearing labels like Justin Bieber's brand Drew House. Despite growing up in the public eye, few of them have put a foot wrong, fashion-wise. The men's team, by contrast, has had a more chequered style history – though not always through fault of their own. Rewinding to the oft-cited World Cup win in 1966, it's the sharp suits by then Leeds-based tailors Burton that stand out (along with the cup). But things took a turn for the worse in the 1980s, when the players – who complained of feeling restricted – went for looser styles for their official pictures. The taupe-coloured Paul Smit-designed viscose, baggy suits paired with navy shirts for the 1998 World Cup were a particular low. David Beckham brought a frisson of fashion back to the beautiful game. His input on the England team's official 2002 suit was notable: he requested a wider leg than was fashionable at the time – a 20-inch parallel trouser – and narrower lapels on the blazer, which featured a prominent Three Lions badge. Later, in 2010, Italian manager Fabio Capello took a firm guiding hand with the collection designed by Marks & Spencer in collaboration with bespoke tailor Timothy Everest, using wool from the Alfred Brown mill in Leeds. Our boys' off-pitch fashion moments have been just as varied. Over his career, David Beckham earned both plaudits and derision for some of his more daring choices – rhinestone tracksuits and vinyl trenches among the more criticised examples – but he consistently starred in campaigns, including many with Emporio Armani. Teammate Wayne Rooney, however, never quite hit the fashion mark. Today's players, including captain Harry Kane, are a much more consistently stylish group. Like the women's collection, the national team's official tailored collection – designed by M&S – features a capsule of smart separates that suit their individual styles. 'It's been a much more personalised approach,' says Illis. She says she's excited to see how the Lionesses perform. 'I don't have tickets, but I'm an avid supporter. They're at the top of their game, and I know they're proud to be playing in this tournament and to serve as role models for other women – especially younger girls growing up. For me personally, it's amazing to be part of this: to contribute to the design and development of the collection and to see them at their very best.' Get the Lioness look The 2025 Womenswear FA Collection is available in selected stores from June 26