Inside Glastonbury's prison: Festival has 'jail' to detain drug dealers and fence jumpers

Daily Mail​

3 hours ago

For decades, music fans keen on attending Glastonbury would simply find a weak spot in the festival's fence and leap over for an entirely free weekend of music.
However, since security was seriously beefed up in 2000, those attempting to do the same when Britain's biggest music festival kicks off on Wednesday could find themselves serving time at HMP Glastonbury.
The Somerset festival, started by Michael Eavis in September 1970 and now in the hands of his daughter Emily, has security that's more expensive than that afforded to the royal family, reports The Times.
Some 200,000 people will descend on Worthy Farm this week, with the average ticket price costing around £380 to see the 2025 headliners, who include The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo.
However, those who try and find other ways to enter the 1,000 acre-site without paying will first have to penetrate Glastonbury's 7.8km fence, which towers 4 metres high.
At various points around the site, there are also watchtowers, with security staff keeping an eye on goings on both inside and outside of the perimeter.
Security is likely to be a major priority for Emily Eavis this year after hundreds of people snuck in with fake wristbands, costing just £50, and by vaulting the fences in 2024, causing stages to be shut down from overcrowding.
One successful infiltrator told MailOnline last summer: 'It was ridiculously easy to get in. I joined a Reddit group chat of about 300 people and everyone was sharing tips and contact details of people who could break you in.'
Revellers who try and outsmart the security - or misbehave inside - will find themselves with a one-way ticket to 'Glastonbury Jail', officially a holding space where people who break the rules are evicted from the site.
While detained, those who've fallen foul of Glastonbury's laws - including drug dealers or people displaying disorderly behaviour - are allowed to make a statement before they're frogmarched off site, occasionally into the hands of the police.
One festival-goer with first-hand experience of the makeshift prison told The Times that those held there temporarily were 'a weird mix of drug dealers, people who have been taken out of the festival for being too drunk or high, and those who had tried to break in.'
Controversy has already marred this year's festival before the first song has been played.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said she thinks the BBC 'should not be showing' Kneecap's performance at the event.
Band member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year.
The 27-year-old arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday morning following the alleged incident during a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London.
Ms Badenoch said in the X post, which was accompanied by an article from The Times that claimed the BBC had not banned the group: 'The BBC should not be showing Kneecap propaganda.
'One Kneecap band member is currently on bail, charged under the Terrorism Act.
'As a publicly funded platform, the BBC should not be rewarding extremism.'
The Tory leader has previously called for the group to be banned from Glastonbury, and last year Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK Government in Belfast High Court after she tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was a minister.
Kneecap took aim at Ms Badenoch in their latest single, The Recap, released just before their headline set at London's Wide Awake festival in May, with the song mocking the politician's attempts to block their arts funding and the Conservative Party's election loss.
On Wednesday, O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in 'Free Mo Chara' T-shirts.
Og O hAnnaidh wore sunglasses, a black t-shirt, trousers and black jacket and held a Keffiyeh - a type of shawl often worn by supporters of the pro-Palestine movement.
The members then walked up the stairs of the court and looked over the balcony, smiling and giving a thumbs up to their supporters gathered outside. Members of the crowd had surged around the entrance, with some also entering the lobby.
During the proceedings, the court heard the 27-year-old is 'well within his rights' to voice his opinions on Israel and Palestine, but the alleged incident at the O2 Forum is a 'wholly different thing'.
O hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing at the same court on August 20. He requested an Irish language interpreter for the trial.
Following the hearing, the rapper said: 'For anybody going to Glastonbury, you can see us there at 4pm on the Saturday.
'If you can't be there we'll be on the BBC, if anybody watches the BBC. We'll be at Wembley in September.
'But most importantly: free, free Palestine.'
'The truth was outed. This was a rushed prosecution following the Coachella performance where Kneecap did not shy away from speaking truth to power.
'Oppression fears the freedom of expression but the reality is Kneecap would stand up to the freedom of expresssion and they will defend their rights. Not only the rights of them but the rights of artists and people all around the world.
'And it's not new for Irish people to be prosecuted under special powers and terrorism acts. But friends, fans, family do not be afraid we are on the right side of history
'The more they come after Kneecap the louder we will get. If the British Government had any sense of history they will know they have already lost.'
The charge came after a counter terrorism police investigation after the historical gig footage came to light, which also allegedly shows the group calling for the deaths of MPs.
Formed in 2017, Kneecap are known for their provocative lyrics in both Irish and English, and merchandise.
Their best-known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, Better Way To Live, featuring Grian Chatten from Fontaines DC, and 3Cag.
A BBC spokesperson said: 'As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers.
'Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our output will be made in the lead up to the festival.'