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Times
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Times
I went to Glastonbury. The single worst thing? The other people
Another Glastonbury music festival draws to a close — this time it's over for two years; 2026 will literally be a fallow year for its venue, Worthy Farm — and I find myself feeling all the emotions I traditionally feel in its Release. A deep and abiding gratitude. Bliss, feelings are not provoked by the music, I should say. Nor are they a consequence of my being moved by the joyous gathering of so many for one, singular purpose. The union of it. The transcendent revelry!No. I am feeling elated, released, grateful and blissful because I didn't go. Again! Glastonbury happened, some 210,000 people got tickets … and absolutely none of them — not a single one of them — was year's Glastonbury marks close to the 30th time I didn't go, on the trot. Something of a record, you might say; certainly a personal best. Though one I intend on smashing in 2027, when I also won't go to that you say? I don't know what I'm missing?Oh, but you see: I do!I went to Glastonbury in the early Nineties, when I was 18. It was the end of my first year at university. I was young and up for things and broke yet resourceful and, you know what? If you hate Glastonbury under those circumstances, you are never going to like Glastonbury. And I hated Glastonbury. I went because all my cool new uni friends said I'd love it, even though I was fairly sure I wouldn't. This, incidentally, was the last time I ever did anything in my entire life because other people insisted I'd love it while I knew I wouldn't. It was also the last time I camped. • How I got Rod Stewart, 80, fit to perform It was a rain-sodden year. The mud clung to us like miserable tar. Within hours of arriving — having realised I hated this but couldn't leave because: how? There were people everywhere, panic-inducing quantities of people, all blocking the exits! — I was both ankle deep in mud and coated in it. It didn't feel like it would ever come off. And it smelt. God, how it smelt! Three days of Glastonbury unfurled for me like one of those slow-mo cinematic portrayals of war: chaos and pity and fallen soldiers everywhere you looked. I set my young mind on survival — nothing more. I may have been mildly, briefly diverted by Hothouse Flowers (or was it James?). I missed the Happy Mondays because there'd been a snafu with my allocated tent and I'd had to find someone else with whom to share canvas. Which didn't actually matter because … I'd also just realised I don't like live music. Not really. Taylor Swift at Wembley? Sure! Ageing indie band doing album tracks on the Acoustic Stage at Glasto? Absolutely not. In summary, and though I have never been in a k-hole — the hellish, transient, dissociated state caused by high doses of the illegal drug ketamine — I'm reasonably sure it would be exactly how Glastonbury felt to me. If I had to put my finger on the single worst thing about it, I'd say: it's the other people. They're awful. Being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of people who actively, repeatedly seek out all those things from which I recoiled in horror? Who like to be briefly filthy and eat wildly overpriced salmonella-ish street food, who've spent ages making banners displaying paper-thin political sentiments they'll wave about in vast, edgy crowds which — let's face it — could turn, one way or another, in the time it takes a relatively unknown punk act to chant 'Death to the IDF!' And — I say this as a ridiculously white, middle-class person myself — is there no limit to how white and middle class they are? Are they not embarrassed by it? I mean, a few white middle-class people in a field — you could probably get away with. But hundreds and thousands of them? All at once? All chanting this year's anti-establishment slogans, dressed in Barbour jackets (fashionable again, hadn't you heard?), broderie anglaise shorts and gaucho boots (this year's biker boots, which were last year's cowboy boots); quietly congratulating themselves on finally booking the yurt (sleeps two, costs £3,375, price of entry not included)? Spending time in between sets hooked up to replenishing vitamin IVs and bitching at the celebrities who helicoptered in — don't they know how ecologically unsound that is? — never mind that they themselves Chelsea tractored it all the way? Or that a helicopter is the only way you'd ever, ever get me back there? • The 10 best Glastonbury legends slot performances — ranked The Duchess of Sussex is to launch her own rosé wine tomorrow, a Napa Valley grape with a 2023 vintage. The wine, produced under her As Ever umbrella of merch, will 'be infused with joy and whimsy'. Which most wine is, in my experience — up until, like, the fifth or sixth glass, when it becomes rather more infused with your desire to tell someone else the slightly ugly truth about themselves, or just have a bit of a sing. Or a cry. Or both? (Someone should write that into a marketing pitch.) The price of Meghan's wine has yet to be declared, but the estate that produces it — Fairwinds (maker, also, of bespoke wines for Barry Manilow) — typically charges £26 a bottle for its rosé. This'll put Meghan's at the classier end of the celebrity rosé spectrum. The Brad Pitt and Angelina end — their Miraval wine goes for about £20 a bottle. Kylie Minogue charges about £8.99 for hers; Gary Barlow, a modest £8. The King's sparkling English rosé, flogged under the Highgrove label, is currently on at £34.95, but then it is fizz. Although last week he was doing a deal where you could get 15 per cent off if you bought six bottles or more — thus causing some delicious speculation this might be a tactical commercial anticipating of Meghan's launch, ie shots fired in a forthcoming inter-royal war of the rosés.
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Reason why there is no Glastonbury Festival in 2026 revealed
GLASTONBURY is in full swing and festival-goers will want to make the most of this year. The iconic festival announced it will not be going ahead in 2026, and here's why. 2 Organisers revealed they will be taking a break next year as the festival takes a fallow year. This is a planned respite where the event does not take place, allowing the farmland to recover. In turn, this will allow the natural environment at Worthy Farm to regenerate. Glastonbury takes a hiatus every five years to avoid causing irreparable damage to the working pastures. "The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, it gives the cows a chance to be out for longer and reclaim their land," co-organiser Emily Eavis told the BBC. Fallow year Fallow years are common in agricultural practices, where farmers leave land unplanted to improve soil quality. This allows the land time to replenish its nutrients, improving it for cattle grazing. While the festival's last official fallow year took place in 2018, organisers had to cancel two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. Co-organisers explained that Glastonbury was once again "due a fallow year". "Sustainability and the need to live in harmony with the land has always been vital to Glastonbury Festival," Emily said. "And I think it's important because it just gives everybody a little time to just switch off". The fallow year also offers a break for the local community in the village of Pilton. Environmental concerns To further limit harm to the local environment, organisers have implemented a series of initiatives to reduce any waste left on-site. A "love the farm, leave no trace" pledge has been introduced, which festival-goers are asked to sign up to when purchasing a festival ticket. As well as this, single-use plastic plates, cups, mugs, and cutlery have also been banned on site. Glastonbury 2025 - confirmed acts so far TICKETS to the 2025 festival sold out in just minutes before some of the acts were even confirmed. Here is who has been confirmed so far. Confirmed headliners: The 1975 will take to the Pyramid Stage on Friday. Neil Young will headline the festival for the second time after his last set in 2009 on Saturday after RAYE makes her return. Charli xcx will headline the Other Stage on Saturday night. On Sunday, Olivia Rodrigo is due to belt out her hits for her first appearance while Rod Stewart will perform in the legends slot. More acts to appear on the Other Stage include Loyle Carner and The Prodigy. Doechii will make her Glastonbury debut on the West Holts Stage on Saturday night. Other names confirmed include Noah Kahan, Alanis Morissette, Gracie Abrams, Busta Rhymes, Lola Young, Brandi Carlile, Myles Smith, En Vogue, Amaarae, Cymande, Shaboozey, Osees and Gary Numan. Other prohibited items include glass bottles, flares, and Chinese lanterns. "We are striving to leave as little an imprint on the land here as we possibly can," said co-organiser Michael Eavis. "For me, Worthy Farm is what life here is all about." Glastonbury 2025 Festival-goers have shared the "shocking" price they've forked over for pints at Glastonbury. And a huge name has hinted at a surprise appearance on the festival's main stage. Meanwhile, Noel Gallagher has responded to Glastonbury rumours ahead of the highly-anticipated Oasis reunion. Plus, a breakdown on how much each Glastonbury act is said to be worth. 2
BBC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Why there is no Glastonbury Festival in 2026
Be prepared to make the most of Glastonbury Festival this year, as organisers say it will be taking a break in 2026. The festival will take a fallow year - a planned respite where the event does not take place, allowing the farmland to recover and the natural environment to regenerate. The music festival takes a hiatus every five years to avoid causing irreparable damage to the working pastures of Worthy Farm. Co-organiser Emily Eavis said: "The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, it gives the cows a chance to be out for longer and reclaim their land." Glastonbury 2025: Full line-up and stage times for the weekendIn pictures: Glastonbury Festival day oneTop tips for taking kids to Glastonbury FestivalLocals welcome confused Glastonbury Festival-goers'A kind of magic': Emily Eavis on Glastonbury's Thursday feeling The concept originates from agricultural practices, where land is left unplanted to improve soil quality and allow it to replenish its nutrients for cattle grazing. The festival's last official fallow year was in 2018, but organisers had to cancel two consecutive years in 2020 and 2021 due to the Emily Eavis told the BBC we are once again "due a fallow year". "Sustainability and the need to live in harmony with the land has always been vital to Glastonbury Festival," she said."And I think it's important because it just gives everybody a little time to just switch off".The fallow year also offers a break for the community in Pilton, where the festival is held. Organisers have implemented a series of initiatives to reduce the waste left includes a 'love the farm, leave no trace' pledge, which festival-goers are asked to sign up to after purchasing a Glastonbury plastic plates, cups, mugs and cutlery have been banned on site, alongside glass bottles, flares and Chinese a statement, co-organiser Michael Eavis stated: "We are striving to leave as little an imprint on the land here as we possibly can. "For me, Worthy Farm is what life here is all about."
