Goodbye from us
The sun shone today, but we fear the heavens will open tomorrow. Who cares? The music begins in earnest on Friday (although there are the usual rumours about surprise sets tonight ... hello Drenge!) ... so join us for all the action from around the festival here at theguardian.com/glastonbury.
Know also ... our Tim Jonze has arrived, armed with his own special plans for Friday. Special Glastonbury prizes for guessing what he’ll do next.
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Meet the youngest person at Glastonbury. Aw!
Meet Francesca …
There are plenty of first-time festivalgoers at Glastonbury this year, but eight-day old Francesca Wilmot may just be the youngest. Her parents, Heather and Duncan, help run Bristol’s Brisfest event, and are adjusting to their lives as new parents.
“We come to Glastonbury every year, but you forget about how noisy it is, and with the heat it’s quite intense,” says Duncan. “We’ll miss out on the next couple of years, but once she’s totally self-sufficient, and can find her own way back, we’ll be bringing her back every year.”
When Heather found out was due to give birth during Glastonbury, she was “a bit annoyed”, she says, laughing and cradling Francesca to her chest. But, really, she says she’s delighted.
Francesca, whose finger-wiggling and stretching could just about be interpreted as a first foray into dancing in her festival onesie, seems content, too.
Florence + the Machine: ‘I funned myself out’
Sophie Heawood has interviewed Friday night’s last-minute headliner.
At 28, Welch is now preparing for what might be the biggest night of her life – headlining Friday night at Glastonbury. After Dave Grohl broke his leg during a concert in Gothenburg and the Foo Fighters pulled out, Florence + the Machine were bumped up to the top slot. The night looks set to be half glamour, half Shamanic Sid. When we speak a few days before the festival, Welch is ruminating on the strange series of events that have got her here. Her foot, which, in an echo of Grohl’s accident, she recently broke on stage, has only just healed, and the songs she will play from her new album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, are about falling and crashing in a more spiritual sense.
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The Glastonbury virgin (almost ...)
The Guardian’s art critic Jonathan Jones is here:
This is my second Glastonbury. Not saying when the last one was but I was 19 and the Smiths were headlining, so work it out. I have just put up my tent successfully, so that’s already a 100% improvement on last time. I’m here to relive the youth I never had, and find my parents’ camping stove that we abandoned in a ditch.
Lionel Richie flashmob
Earlier in Glebeland ...
It took one spandexed man, a set of speakers and a YouTube tutorial to turn the milling crowds in the Theatre and Circus area into a wiggling, synchronised dance troupe. We “did it like Lionel”, fist-pumping and finger-clicking in time to Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Ceiling.
Anyone who’d have expected the flashmob to be running on langorous “festival time” may have missed out: the ephemeral display started right on time at 4pm and was over and done with in about four minutes. That’s the whole point, isn’t it?
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The WI are in business!
Up in Green Futures ...
The ladies of the Somerset branch of the Women’s Institute are here! Clutching a song sheet, the women broke into a heartfelt rendition of Jerusalem, the anthem of the WI, as they opened earlier today . The eyes of the five women, who range from 32 to 77, filled with tears as they sang, and passers by poked their heads through the tent door to join in.
“I get goosebumps every time”, said Vicci Langham, 33, of Puriton WI. “Now we’re ready to serve some cakes.”
Over the days to come, Somerset WI will be selling tea and cake – in china crockery and on tartan-clad tables no less –to festival goers. It comes in the same year as the organisation celebrate their hundredth anniversary, and the women involved in the festival stall hope it will help introduce the WI to a new audience.
In order to cope with demand, a callout for cake was sent to the all the WI’s across Somerset . As a result, over 5000 cakes of all varieties from lemon drizzle to fruit cakes and victoria sponges have been baked by the women across the county to sell at Glastonbury for £2.50 a slice.
In a nod to modern tastes, they also have a selection of both vegan and gluten free cakes, specially baked by Joanna Croxford, 32, who came all the way from Cambridge to help out at the Glastonbury stall.
The woman leading the operation is Margaret Bigg, who, at 77, has been a member of the WI for 40 years and is the Somerset WI County chairman. This year is her first at Glastonbury, as well as her first time camping, and she said she had already been “overwhelmed” by the popularity of their stall.
“The people who have come in already, sitting down with a mug of tea and a slice of cake on a china plate, have all been saying ‘oh my god this is the best thing, this has made my festival already’,” said Bigg, adding that they had already been asked to make two birthday cakes and even a wedding cake for celebrations being held at the festival this year. “I really want to go and see Lulu and The Who but I don’t think I’ll have time.”
Slightly baffling stats
Such is the way of the world that Glastonbury sees various pr companies, media agencies and such like trying to test things such as “social media sentiment” vis a vis the popularity of bands during the festival. One outfit called Waggener Edstrom has been working with Brandwatch and, as above, if you squint, you can see that People on Social Media over the last 24 hours seem to really like Alabama Shakes. Do with this what you will ...
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Glastonbury rumours #1
Ok, not so much a rumour now if it’s been reported by the Glastonbury Free Press ...
Pussy Riot are already advertised to appear on stage at the Park at noon tomorrow, followed by an appearance at the Left Field. The latter venue – run by Billy Bragg – has a corking lineup this year, beginning with a debate chaired by the Guardian’s John Harris, which Billy and co describe thusly:
Feeling like the General Election wasn’t your dream result? Well it’s time to let a thousand flowers bloom and look around for some inspiration. Come learn how grassroots movements like Podemos (Spanish for ‘We Can’) and Syriza from Greece as well as some home grown radicals have organised from the bottom and won power at the top in Parliament. Join activists from the Radical Independence Campaign, Podemos, Syriza and Independents from Frome to reignite your passion for politics.
Saturday sees a debate about TTIP and fracking while on Sunday there’s a previously announced appearance from Church – self-styled “prosecco socialist” – plus comedy and bands, the likes of Bragg himself and Enter Shikari.
And if you’re wondering what the Glastonbury Free Press is ... we love newspapers, and we love this one in particular, as explained by this YouTube video:
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The Guardian presents ...
A massive audience of over 3000 people crammed into a sweaty tent in William’s Green this afternoon to watch the first UK screening of the already much talked-about documentary Amy. Asif Kapadia’s film on the life of Amy Winehouse, made with his close collaborator and editor Chris King, tells of the singer’s rise and fall, from teenage jazz singing prodigy to doomed tabloid obsession.
King was in attendance at the Guardian hosted screening and talked beforehand with me about the process (three years, 50,000 hours of footage, 100 separate interviews), the intimacy that comes with obsessing over one subject for so long (“we all fell a bit in love with her”, he confessed) and finally, his hopes that the audience would be reminded of the great performer she was. This request was met with a massive cheer; many of the audience had also been here when Winehouse played Glastonbury in 2007 and 8.
Earlier in the day there was also a screening of the documentary The Ecstasy of Wilko Johnson, and a conversation chaired by our own Dorian Lynskey involving the great man and director Julien Temple. Our own Ben Mcleavy was there:
To hear Wilko Johnson talk about his cancer, discussing it in the lightest terms, you could be forgiven for the fleeting dark thought of, “maybe it wasn’t that bad”. Until he lifts up his shirt. An upside-down Y now runs in a scar across his belly: a token of the operation that ultimately saved his life.
My old band played a little festival show with Wilko about 10 years ago. He had travelled without his guitar amp and so borrowed one of ours. Seeing him play now, it’s startling to think that we could have lost him. His guitar playing remains, as it was, on the brink: scratchy, staccato not quite funk. An inspiration to guitar holders everywhere.
Outside of music too, there’s much to be learned from Johnson. He’s still interested in the world. As such, his love of astronomy and local history all feature highly in Temple’s film.
In the Q&A, Temple remarks that Johnson enjoys quoting from literary sources. Hamlet and Chaucer being particular favourites of his, but the best quote from the film is Johnson’s own:
“That’s the thing about cancer... You’ve got to keep a sense of tumour about it.”
In the same venue on Sunday at 1pm, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief Kath Viner will be in conversation with George Monbiot and May Boeve of 350.org to discuss climate change.
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The man they love to hate
You all know who’s headlining Saturday night. And you’ve already got an opinion about him, probably. Ben Westhoff has been considering the enigma that is Kanye West …
Even when Kanye is correct in proclaiming his greatness, nobody wants to hear him say it. Even the birth of his daughter and his marriage to Kim Kardashian have done little to improve his reputation. That’s likely due to his humourlessness. Though Kim is widely perceived as a beautiful airhead, he defends her as a brilliant business mind and entertainer who deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s great when a man sticks up for his wife, but one gets the feeling that such comments are really about Kanye himself. While playing him on Saturday Night Live, Jay Pharoah parodied him best: “I turned this woman into an artiste. A philosopher. A intergalactic icon of creativity.” Responded Kim’s character: “I’m also blonde now!”
Have a read of the whole, fantastic piece here.
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Lunch with Mutoid Waste Company
Carmen Fishwick has met Joe Rush, the Mutoid’s founder and impresario responsible for some of the site’s most incredible installations, for a bite to eat and some early alcohol
In 1985, we built this burned out bus in a squat in west London. Whilst we were finishing the build Thatcher attacked the peace convoy at Stonehenge [in the Battle of the Beanfield] so we came to Glastonbury. The front of the truck was a giant skull with no windscreens. The driver was looking through with goggles. The back was like a chicken spine. The police, when they saw us coming, thought it was their conscience for what they did to the hippies. I drove straight up to the main stage and had a huge row with Michael Evis. But he also totally fell in love with us.
Read the whole interview here.
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The circus is in town
Photographer Antonio Olmos has been roaming the site in search of the spirit of the big top.
A traffic marshal speaks!
Lia Thomas tells Tshepo Mokoena: “I’ve never been before but it’s a bit ridiculous how friendly everyone’s been. I arrived last Friday, so it’s also been cool to see the build up. Once I finish my shift at 4pm, I’m just going to wander and see whatever catches my eye. I’m actually really excited to see Kanye West on Saturday but I’ll be working then until midnight. At least I’ll be able to hear him.”
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Shangri-La is getting political this year …
They’re partnering with GuardianWitness to hear from you: “We want expressions and ideas on current political issues. Revellers and members of the public are summoned to upload ideas on important issues around the election, poverty, welfare, healthcare, political parties, immigration, welfare.”
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Like Christmas, Glasto starts earlier every year
Out testing the (delightfully warm) temperature of the festival ...
The bands don’t arrive until Friday morning, but aside from ghostly fenced-off stages undergoing last-minute tweaks from construction crews, it is impossible to tell that the festival has not yet officially begun. By the time the sun set over Worthy Farm on Wednesday night, Glastonbury was a heaving mass of party people. Organisers estimate that 90% of the 135,000 ticket holders were on site by the end of the day.
It certainly felt busier, much earlier, than previous years. The only deserted area was the main backstage, so presumably 2015’s celebrity quota is far less inclined to enjoy the full five-day experience than the punters. But it was a different picture in every other nook and cranny of the festival, from the permaculture enclave to the healing fields via a lily pond, which had people queuing to walk on the rickety bridge across it.
Perhaps the enthusiasm for the bridge was a result of there being little in the way of planned activity on Wednesday night, so people were forced to spread out to make their own entertainment – to Block 9 and the Stone Circle, for those inclined to dance or have a spiritual awakening, or the hill above the Park stage, for those inclined to find some early Instagram #nofilter material, which the blood-red sunset happily provided.
At the Stone Circle, as an impressive firework display led into the burning of a wooden phoenix (which did not rise from the flames, but smouldered, moodily, as the crowds started to file away), I met Ellie, 25, from north London, and asked her why she’d got here on Wednesday. “This is my holiday for the year,” she said, “so coming early makes me feel like I’m getting the most out of it. I won’t be able to afford another one so I want to enjoy this.” Other people I spoke to were working or volunteering. Some had been staying in the area for a week or more already. People talked about whether Wednesday was the new Thursday, what that meant for Friday and Saturday. By 1am, the site had quietened down, just slightly, as if the crowds were wary of peaking too soon.
On Thursday morning, I grabbed Anthony, 23, from Liverpool, as he nursed a cup of tea outside a breakfast stall. He’s been to Glastonbury three times before but this is the first time he decided to come on Wednesday. “I think more people are coming early,” he said. “Three years ago we came on Thursday and there was loads of space to camp, but there’s virtually no space this year. That’s the trend now, even though there’s not much to do.” In the cold light of morning, did he think Wednesday had been a good night? “People need to get their bearings, so yeah. It’s necessary.” He said he had already seen some early casualties. “Loads of them. I was saying last night, it’s the only place in the world you can do that and not get locked up!”
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Big name act joins the bill for Sunday!
After months of rumours, we can confirm a new addition to the Sunday bill. And it’s not Fleetwood Mac. But who is it? Find out here.
Raise your lighters and … stretch!
Up in the Greenpeace field to join the mass of psychedelic Lycra-clad glittery bodies for Power Ballad Yoga ....
“Have an open mind, have an open crotch. You might have come with someone, but you could leave with someone else,” yoga instructor Kitty Shark-Ra screams from the stage of Power Ballad Yoga.
Brightly clothed bodies obediently writhe around on the grass beneath her to Jennifer Rush’s Power of Love. And more than a few cans of cider sparkle in the blazing sun. This is spiritual enlightenment through eighties rock-love ballads and sexed-up pseudo-yogic poses.
But how did those combining those two arts feel about it?
Louise: “It’s really emotional. My favourite power ballad is Purple Rain. I feel at one with my chakras. We were sending our chakras across the universe. I usually feel it, Well I usually feel her.”
Ruth: “We are together for now. What happens at Glastonbury stays at Glastonbury. Downward dog is my favourite move. I love a good lunge in a leotard. Although we’ve had to make a few outfit adjustments. I’m drinking Strongbow at yoga. It heightens the experience – that’s my top tip for yogis everywhere.”
Freddy:“I love being played like a piano. I’ve always want to be played.”
Lucy: “I love playing strangers like pianos. It’s making me feel empowered. I don’t think we’ll get together, I don’t think my boyfriend will like it too much.”
Jake: “It felt like nothing I’d ever felt before, like my chakras been aligned. I feel centered, my gravity is totally on point.”
Kieran: “We do already have a connection. We do this every Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday – just maybe with a little bit more baby oil. Just put a ground sheet down first.”
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A plea for help
Glastonbury veterans: you are needed. Sanguinman has posted in the comments (and we’ve taken a photo from the Archaos website. We hope they don’t mind) asking for your assistance.
Good Morning Guardian readers - This is a call for help! 25 years ago Archaos Circus headlined Glastonbury (every night) a few years later it imploded but left it’s mark not just on circus in general but on audiences as well – 5 years ago Archaos founder Pierrot Bidon passed away and those of us lucky to be part of Archaos ( I was) started to collect the archive (for the younger readers 1990 was very pre-digital) we started an archive website – We are looking for anyone who was there in 1990 who may have images or even film of show on the Pyramid stage … to add to the archive – You can check out the archive here: www.archaos.info and tweet us any pictures etc as a reply to this comment or on twitter @archaoscircus – Thank you in advance xxx p.s. it would be great if the Guardian folk could share and help! x
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Some festival goers woke up with the best of intentions this morning, taking part in a 5k run around the site, or trying out a yoga class to a soundtrack of power ballads in the Greenpeace field.
But these two have found another way to raise their heart rate:
A quick reminder with the weather so far treating us well: remember your sunblock today. It’s not too late even for this guy.
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Meet the people of Glastonbury
Tshepo Mokoena’s been out and about this morning chatting to some of the people for whom Glastonbury is work rather than play…
Megan Crook, “textile guru”
“I got here at about midday on Monday, and have been getting everything set up since then. If you need someone who can cram in lots of stuff into a tight space, I’m your woman! I love the people at Glastonbury: they’re always so happy and welcoming. It’s great to be able to have an amazing conversation with a 60-year-old, then with a teenager who’s here with their parents. You get people of all ages, from all walks of life – there isn’t just one demographic of people who come here.”
Joel James, security in the Circus and theatre area
“This is my first time here. I’m used to doing security for clubs back in London, but I thought I’d try something a little different. For now, I’ve got it good because there isn’t much to do yet. Then when it all kicks off on Friday, I’m going to be managing the area and the queues. But I finish at 8pm, so I’m still gonna party afterwards!”
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Our photographers were out around the site last night, as the Glastonbury crowd began to party.
What to see this weekend
We asked our writers what they were most looking forward to this year. The answers included Patti Smith, angry artists, raving all night. And this…
Last year, I spent an inordinate amount of time in a small bar at the top of the Park area, a bar called the Crow’s Nest. It only fits about 50 people, but it was rarely full. The music varied, from singer-songwriters to DJs and punk jazz mini-orchestras. It was all in the curation, of course, and most of the music was ear-openingly good, but at the same time, even if the acts were duff, there would be another one along in a minute. The Crow’s Nest repaid an investment in the Glasto long game. It also saved me from having to walk up that hill again.
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Music for trains
It’s one thing when you’re sitting on the train next to someone with earbuds leaking whatever they’re listening to into your space while you try to catch up with reading the Spectator/Practical Caravan/High Times (delete as applicable). It’s another thing entirely when you’ve got a Hotly Tipped Recording Artist playing a set at the end of the carriage. The 18-year-old singer Soak appeared on one of the early Glastonbury trains to perform for passengers (it’s all part of First Great Western’s “Summer Tracks” – do you see what they did there? – campaign, apparently). Soak claimed there was “a real electric atmosphere in the carriage”.
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Travel update!
What with the travel and weather, we’re like a local radio station here. The good news is that the roads and the railways are looking good at the moment (though you can expect delays in the immediate vicinity of the site). Sports news at the top of the hour!
On the way to work ...
The dawn chorus
You might need to turn the volume up to 11 for this, but here’s what the festival sounded like at 5am this morning, courtesy of our own Pamela Hutchinson.*
Check the birdsong!
* If it was noisier where you were, if you’re on site, then please note that Pam is staying in the press camping area, which is a relatively quiet spot until more of those lazy journalist types turn up.
The first night of Glastonbury
Alicia Canter was out and about for us last night as the parties began – here’s what she saw.
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Weather update
Good news, campers! The Glastonbury weather forecast has shifted slightly, with Saturday and Sunday now looking less likely to be wet. According to the Met Office, the chance of precipitation is down to 20% on Sunday, and at less than 5% through Saturday daytime, and only rising to 20% in the evening. Come Saturday lunchtime, you may even want to consider breaking out the suncream, with a UV index of 6.
Welcome to Thursday!
It’s Thursday morning, it’s a little after 8am, and it’s day two of our liveblog. Yesterday we brought you news of the first arrivals at the site (including the family who claim all their children were conceived at Glastonbury). Today we’ll have the latest weather updates, and our team of writers will begin to traverse the site in search of news and those strange occurrences that make Glastonbury what it is. Later in the day, we’ll have some terrific long reads for you, including an interview with Friday night headliner Florence Welch and a profile of this year’s most divisive and controversial figure, James Bay and his Trademark Hat Kanye West. We’ll also be hearing the voices of the most important people at the festival – James Bay’s backing band the fans. If you’re going, if you’re already there, or if you just have something to say, let us know in the comments below.
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