So that was your mud-spattered Glastonbury pre-amble. We’re off to check out the secret acts on the Williams Green stage, and the xx-chromosomed in the team will be heading to the women-only stage The Sisterhood – come back tomorrow for more on how it all went down, when our liveblog starts back up at 11am. By when, of course, we’ll know if we’ve left or remained. We know how the Eavises voted at least:
— Glastonbury Festival (@GlastoFest) June 21, 2016
Mud update: the struggle is real, but it’s actually getting better. Many areas are now the consistency of wet plaster rather than wallpaper paste. Hurrah!
If you come to Glastonbury before you’ll know to expect a fair bit of this kind of thing:
Nevertheless, some people aren’t ready to hop aboard the freak train just yet:
glastonbury I'm ON SITE and it's ON SIGHT if a white dreadlock comes too close
— Amy Becker (@amybeckerdj) June 23, 2016
Check out Amy on Saturday, back to back with Jamz Supernova as part of 1Xtra’s takeover of the Wow stage – the Caucasian and hirsute are minded not to get too close.
Steve Davis, the world’s most interesting six-time world snooker champion, is performing a DJ set live at Stonebridge Bar.
Huge crowd for snooker legend Steve Davis at Stonebridge! AS pic.twitter.com/MATbsWLo2V
— Glastonbury Live (@GlastoLive) June 23, 2016
Bar I'm at in Glastonbury just packed out coz Steve Davis is DJing. Making me wonder if I maybe never came down from that bad acid in 1988.
— Thundercock (@fatherwoIand) June 23, 2016
Read Ben Beaumont-Thomas’s interview with the snooker player here, talking about his love of Holly Herndon, Surgeon and other such far-out technoid boffinery:
The Guardian’s fashion team recently opined that the summer’s essential fashion accessory was an inflatable swan. Like Calvin Harris and Taylor Swift:
Or Rihanna:
Or this visual summation of radically compromised festival dreams:
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Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Our reporter Hannah Ellis-Petersen was in the crowd for the Jo Cox tribute.
Hundreds of women, many wearing the suffragette colours, stood together on the Park Stage to pay tribute to MP Jo Cox. Bridget McConville, who worked with Cox at the White Ribbon Alliance for three years, spoke to the vast crowd and said she would never forget the moment she heard the news of the fatal attack.
“It feels like the attack on Jo was an attack on all if us. Jo knew that women were not only at the sharp end of social injustice all over the world but that we are the solution to it. As a campaigner in the charity sector, even before she became an MP, she saw for herself how women particularly suffer in conflict and poverty, and how fast things can change for the better when their voices are heard.”
McConville highlighted the work that Jo had done to bring the ignored issues of maternal health to the attention of world leaders and organisations such as the UN. “Since then, the numbers of women dying in childbirth has halved, so that’s an extraordinary contribution of Jo’s,” she said.
“We believed she would be prime minister one day,” she added. “We think the best thing we can do in her memory is to continue to listen to the most marginalised people in our society.”
The gathered crowd, many of who were moved to tears by the speeches, were then invited to march to the women’s only venue, the Sisterhood stage at Shangri-La, in commemoration of Jo. Billy Bragg, who was also on stage, then led the crowd in singing civil rights protest song We Shall Overcome.
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Jo Cox remembered at Glastonbury pic.twitter.com/I4GduPV1RH
— Caroline Lapperton (@carolinelaps) June 23, 2016
Glastonbury also announced today that it would be releasing its first-ever live album in memory of Jo Cox, in collaboration with Oxfam, a charity she worked with extensively. Entitled Oxfam Presents: Stand As One – Live at Glastonbury 2016, there’ll be tracks from the likes of Coldplay, the 1975, Muse, Foals, Sigur Rós, Chvrches and Fatboy Slim recorded live at this year’s festival.
Money raised will go towards Oxfam’s work in tackling the refugee crisis. Emily Eavis said: “We are making this special live album from Glastonbury this summer because the scale of the refugee crisis is so huge we simply had to do something.” Oxfam’s chief executive Mark Goldring added: “Given Jo’s tireless work to help refugees both at Oxfam and beyond it felt appropriate to dedicate the album to her.”
The album will come out on 11 July.
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Some reaction from the Jo Cox tribute from those in the crowd, and on stage:
The Jo Cox tribute at #Glastonbury was heartbreaking and beautiful. @glastofest
— Matt Durrant (@MDurrantTweets) June 23, 2016
lovely warm crowd at the Jo Cox tribute on the park stage #Glastonbury people are good huh
— miriam (@miriamattwood) June 23, 2016
Jo Cox memorial on the Park Stage
Right now on the Park stage, Glastonbury’s tribute to Jo Cox is taking place. We’ll have a full story in a little while – Billy Bragg is currently leading the tributes.
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More Coldplay news!
For tomorrow’s G2 Film&Music, Sophie Heawood went to speak to Sunday headliners Coldplay. Turns out Chris Martin had never been to Glastonbury before performing there:
The closest I got was in 1997. I was on a train; I’d just been to Devon to get braces fitted. I felt so self conscious, I was like: ‘Shit, what am I going to do? I’m 19 and I’ve got braces.’ Then the train stopped at Castle Cary, and everybody from Glastonbury got on. And I just melted in the corner.” He laughs. Did they all seem cool? “They seemed so cool! I was just like: ‘Shit, how do you get that cool?’ So that was my closest experience to Glastonbury; being on a train and feeling like the nerdiest of nerds, because my mum had told me to get my wonky teeth fixed.”
And now, the weather …
It’s mild and grey at Glastonbury right now (not enough for me; I managed to get sunburned in the rain yesterday). But what are the nation’s greatest weather experts predicting for the days ahead?
BBC Weather
Friday – cloudy, with showers in mid-afternoon, and a high of 18C, falling to 13C by midnight.
Saturday – Rain in the morning, followed by clearing skies and an actual uncovered sun symbol for early evening. A high of 17C.
Sunday – No rain! And a high of 17C at lunchtime.
Met Office
Friday – Same as the BBC.
Saturday – Much the same as the BBC, but it’s offering a high of 18C.
Sunday – Again, the same as the BBC, but with a high of 18C.
Accuweather
Friday – Showers at lunchtime, later afternoon and mid-evening. A high of 18C.
Saturday – Showers in late morning and late afternoon. A high of 18C.
Sunday – Showers at lunchtime and mid-afternoon. A high of 19C.
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So should you feel bad if you didn’t register for a postal vote before decamping to Somerset?
The short answer is … not really. “The only circumstance in which it could have an effect is if it’s incredibly close between Leave and Remain,” Joe Twyman, head of political and social research for the pollsters YouGov, told the New Statesman earlier this year. “In order for that to happen, it needs to be really close – I don’t think that’s incredibly likely. But you never know. Even if all 250,000 attendees were voting the same way, it would still have to be within 250,000 to make a difference.”
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The serious news bit (2)
Danny Bolt, 30, and Richard Jameson, 32 from Burnley, weren’t as organised as Susan …
Danny: “I was going to register but I just missed the date to do the postal voting. But to be fair, even if I could register right now I’m undecided. There’s so much shit flying around. Though if you pushed me, i’d probably say remain because the people who want to leave are dickheads like Farage. It’s nice because Glastonbury is a bubble away from everything.”
Richard: “I registered but forgot to arrange a proxy. Most people I know want out. To be honest, being here you just feel disconnected from it all. God knows what’s going on outside that fence.”
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The serious news bit
Serious news reporter Hannah Ellis-Petersen has been out doing serious news reporting. She’s been canvassing the opinions of Glastonburygoers about the referendum. Are they Brexiteers or Remainers (for the record, we should note that Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne – who play on the Park stage at 6pm on Sunday – reckons Britain will vote out, because Brexit sounds like breakfast, and everyone likes breakfast). Anyway, here’s what Susan Hardisty, 60,visiting Glastonbury for the first time, thinks.
Susan: “This is one of the most important votes of our generation, more important than the general election. This referendum should never have happened, but now it has we need to make sure our voices are heard – even if we are at Glastonbury. We are pro-remain. We have kids in their 20s and I think the world will be a lot easier for them if we are part of the EU. And the thought of retracting into an isolated little Britain just scares the life out of me. It’s massive relief to be here, away from it all. We’ve decided, done our bit now [she and her husband voted by post] – though it’s a bit frightening to think we could leave Glastonbury on Monday in a quite different world. And I really hope not.”
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Coldplay news!
You know Coldplay do that thing where they give out flashing wristbands to the crowd, that light up during certain songs? Yes, you do. They call them Xylobands. Easy enough at a stadium – just give them out at the turnstiles. But they’re going to do it at Glastonbury, too. God only knows how. Our bet is that of 100,000 bands they plan to distribute, 96,000 will end up in the hands of three stag parties from Northamptonshire, who will find some way to ensure the three grooms are dressed entirely in flashing wristbands. Party on, dudes!
NEWS: Xylobands to give out 100,000+ LED wristbands at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday [xbands] #ColdplayGlastonbury pic.twitter.com/BDnZUppfZl
— Atlas Project (@ColdplayAtlas) June 23, 2016
Road warrior!
I imagine those of you sitting in your office or at home are thinking: “What would it be like to watch speeded up footage of someone cycling along a 15-mile traffic jam on the way to Glastonbury?” Fortunately, we have just such footage to hand.
Cyclist Mike Jefferies filmed 15 miles of jams near the Glastonbury Festival - and speeded up the footage.https://t.co/uEjTzuQUNX
— ITV News WestCountry (@itvwestcountry) June 23, 2016
Playlist excitement!
Our friends at Spotify, who love nothing more than compiling statistics, have gone through the Glastonbury bill and compiled a top 20 of the line-up, based on the number of streams. There’s a lot of disappointment in the Guardian’s cabin that Lekkido, Lord of the Lobsters doesn’t feature on the list. He’s playing nine times this weekend, apparently, and Harriet is desperate to catch as many of his shows as possible. To find out why, read Tim Jonze’s review of him from this time last year. In the meantime, here’s that Spotify Glastonbury chart, and a nice 80-track playlist for you, featuring a ton of the acts playing this year.
1. Coldplay
2. Adele
3. Ellie Goulding
4. Muse
5. Disclosure
6. Bastille
7. The 1975
8. Jess Glynne
9. The Lumineers
10. Years & Years
11. Of Monsters and Men
12. Bring Me The Horizon
13. M83
14. Tame Impala
15. Two Door Cinema Club
16. Chvrches
17. Tom Odell
18. Beck
19. Foals
20. Earth, Wind & Fire
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All change!
Harriet is clocking off and I’m joining you – I being Michael Hann – for the next part of the afternoon. Expect more pictures of mud, bits and bobs from around the site, and whatever else we can dredge up.
Glastonbury's future
Much speculation has surrounded the future of Glastonbury and its Worthy farm location. In today’s onsite Glastonbury Free Press paper, Michael Eavis said plans to move the event to Longleat are “on the back burner”.
“That’s really on the back burner for now but it’s something we are looking at for the next fallow year, which is likely to be in 2019,” he said.
He added that a trial event could happen at the aforementioned Wiltshire tourist attraction to see if the team could stage an event elsewhere. When asked about whether or not this would be the last year Glastonbury would be hosted at Worthy farm, he said: “Absolutely not. It’s just important that we try another site. We could have all kinds of problems here with the livestock we have – horrible things like foot and mouth – which could close us down. Longleat is only 18 miles down the road and it looks like a good place if we ever did an alternative site.”
So there you have it. We’ll have to wait until 2019, by which time we will all certainly be courgetti-consuming lizards.
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In the past 12 months, the music world has lost some of its most iconic figures: David Bowie, Prince and Lemmy. This year’s Glastonbury has grand plans to commemorate each of them in their own, appropriate ways - more of which you can read about here.
To commemorate Motörhead’s frontman Lemmy, who finally performed at Glastonbury last year before his death in December, Rush has built a vast structure for the Other stage. The sculpture will be a peace sign formed of spanners, adorned with an aluminium ace of spades, a v-twin engine and a vast set of shiny black ram’s horns.
If you’re sat at home, or in your tent, thinking - “enough of the traffic updates, Harriet, we want frenzied hedonism and nude hippies writhing around in mud” - then look no further.
It’s 2016, a time in which data is the new debauchery and statistics is the new sex, so DigitasLBi have kindly provided us with social media related numbers which reveal who the most popular artists mentioned in tweets containing a Glastonbury-related hasthag. It turns out #adele wins. The singer was the most popular hashtag of any artist in tweets containing Glastonbury-related hashtags. More info below:
- #adele was mentioned 549 times, in 1.6% of tweets with Glastonbury-related hasthags.
- Prince-related hashtags were the 2nd most popular artist hashtags (there were 497 combined Prince-themed #s), in part due to a campaign to hold a tribute to the artist at the festival (see #glastonberet & #raspberryberets).
- Similarly, Bowie-related hashtags were also prominent in tweets, featuring 207 times in third place.
- #coldplay and #muse followed, with 139 and 127 hashtags respectively.
(For those curious about their methodology, they analysed over 34,000 tweets in the period between 15 March and 15 June 2016, excluding retweets)
See you at the Stone Circle later for some crazy data-driven stats.
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Mud-related delays
For anyone on site and hoping to attend the 2pm Miles Ahead screening and Q&A, timings are set back about 30 minutes.
The Sisterhood stage also has yet to open – but our roving reporter Hannah Ellis-Petersen informs us that it should be ready between 5pm and 7pm tonight. Shangri-La is still a building site and “a bit of a mud bath” and no one is actually being allowed in at the moment. They’ve had to push everything back by a day. More updates as they come.
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Michael Eavis – very much the Harry Styles of the UK festival scene – arrives at the Theatre field.
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This year’s Glastonbury feels overwhelmed by political anxiety. Shangri-La is emblazoned with its not-so subtle stance on rightwing agendas (see also the anti-Cameron poster featured a few posts below) while many ticketholders – who hopefully sorted their proxy or postal votes in time! – are flying the European flag ahead of the referendum results.
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Yesterday afternoon, you’d have bet good money against Block 9 opening, perhaps ever. It was still a building site, with diggers all over the shop, building materials piled up, and warnings that anyone entering had to be wearing protective equipment. But the threat of No Hat, No Boots, No Dancing has been avoided – remarkably, the crew managed to turn it from bombsite to dance club during the course of the afternoon and early evening, and a midnight – four hours late – the first partiers were admitted for its soft opening. By tonight, the organisers promise, it will be ready for its official opening. That’s what several hundred people working like the clappers will do for you.
And if you’re wondering what the fuss is about, here’s the Guardian’s Alexis Petridis on what not to miss this year:
If you can get near it – it’s invariably mobbed – dance arena Block 9’s re-creation of an NYC gay club is one of Glastonbury’s real treasures, as much for the music as the atmosphere of pansexual, drag queen-heavy abandon. This year’s lineup is particularly rich, with disco gospel expert Greg Belson on Thursday, Roger Sanchez, Horse Meat Disco’s James Hillard and Miss Honey Dijon on Friday and Berlin duo Tama Sumo and Lakuti on Saturday among the gems. The truly hardcore Glasto-goer can end the weekend at 5am on Monday with Hillard’s fellow HMDer Luke Howard’s traditional, epic closing set.
The calm before the metaphorical storm: here are some of the main areas of Glastonbury before the frenzy begins.
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After the traffic chaos of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, during which Avon and Somerset police urged festival-goers to stay at home until the congestion calmed, things appear to be looking a lot better.
BBC Somerset is reporting only one delay on the festival approaches, and that’s counted as medium rather than severe. It’s on the A37 at Bagborough Lane, Pylle, just a few miles from the festival site.
So prepare for a short wait, but don’t get downhearted. Hang on in there. This will be you at 6pm tonight:
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Here’s what the next few days of weather brings according to the BBC:
And today’s more thorough assessment:
Plenty of dry and fine weather around today. There will be some variable amounts of cloud at times, with the best of the sunshine towards the west. The far east may see some heavy thundery showers. Feeling warm.
Tonight: Staying dry for many overnight, with some clear spells for a time. Cloud will gradually increase from the west by dawn, introducing very isolated light showers.
If you’re after my verdict, the air is warm, a bit like a silky lightweight blanket, maybe a thin fleece, there is an essence of moisture frolicking about, threatening to enter but not yet arriving, the shade of cloud is reminiscent of a very clean, high-end rodent, and the atmosphere is electric. Bring wellies.
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Glastonbury begins!
Welcome everyone! The gates are open, the liveblog is alive and the mud is deep – slightly claggy – but actually far more bearable than these sensationalist, fear-mongering news outlets have led us to believe.
As usual we will be taking you through the festival step by step, day by day, from the silly to the spectacular. The music doesn’t properly begin until Friday, but today we hope to bring you reports on the opening of the women-only venue The Sisterhood, Glastonbury’s Jo Cox tribute at 4pm, incessant weather updates, social media statistics (more interesting than it sounds), possibly some harrowing selfies of me and Guardian music editor Michael Hann alone in the cabin, and any additional onsite information which might enable the general festival ingestion process. Content crazy!
We will be closing down the liveblog late on Sunday night, after headliners Coldplay bring their euphoric, confetti-filled close to the event, so until then expect exactly the same standard of rip-roaring hilarity that has filled the previous 17 year’s worth of *Bafta award-winning Guardian Glastonbury coverage.
Enjoy!
*Oscar
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