46 Fun Facts About Glastonbury Festival

What is the name of the Eavis family land where Glastonbury Festival is held?

Worthy Farm: by 1985 the festival had outgrown it, so the neighbouring Cockmill Farm was bought to enlarge the site.

At the 2010 festival, which song did headliner Stevie Wonder lead Michael Eavis in singing on the Pyramid Stage?

Happy Birthday: the duet marked Glastonbury's 40th anniversary, as Wonder brought the curtain down on the festival's final night.

Which concert inspired Michael Eavis to hold his first festival?

Led Zeppelin at Bath in 1970: that September Eavis staged a smaller festival of his own, and 1,500 people came.

Tickets for the first festival in 1970 cost £1 and included what, free from the farm?

Milk: about 1,500 people came, and the following year's Glastonbury Fair was free, paid for by its supporters.

Which act replaced the Kinks at short notice to headline the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970?

Tyrannosaurus Rex: Marc Bolan's band played that first weekend, and it later shortened its name to T. Rex.

Which spiritual leader made a surprise appearance on the Pyramid Stage during Patti Smith's 2015 set?

The Dalai Lama: earlier that day he had already given a speech to crowds elsewhere on the site.

Which rock star played the 1971 Glastonbury Fair and returned to headline the Pyramid Stage in 2000?

David Bowie: he played on a new silver Pyramid Stage, and the full set was finally released 18 years later.

With which campaigning organisation was Glastonbury Festival organised from 1981?

CND: 1981 was the festival's first profitable year, and Eavis handed about £20,000 of the profits to the campaign.

Which veteran band made their first-ever Glastonbury appearance as Saturday headliners in 2013?

The Rolling Stones: the festival had tried to book them for decades, and Emily Eavis called finally landing them a dream booking.

What happened to the Pyramid Stage just over a week before the 1994 festival?

It burned down: the fire struck in the early hours of 13 June 1994, and a local stage company supplied a replacement in time.

Which band's Friday Pyramid Stage set in 1994 was reported to draw a crowd of as many as 300,000?

Levellers: the crowd was swollen by gatecrashers, and Channel 4 was broadcasting the festival live that year.

Which country star made her Glastonbury debut in the Sunday teatime Legends slot in 2014?

Dolly Parton: she sang 'Jolene' and '9 to 5' to a vast crowd and later said it was the biggest audience she had ever played to.

Whose muddy 1997 Pyramid headline set did Q magazine later name the greatest concert of all time?

Radiohead: speakers kept failing, and Thom Yorke nearly walked off until guitarist Ed O'Brien warned he would regret it for life.

What was the nickname of the barrier built in 2002 that cut gatecrashing at Glastonbury?

The superfence: it went up after gatecrashers swamped the 2000 festival, and it kept them out.

Which pop star was forced to pull out of headlining Sunday 2005 after a breast cancer diagnosis?

Kylie Minogue: she finally played Glastonbury 14 years later, in the Sunday teatime Legends slot of 2019.

Which rapper headlined the Saturday of Glastonbury 2008?

Jay-Z: Emily Eavis booked him as the festival's first hip hop headliner, despite claims that rap had no place at Glastonbury.

Why did Foo Fighters pull out of headlining Glastonbury in 2015?

Grohl broke his leg: he fell off a stage weeks before the festival, and Foo Fighters finally headlined the Pyramid Stage two years later.

Which two acts headlined Glastonbury's Friday and Sunday nights in 2015?

Florence and the Machine and The Who: Florence stepped up after Foo Fighters withdrew, dedicated her set to Dave Grohl and covered one of his band's hits.

Which grime artist headlined the Pyramid Stage in 2019?

Stormzy: he wore a Union Jack stab vest designed by Banksy, and Banksy later put the vest on show in a pop-up shop in Croydon.

Who became Glastonbury's youngest ever headliner in 2022?

Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar headlined the other nights, and Diana Ross played the Legends slot.

Which all-male headline bill of 2023 drew criticism?

Elton John, Guns N' Roses and Arctic Monkeys: Emily Eavis said a booked female headliner had pulled out, and the next year's Pyramid bill split evenly between men and women.

Which Hollywood actor joined Coldplay on guitar during their record fifth Glastonbury headline set in 2024?

Michael J. Fox: Chris Martin said the film Back to the Future was the main reason Coldplay became a band, and Fox played guitar on 'Fix You'.

Since 2007, what must Glastonbury ticket buyers register in advance so it can be printed on their ticket?

A passport-style photo: the scheme was brought in to stop touts reselling tickets, and buyers supply the photo when they pre-register.

Which veteran singer played Glastonbury's Sunday Legends slot in 2025, 23 years after he last appeared there?

Rod Stewart: that same month he had cancelled a run of US concerts while recovering from flu, weeks before his Sunday teatime set.

Which 2025 headliner briefly pulled out, saying Glastonbury was 'now under corporate control' because of the BBC?

Neil Young: he reversed course within days and topped the Pyramid Stage bill that June, walking on alone to play an acoustic 'Sugar Mountain'.

Why was no Glastonbury Festival held in 2026?

A planned fallow year: Emily Eavis said such a break rests the land and lets the cows stay out longer to reclaim their fields.

Which three charities have been the festival's main beneficiaries since the end of the Cold War?

Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid: each supplies volunteers and features on site, and Greenpeace has run its own field there since 1997.

At Glastonbury 2023, which 1980s pop star joined Blossoms for a surprise set of songs by the Smiths?

Rick Astley: their pairing began with surprise Smiths covers at a Blossoms gig, which led to two tribute concerts.

Which Glastonbury area, home to the Stone Circle, keeps alive the festival's hippie and free-festival ethos?

The Green Fields: in 2023 the rest of the festival followed their lead, running every generator on renewable fuel.

Thousands of volunteers work shifts at Glastonbury each summer; what do most get in return?

Free entry: at bars run by the Workers Beer Company, the wages volunteers earn go to the charities and campaign groups that send them.

Which band stepped in when the Stone Roses pulled out a week before Glastonbury 1995?

Pulp: 30 years later they returned for a secret Pyramid Stage set, billed only as 'Patchwork'.

What unplanned event took place on Michael Eavis's farm in 1978?

Police sent Stonehenge travellers there: they believed a festival was on, so Eavis held a small free festival for them.

Which charity grew out of the children's area at Glastonbury organised by Arabella Churchill?

Children's World: Churchill had helped plan the 1971 Glastonbury Fair and went on to run the festival's theatre and circus areas.

According to Emily Eavis, what persuaded her father to keep the festival going past retirement age?

His wife Jean's death: she died in 1999, and until then the couple had planned to stop at retirement age, billing several 1990s festivals as 'the last one'.

Glastonbury skipped 2012 partly because which event would soak up portable toilets and police?

The London Olympics: that summer, Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony featured a model of Glastonbury Tor.

Which unusual event took place on the Pyramid Stage on the Saturday morning of 2000?

A wedding of two festival-goers: the couple had written to ask permission, and actor Keith Allen conducted the ceremony.

In the 2024 New Year Honours, what did Michael Eavis receive?

A knighthood: he had trained as a merchant navy midshipman, but came home to run the family farm after his father died.

Which Labour politician was invited to speak on Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage in 2017?

Jeremy Corbyn: crowds chanted 'Oh, Jeremy Corbyn' to the tune of 'Seven Nation Army', and he introduced the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels.

For the cancelled 50th-anniversary festival in 2020, what did the BBC broadcast instead?

Classic sets from past festivals: a pop-up BBC iPlayer channel carried more than 60 historic performances over what would have been the festival weekend.

In 2019 Glastonbury stopped selling what across all its bars, traders and backstage areas?

Plastic bottles: more than a million single-use ones had been sold at the 2017 festival, and water kiosks and taps offered free refills instead.

Which railway station serves as the festival's mini hub for extra trains from London Paddington?

Castle Cary: it is the nearest station to the site, and in 2015 the rail operator named a locomotive after founder Michael Eavis.

Which rapper headlined Glastonbury's Saturday night in 2015 despite a petition against his booking?

Kanye West: Emily Eavis later said she got death threats over the booking, yet she called his set the bravest she had seen on the Pyramid Stage.

Which act replaced U2 as Friday headliner in 2010 after Bono injured his back?

Gorillaz: U2 had written a new song for the occasion, and they finally headlined the Friday night a year later.

Which late DJ did Glastonbury name a stage after in 2005?

John Peel: the stage kept his name until 2023, when it was renamed Woodsies.

Which 1980s soul and pop star played Glastonbury's Sunday teatime Legends slot in 2015?

Lionel Richie: a week later his greatest hits compilation shot to number one on the UK album chart.

What green innovation did Glastonbury Festival introduce in 1994 to supply some of its power?

A 150 kW wind turbine: it stood beside the main stage to power that area, and by 2023 every generator on site ran on renewable fuel.