The Glastonbury Festival 2020 was cancelled last due to the Pandemic. Nevertheless, BBC broadcasted various acclaimed sets over the weekend of the cancelled festival. Among the sets were those from Florence + The Machine, David Bowie, Adele, Beyonce, R.E.M., Jay-Z, The Rolling Stones, and Billie Eilish. The festival is confirmed to resume on 23 and 27 June 2021.
Meanwhile, let's reminisce some of the intriguing events from the history of the Glastonbury Festival. Here are a few of the interesting, if not shocking, happenings surrounding the festival.
Glastonbury Festival 2019 - Day Five
GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND - JUNE 30: The crowd enjoy the atmosphere as Slaves performs on the Other Stage during day five of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 30, 2019 in Glastonbury, England.Ian Gavan/Getty Images
Track Tributes to Glastonbury
Many artists paid respect to the festival through tribute songs. The Kula Shaker's "303" refers to the A303 road that leads to Glastonbury. This song has been a big track from the '90s. Scouting For Girls and Nizlopi also had a song called "Glastonbury." The latest tribute song was in 2013, performed by the Rolling Stones as a tribute to the crowd laid out before them. The song was titled "Glastonbury Girl."
Biggest Glastonbury crowds
The Glastonbury Festival had a huge crowd during Lionel Richie's performance in 2015, but Adele outdid this attendance in 2016 with an estimated 110,000 audiences. Dolly Parton also gathered a massive crowd in 2014, with 95,000 attendees; she beat the record of Radiohead and Oasis.
Glastonbury has over 1,000 acres to accommodate all the audiences, and it continuously grows each year. The event site has 10 miles of security fencing built to avoid gatecrashing. There were also 100,000 rolls of toilet paper, 40,000 bins, and 40,000 tubes of sunblock and 4,500 toilets. Imagine that?!!
Paul McCartney fined £1000
The Glastonbury Festival has a curfew, and in 2004, the ex-Beatles member, Paul McCartney got carried away with the event. The local council sent him a £1000 bill. Luckily, McCartney's earning of £175,000 for his headlining slot could cover the cost. Also, Michael Eavis offered to pay the fine.
2008 was the year of the odd headliners
2008 is the year of the banking crisis. Everyone got hit, including the festival giant.
Jay-Z headlined the rock and pop, tradition-based festival. At the same time, he pulled off the incredible set. It was also the first year that the festival didn't sell out. Afterward, the festival deemed a success in the media wherein the slow sales was a talking point. The Glastonbury failed to turn a profit for the first time in 39 years.
Stolen trousers
There were trouser-thieves during the 1987 Glastonbury Festival. Hundreds of trousers were stolen from the tents of festival goers overnight, and the criminals picked pockets. On the funny side, the host, Michael Eavis, said that the next morning, there'll be many trouserless men and women wandering about, quite embarrassed until they find their clothes dumped in a muddy ditch.
Conor Oberst called John Peel a "cokehead"
In 2005, the most shocking on-stage outburst came when the main man of Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst, called John Peel a "cokehead." The scenario was ill-advised, knowing that the much-loved DJ passed away a few months before the festival. The Bright Eyes playing on stage were supposed to be for the honor of John Peel. Conor said he didn't remember much of the gig, and apologized.
A place you'll never find on the map
Michael Eavis calls a part in the Glastonbury as "Underground Piano Bar." It is a secret underground subterranean performance space that is not written on the map of Glastonbury.
George Ezra almost sabotaged Stormzy's set
Stormzy has a groundbreaking, urgent, and thrilling set. However, it was10 minutes late. The rumor mill said that the delay was because of George Ezra. He fired two giant glitter guns as he played Shotgun earlier that night. The Pyramid Stage's generators had a sudden gust of wind sweep the confetti into it, needing it to be cleaned out before Stormzy could play.
Glastonbury Festival is an event that people mark in their cultural calendar. Come 2021, people will again experience this massive festival.
