Other acts who appeared on the Pyramid Stage in 2024 included LCD Soundsystem, PJ Harvey, Little Simz, Michael Kiwanuka and Burna Boy. In the picture here are one of my favourite bands of my teenage years, Squeeze, who rolled back the years by opening proceedings on the Pyramid on the Friday.
On the Sunday things tend to get a little more cultural. There is often a lunchtime session of brass bands, choral or orchestral music. In 2024 we were treated to a performance by the Birmingham Royal Ballet. The English National Ballet and the English National Opera have also appeared in the past.
Sunday afternoon also includes a golden oldie Legend slot, which is often considered to be the fourth headliner as it regularly attracts the largest audience of the weekend. In 2024 Shania Twain had the Pyramid crowd donning cowboy hats for a singalong and in the past iconic names such as Dolly Parton, Shirley Bassey, Johnny Cash, James Brown, Tom Jones, Leonard Cohen, Kylie Minogue, Cat Stevens and Diana Ross (pictured) have also trodden the Pyramid Stage boards.
Since the Rolling Stones' headline appearance in 2013 and until 2023 the top of the Pyramid was adorned each year with a different sculpture created by Joe Rush and his Mutoid Waste Company. Joe has been a big part of the Glastonbury scene since the 1980s and his customised vehicles and other artwork can often be seen in various places around the site. Joe's Pyramid Stage Peace Sign was in response to the fact that once again we have war in Europe as well as being a throw back to the days when the festival was heavily related to the CND movement. The sculpture was absent in 2023. I'm not sure why but my guess is that it was to provide space for projections during the headline performances. I hope that it will return in 2025 as the Pyramid did look rather naked without it.
This is the second or
Other Stage, which undertook a major facelift in 2015. Some people still refer to it as the “NME Stage” even though it hasn’t officially been called that for many years. The field here is flatter but you can still get a good view from most positions around the field on the screens to either side of the stage. Acts on the Other Stage tend to be primarily indie orientated although major dance acts also regularly appear here.
For the last few years the Other Stage has had a fairly major name opening proceedings on the Friday morning. In 2024 Annie Mac was given this honour. The lineup on the Other Stage also included headline performances from IDLES, Disclosure and The National together with D-Block Europe, The Streets, Two Door Cinema Club and Confidence Man (pictured).
Much like the Pyramid, at the last few festivals the Other Stage has been adorned with Joe Rush creations, some of which have paid tribute to Glastonbury legends such as David Bowie and Lemmy of Motorhead who had passed away during the course of the previous year. In 2024 this rather curious piece with a flying sports car looking set to hurtle into the front of the audience at any moment.
This is
West Holts, which prior to 2010 was known as "Jazz World". It's my personal favourite of the 3 large outdoor arenas, as it always has an extraordinarily eclectic line up and far more of the smaller festival atmosphere which I tend to prefer. In my 20 visits to Glastonbury I've only actually witnessed 4 Pyramid headliners whereas I have seen no less than 18 on this stage.
This was the first area to benefit from the addition of dozens of the giant flags which have gradually spread around the rest of the festival site in subsequent years.
The screens to either side of the West Holts Stage were only added for the first time in 2016.
The diverse array of performers who played on this stage in 2024 included Jungle, Jessie Ware, Justice, Black Pumas, NIA Archives (pictured here) and Heilung, who were my personal highlight of the weekend.
Also in the West Holts field is an artist signing tent which is run by Songlines magazine and where you can buy CDs and other merchandise and get them signed by the artists who perform on the stage. This is the queue of people waiting to meet Hollywood star Jeff Goldblum, who performed here with the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra in 2019.
Beyond the Silver Hayes dance area, in the north western portion of the site, you will find a huge red and blue striped marquee which hosts the Woodsies Stage. This was originally known as the “New Bands Tent” but was renamed as the "John Peel Stage" in memory of the legendary DJ in 2005. The current name has been in place since 2023 and reflects the name of the field in which the stage is located.
The Woodsies tent seems to get bigger and more popular with every passing year and often has appearances from well established performers as well as the more cutting edge up and coming stars of the future.
Well known names who played the Woodsies Stage in 2024 included Jamie XX, Gossip, James Blake, Sampha and Sleaford Mods plus a surprise appearance from Kasabian.
2024 saw the addition of the new
Tree Stage in the Woodsies area. This had a fully programmed schedule throughout the Wednesday and Thursday. Then for the remainder of the weekend it transformed into an after hours venue playing predominantly ambient vibes as well as interviews with the likes of Brian Cox and mycology expert Merlin Sheldrake.
Due to its elevated position the pointed roof of the impressively proportioned
Acoustic Stage tent is visible from around the Festival site. This is where some fairly big name rock acts play acoustic sets as well as the more folky regulars. It also benefits from having the Cockmill Arms Real Ale Bar right next door. There is always a friendly atmosphere and a really crisp sound system in this tent but one thing I would point out is that the stage here is on a slightly uphill slope and so if you are of less than average height and want to see what is going on I suggest you get there early for a front row spot.
The stellar line up of acts who played the Acoustic Tent in 2024 included The Bootleg Beatles, Scouting For Girls, Ocean Colour Scene, Ralph McTell, Gipsy Kings, Judy Collins and Tanita Tikaram (pictured here).
2007 saw the introduction of an entertainment area which was positioned at the top of the Park Home Ground camping field. Simply entitled
The Park the area was initially programmed by Emily Eavis so that she could hone her skills before assuming more of the overall responsibility for the festival from her father, Michael. The Park includes several venues and the diversity and quality of entertainment here almost sets it aside as being a mini-festival all of its own which many smaller events would struggle to match.
The Park remained predominantly unchanged for a decade but in 2019 it received a major facelift with new venues appearing and others being moved around and given fresh new facades.
The main
Park Stage is positioned in a natural amphitheatre and since 2019 it has been bedecked with fairy lights and numerous banners drawing attention to various aspects of environmental crisis. The line up here often used to include a number of mystery “special guests” and rumours were always rife at the festival as to who these might turn out to be. Radiohead and Pulp both turned up unexpectedly in 2011 but word got out and there were serious safety concerns with the number of people who turned up to see these acts and as a result I'm afraid the big name mystery guests had to stop.
In 2024 The Park attracted headliners Fontaines DC, Peggy Gou and London Grammar, along with an incredibly strong undercard including King Krule, Ghetts and dance music pioneers Orbital, who are pictured here with a very special guest performance by Tilda Swinton.
There's lots more about the smaller venues in The Park in the "What Happens at Night?" section in Part 6.
The
Avalon Stage is one of my personal favourites. It’s only a short walk from West Holts and has a nice friendly club-like atmosphere which has been retained despite the tent being increased in size in 2023. Acts who played the Avalon Stage last year included Skindred, New Model Army, The Magic Numbers. 60's pop darling Lulu also put in an appearance together with Toyah and her husband Robert Fripp, pictured below.
This short film was shot in and around the Avalon Field in 2013. Although it's more than 10 years old now it still gives you a great idea of the special atmosphere here and also includes some footage and philosophical musings from my very good friends Hobo Jones and the Junkyard Dogs, who for many years traditionally played the opening set on the Avalon Stage each year on the Friday lunchtime.
Leftfield is where you can listen to & get involved in political debate and educational films & lectures. Tony Benn famously made several appearances here and this is also where politically motivated musicians like Billy Bragg (see picture) do their thing as well as hosting late night DJ sets. For a number of years Leftfield was located in the William's Green area, which now hosts Carhenge, next to the iconic tug-of-war tower which still remains in its position due to the fact they would have to dig new foundations in order to relocate it.
However, Leftfield was absent from the festival in 2009 and when it returned in 2010 it was moved to the Holts Field, which is actually where it originated way back in 2000. Following Tony Benn's death in 2014 the Leftfield tower was renamed in honour of the great man and you can see a video of him speaking and being interviewed at Glastonbury
HERE.
Until 2000
The Glade was just a bunch of trees and a very smelly toilet. From then until 2005 it was an outdoor dance venue which changed in format pretty much every year and spawned the now sadly defunct electronic music festival of the same name. For the first time in 2007 the main stage area was fully covered and quite a few live bands started to appear to compliment the DJs and sound systems.
In 2022 the main Glade Stage was moved away from the trees and in 2024 the larger tented area which we can see here played host to the likes of Faithless, Fat Boy Slim, Camelphat and a Groove Armada DJ set.
Although I was quite sad to see the main Glade Stage move away from the Glade itself, it was replaced among the trees by a new venue called the
Glade Dome, which made up for things to a great extent, with a lovely atmosphere together with some impressive lighting and decorations.
Croissant Neuf is the biggest of the Greenfield venues and usually has a mix of the acts you will regularly see if you attend the smaller independent & grass roots festival circuit. It is powered entirely by natural energy resources. As well as the main 2,000 capacity tent there is also a small bandstand situated nearby where Glastonbury legend and all round top bloke Mik Artistik often plays one of the first sets of the weekend on the Wednesday afternoon.
There are several smaller and very intimate venues to be found in the Green Futures field. If you look hard enough you’ll find live music playing at these from Wednesday afternoon all through the weekend. The biggest of these tents is
Toad Hall with the Zawose Queens shown here performing in 2024.
The people who run the
Small World Stage actually host their own grassroots festival in Kent twice a year in May and August and you will find lots of folky acoustic stuff going on here together with a vegetarian cafe.
Nearby you will also find the
Lizard Stage as well as the pedal powered
Mandala Stage where somebody has to jump on a bike and pretend to be Chris Froome if you want to hear the bands playing.
The
Bandstand is situated in the middle of the main "Babylon" market area and is a great place to get away from the crowds and sit and listen to some of the unknown gems who play there through all 5 days of the festival. Here we have Bandstand regulars Hodmadoddery entertaining the punters on the Thursday afternoon in 2024.
Also in the main market area you will find the
Babylon Uprising tent blasting out reggae and dub tunes from their soundsystem throughout the day and into the early hours.
If you follow the northern path between the Pyramid and Other Stages through an area which has become known as "The Reach" you will stumble across a venue which popped up unannounced in 2022 called
The Hive. If you are rushing between the 2 main stages it's very easy to get waylaid here by something unexpected.The Reach also plays host to the
BBC Introducing stage, where up and coming bands from around the country are invited to play, having been chosen for the honour by local BBC Radio stations. Ed Sheeran played his first Glastonbury gig on this stage in 2011. And just 6 years later he was headlining on the Pyramid. This is the hugely impressive Dead Pony from Glasgow fulfilling their dreams of playing at Glastonbury in 2022.
In 2024 BBC Introducing changed format from an indoor marquee to an outdoor saddlespan design stage.
On the track which leads from the Pyramid Stage to the Woodsies tent you can find
San Remo. There have been several incarnations here over the years. From 2011 to 2019 it was a venue called the "Beat Hotel". In 2010 it was the “Cocktail & Dreams” karaoke bar and prior to that it was the “Guardian Lounge”, where some of the big name bands appearing on the main stages over the weekend played more intimate sets. The line up at San Remo included a good mixture of live acts and DJs right through to 3am each night from Thursday to Sunday in 2024.
Close to the West Holts Stage you can find the
Glasto Latino area. Live salsa and tango music is played here from Wednesday evening onwards and experts and beginners alike can hit the dancefloor and also join in the free classes throughout the daytime. They do a very quaffable Mojito here and not unreasonably priced too.
Positioned in a small wooded area on Pennard Hill, way up beyond the Tipi Field, you can find
Strummerville. The Joe Strummer Foundation are a co-operative who tour various festivals promoting grass roots music in memory of the legendary leader of The Clash. You can snuggle down in the comfy sofas next to a roaring fire while you enjoy the acts playing on what must surely be the smallest stage at Glastonbury. However the miniscule scale didn't prevent Mumford & Sons playing a secret gig on the stage in 2011 when it was positioned in one of its previous homes in the Unfair Ground. You can read more about The Joe Strummer Foundation and the projects they are involved in on their website
HERE.
Even the Tipi Field has its own
Ancient Futures Stage. What better way could there possibly be of spending an evening at Glastonbury than dancing to festival legends The Egg in a big old wigwam?
As well as all of the above, several of the bars, cafes and stalls dotted around the site have small stages where acts will entertain you while you glug your cider and munch your falafels. You are unlikely to find any details of who is playing or even where these venues are in the programme. You'll just have to wander and discover them for yourselves.
How long does it take to walk between the stages?
The answer to this question can vary enormously and is very much dependant on several factors. For a start you need to consider how many people are likely to be on the move at the same time and whether you are going to be moving with or against the flow of traffic. Then you have to allow for the ground conditions because if it’s muddy then everybody tends to stick to the paths and trackways and it all becomes very congested as a result.
In dry conditions with relatively few people about it is easily possible to stroll from the front of the Pyramid to a similar position at the Other Stage in less than 10 minutes but when it’s crowded and muddy the same journey can take half an hour or more at an excruciatingly slow shuffle.
You’ve also got to remember to factor in the dietary & toilet requirements of all your mates and the possibility of being waylaid by a massive articulated polar bear or a 9 foot tall unicycling grasshopper en-route!
I would therefore suggest that it would be more useful to give you a rough idea of how far it is between the various stages and then you can work out how long these journeys are likely to take accounting for the conditions at the time. So based on the highly technical “ruler-&-piece-of-string” method I reckon the following distances in metres from the Pyramid Stage are reasonably accurate:-
-
Other Stage 600m
- Acoustic 600m
- West Holts 700m
- Silver Hayes 700m
- Woodsies 800m
- Cabaret 800m
- Avalon 900m
- Croissant Neuf 900m
- Shangri-La 1,100m
- The Park 1,200m
- Stone Circle 1,300m
