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A photograph taken at Glastonbury during the daytime. The image depicts a man with no shirt and blue shorts bending down over a firepit within a campsite in the middle of a grassy field. Three small tents are erected around him, and a red trailer vehicle is parked to the right of the tents. Beyond the small campsite a blue campervan is parked in the field, and beyond the campervan a temporary stage is erected.

Friday

Statistics

  • 1146*
    performances

* Catalogued so far.

  1. 1971

    Now called Glastonbury Fayre, Andrew Kerr and Arabella Churchill helped plan a free event at Pilton encompassing Midsummer’s Day. 12,000 people saw David Bowie, Hawkwind and Traffic play on a pyramid-shaped stage made from scaffolding, expanded metal and plastic sheeting.

    View Friday 1971

  2. 1981

    Now named the Glastonbury CND Festival, Michael Eavis took control of the event to raise money for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The second Pyramid Stage was built on the same spot as the 1971 structure, and served as a cowshed during the winter months. 18,000 people attended.

    View Friday 1981

  3. 1982

    1982 was Glastonbury’s first muddy year, with the highest rainfall in 45 years recorded on the Friday. The Festival became better established with a slew of market stalls selling everything from jewellery to scrumpy cider, and £25,000 was raised for CND and local charities.

    View Friday 1982

  4. 1983

    The Local Government Act became law, giving local authorities the power to regulate outdoor events. This set a crowd limit as well as a long list of requirements for access roads, water supply and hygiene which the Festival had to meet in order to go ahead. Glastonbury’s own radio station, Radio Avalon, broadcast for the first time.

    View Friday 1983

  5. 1984

    The Festival went ahead after Michael Eavis successfully defended himself at Shepton Mallet Magistrates Court against five charges of breaching the site licence in 1983. With a new licence approved, the site expanded to include the Green Fields – current organiser Liz Eliot attended as a volunteer – and, for the first time, a designated parking area.

    View Friday 1984

  6. 1985

    The Festival site grew by over 100 acres and now included neighbouring Cockmill Farm and the land at the end of the disused railway track. 1986 saw the arrival of dance music to Glastonbury when Malcome Haynes – the Organiser behind today’s Silver Hayes area – arrived with a van full of speakers and amplifiers.

    View Friday 1985

  7. 1986

    The Festival continued to grow in 1986. Many people arrived without tickets, making it hard to record the exact number of attendees. The Cure performed their first Glastonbury headline show, and £130,000 was raised for CND and local charities.

    View Friday 1986

  8. 1987

    Mendip District Council’s decision to refuse a licence was overturned in May, only weeks before the Festival. Joe Rush, founder of the Mutoid Waste Company, built the legendary ‘Carhenge’ from upturned wrecked vehicles. He then led a legendary night-long drumming session around it, establishing what would become one of the Festival’s late-night areas.

    View Friday 1987

  9. 1989

    Despite the tactical year off in 1988, Michael and Jean’s battles with the local council continued. The 1989 Festival went ahead after police were invited into the organisation and planning of the event. The international flavour continued with Fela Kuti, Bhundu Boys, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, and Youssou N’Dour all appearing on the Pyramid Stage.

    View Friday 1989

  10. 1990

    For its 20th anniversary, the Festival changed its name to the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. A World Music Stage was revealed, as well as a line-up of over a thousand acts across 12 stages.

    View Friday 1990

  11. 1992

    Greenpeace and Oxfam became the Festival’s main beneficiaries as Glastonbury’s focus on green issues and the environment continued to grow. Tony Cordy launched the Kidzfield in its now permanent location.

    View Friday 1992

  12. 1993

    Licensed attendance increased by 10,000 and advance tickets to Glastonbury sold out by mid-June. The Festival included the NME music stage, as well as circus, cabaret, jazz, cinema and 60 acres of green activities. With security increasingly becoming an issue, Michael Eavis decided a double fence would be required for the next Festival.

    View Friday 1993

  13. 1994

    Plans for the Festival were almost destroyed when a fire reduced the Pyramid Stage to ashes. A replacement stage was hastily erected, linked up to the Festival’s first wind turbine which supplied 150 kilowatts of power for the performances. Channel 4 broadcast the Festival live for the first time.

    View Friday 1994

  14. 1995

    For the 25th anniversary of the Festival, two artists from the first event were invited back to play. The line-up included Oasis, The Cure and Pulp, who replaced The Stone Roses after John Squire was involved in a cycling accident.

    View Friday 1995

  15. 1997

    Torrential rain in the week leading up to the Festival resulted in 1997 being the ‘year of the mud’. The first proper Greenpeace area included a reconstruction of their Rainbow Warrior Ship and solar-heated showers. The BBC filmed the Festival this year, beginning a longstanding relationship with Glastonbury.

    View Friday 1997

  16. 1998

    In 1998 the official attendance topped 100,000 for the first time and resilient campers enjoyed the evergreen mix of entertainment in spite of the rain. There were over 1,000 different performances on 17 stages, including a new stage for emerging talent called the New Stage.

    View Friday 1998

  17. 1999

    In a year of firsts, the Glastonbury Festival website was launched in 1999 and the Festival hosted an artist in residence for the first time - Kurt Jackson. The Festival was dedicated to to the memory of Michael’s late wife Jean Eavis

    View Friday 1999

  18. 2000

    The third Pyramid Stage debuted in 2000 – it was 35 metres high and four times larger than the previous Pyramid Stage. David Bowie delivered one of the all time great Glastonbury performances, his first appearance at the Festival since 1971.

    View Friday 2000

  19. 2002

    After a year off, Glastonbury returned in 2002 with a steel fence positioned around the entire site to deter gatecrashers. Coldplay played the first of many headline sets on the Pyramid Stage.

    View Friday 2002

  20. 2003

    Glastonbury 2003 raised over £1 million for Oxfam, Greenpeace, WaterAid and local charities. The late Joe Strummer was recognized with a memorial stone in what would become Strummerville.

    View Friday 2003

  21. 2004

    The 2004 site featured improved infastructure and drainage to help combat the unpredictable English weather. More than 1000 acts peformed across the site over the Festival’s five days, including a headline show by Paul McCartney, and performances in the new Left Field.

    View Friday 2004

  22. 2005

    Tickets to Glastonbury 2005 sold out in under three hours – a new record – although exceptionally rainy weather on the Friday halted some performances. The Dance Tent expanded to become the Dance Village, and the New Bands Tent was renamed the John Peel Stage.

    View Friday 2005

  23. 2007

    New area The Park was launched by Emily Eavis, while in the late-night area, newcomers Block9 launched their NYC Downlow venue. Michael Eavis was awarded the CBE for services to music.

    View Friday 2007

  24. 2008

    JAY-Z headlined on Saturday night, beginning his set with an acoustic rendition of Oasis' ‘Wonderwall’. Glastonbury’s late-night offer continued to grow with the arrival of Shangri-La and Arcadia.

    View Friday 2008

  25. 2009

    A ticket-deposit system was introduced before Glastonbury 2009, helping the Festival sell out two months in advance. On the Pyramid Stage, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Blur headlined.

    View Friday 2009

  26. 2010

    2010 marked Glastonbury’s 40th anniversary. From small beginnings, the Festival now hosted a tented city of over 177,000 people – larger than both Oxford and Bath. A second reservoir, holding two million litres of drinking water, was built to accommodate the crowd.

    View Friday 2010

  27. 2011

    The Pyramid Stage celebrated 40 years with performances by many of the pioneering artists who played in 1971. Newcomer Ed Sheeran played an early afternoon set in the Croissant Neuf stage; three years later he would make his Pyramid Stage debut. The Festival donated over £2 million to its charitable causes.

    View Friday 2011

  28. 2013

    The Rolling Stones made their first ever Glastonbury appearance, playing to a record crowd. The Stones' performance was accompanied by a fire-breathing phoenix sculpture – made by artist Joe Rush – that sat perched atop the Pyramid Stage

    View Friday 2013

  29. 2014

    Dolly Parton made headline news with her first ever Glastonbury appearance on Sunday afternoon. Other headline acts included Arcade Fire, Kasabian and Metallica – all making their debut on the Pyramid Stage in 2014.

    View Friday 2014

  30. 2015

    His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited Glastonbury for the first time in 2015. The Foo Fighters were scheduled to headline on Friday, but were forced to pull out two weeks before the show when Dave Grohl broke his leg. Florence + the Machine took their place on the bill.

    View Friday 2015

  31. 2016

    The 2016 Festival coincided with the historic EU referendum vote; a stall was set up in the catering area so site workers could register to vote. New area The Wood was created, and Block9 opened a new venue called Genosys.

    View Friday 2016

  32. 2017

    The 2017 Festival featured the newly created Cineramageddon, a drive-in movie space with over 200 vintage cars conceptualised by the Mutoid Waste Company. On the Pyramid Stage, Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran headlined.

    View Friday 2017

  33. 2019

    Glastonbury Festival 2019 saw headline acts by Stormzy and Kylie, as well an appearance by Sir David Attenborough. Single-use plastic drinks bottles were banned site-wide, and guests were asked to bring reusable water bottles.

    View Friday 2019

  34. 2022

    View Friday 2022

  35. 2023

    View Friday 2023