The main music programme might not start until Friday, but tens of thousands of people have already flocked to Worthy Farm to get in the Glastonbury spirit. Here’s all the action from Pilton, so far.
Making Thursday night ten shades more exciting were Wolf Alice. Currently in line to land a Number One with debut ‘My Love Is Cool’ this weekend the band entered to a heaving tent who were itching for a party.
Taking a rare breather, Ellie perches on the stage front. Despite the album only being released this week, the entire crowd is singing along to almost everything. Wolf Alice don’t stop for many stage chat pauses, but do thank the crowd for being incredible.
While the rest of the festival gets into gear, the William’s Green stage is where Thursday’s excitement lies. First up on the secret set bill is Drenge, who have people queueing out of the tent for their set.
Glastonbury becomes one of the biggest ‘cities’ in the south west of England when it’s on. More than 200,000 people are now on site.
If you’ve never been Glastonbury it is, quite frankly, enormous. The sign post in the middle of the site tells the story. Which way to the Pyramid Stage?
Just taking it easy in the sunshine. That’s right, it’s been an afternoon of glorious dry weather. At Glastonbury.
It’s been estimated that 95% of punters are already on site ready for the weekend. Some are still arriving on Thursday afternoon.
It’s all too much for some people already.
The burning phoenix in full force. It’s worth getting here on Wednesday night, if just for this spectacle.
It wouldn’t be Glastonbury without some pretty out-there outfits. These LED guys win the fancy dress competition for now, but they’ll likely be trumped before long.
At the back of The Stone Circle, the ritual burning of the phoenix begins with tens of thousands of people flocking to the area and spiritual healing songs floating through the air. Now, the festival has truly begun.
Shangri La – one of Glastonbury’s most well-known night time areas. You can head to Heaven for some saintly tunes, or you can go to Hell, where bands including Fat White Family and Slaves will be playing late night/ early morning sets throughout the festival.
Up at The Stone Circle a little later, everyone is buying giant candles and setting up base. From a distance, the famous hill looks like it’s dotted in fairy lights. Isn’t that lovely.
Another area of Block 9, The London Underground. True to its name, it features a life-size tube carriage crashing into its side, while later on in the festival it will play host to “the cream of London’s sound-system underground”.
In Block 9, there’s a new place to play. Genosys is a huge outdoor area that organisers described as “a post-apocalyptic, man-made, mechanical tree that weighs 50 tonnes”. Sounds pretty exciting.
The Unfair Ground in Shangri-La has outdone itself this year. If you look a little closer behind this crashed police car, you’ll see a looming sculpture of octo-baby – one of a host of huge, creepy, Chuckie-style figure dotted throughout the area.
The Stone Circle
What is it: Circle of stones in a far-flung field.
What happened this year: Hippies all over the place. Not as many balloons as last year.
