Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has revealed plans for a 40ft Burning Lotus to feature in The Park area at this month’s festival. It’s designed by Joe Rush and his team, whose masses of previous work at Glastonbury includes the Victorian pier at Glastonbury-on-sea and Cinerarmageddon, along with The Skull Bus way back in 1985.
Constructed from salvaged wood and canvas, festival-goers will be encouraged to write down memories, thoughts or images of things they’d like to let go of and stuff them into the giant lotus flower. It will then be ignited in a “memorial burn” at midnight on the Sunday night.
Emily Eavis said: “The Burning Lotus has been created by @joerushlondon and his team. It’s a 40ft high sculpture of a Lotus flower, constructed with salvaged wood and canvas in The Park.
“During the festival, people will be encouraged to write down memories and images of people or situations that they wish to let go of, it may be people who died in the lockdown who were not properly said goodbye to, it may be failed business projects, may even be failed marriages, but the point is that all of these things will be focused on and then placed inside the Lotus.
“At midnight on Sunday of the festival the Lotus will be ignited and while the flames roar up, the whole gear-driven inferno will be burnt to nothing and with this we will be able to let go and get some closure. A cathartic moment and one that many of us need.”
Despite the full Glastonbury 2022 line-up with set times being revealed early last week, posters for specific stages and attractions have continued to be shared on social media and on the Glastonbury website. The Pilton Palais cinema tent and Shangri-La’s Truth Stage have both had posters revealed today alongside the San Remo poster. A line-up poster for the Strummerville Stage was also revealed a day earlier.
Also last week, the BBC revealed its coverage plans for this month’s Glastonbury Festival, which include broadcasting from the Pyramid Stage in UHD (or 4K) for the first time.
Their coverage will include over 35 hours on BBC One, Two, Three and Four and over 40 hours in iPlayer, in addition to live streams from the five biggest stages. There are also over 60 hours of coverage planned for their radio stations and the BBC Sounds app.
Billed as a celebration of Glastonbury, the BBC’s coverage will begin earlier than in previous years with two special programmes. BBC Two will show ‘Glastonbury: 50 Years & Counting‘ and BBC One ‘Stormzy: Road to the Pyramid Stage’ with both also available on iPlayer.
Last week, Glastonbury revealed a limited edition upcycled vest designed by Stella McCartney, available now from the Glastonbury website with all proceeds going to War Child’s Emergency Fund – helping children in Ukraine and other conflicts.
A charity vest sold back at Glastonbury 2007, also designed by Stella McCartney, has since gone on to become a rare collector’s item. Then, during a recent warehouse audit, a stash of unsold vests was uncovered.
Glastonbury organisers said: “Staying true to Stella McCartney’s ethos and principles to reduce our impact on the planet the original vests have now been upcycled and repurposed with a new mushroom artwork celebrating fungi as the future of fashion and our planet.”
Also in support of War Child’s Emergency Fund, Glastonbury organisers recently revealed a limited edition poster print. It features the festival’s 2022 artwork by Stanley Donwood reworked with the colours of the Ukrainian flag and will be produced on-site using the festival’s Heidelberg Cylinder printing press.
They’re now available to purchase from the online Glastonbury store for £25 with the sale limited to 2,022 prints, each of which will be numbered.
Paul McCartney will be 80 by the time Glastonbury comes around, which will make him the oldest ever Pyramid Stage headliner. He’s set to play on Saturday night, the day after Billie Eilish headlines. Aged 20 at the time, she’ll be the youngest ever Pyramid headliner.
The main line-up poster was revealed back in March with area-specific posters following throughout April and May. The full line-up, including set times, was announced at 11 am this morning.
All tickets for Glastonbury 2022 have now been sold. Resales of returned tickets were held towards the end of March which both sold out in a matter of minutes. Your last chance at getting in might be to win tickets, so check out our frequently updated list of Glastonbury competitions.
Glastonbury 2022 will take place from Wednesday 22nd to Sunday 26th June at Worthy Farm near Pilton, Somerset.
Image credits:
The Park: Anna Barclay
Lotus Flower: Emily Eavis Instagram / Joe Rush sketch
Final: TheFestivals
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