After a long three years, Glastonbury is finally back this weekend. The car parks were set to open at 4pm Tuesday afternoon and despite requests for early arrivals to wait in their cars overnight, some are already queuing at the gates.
Check out our live blog below for the latest photos, info and updates. Let us know how you’re getting on by tagging @TheFestivalsUK on Twitter or @TheFestivals.UK on Instagram.
Jump back to:
- 10:52pm – The fireworks have started
- 9:32pm – Sunset at The Other Stage
- 7:00pm – Forgotten something?
- 5:31pm – Incredible vegan food on offer
- 4:50pm – Unlucky campers lose tent to the wind
- 11:52am – Thunderstorm warning issued for Thursday
- 11:00am – Live music already underway in the Green Fields
- 09:20am – This one probably isn’t a Banksy
- 08:10am – Official video from Gate A
- 07:26am – Gates about to open
- 10:58pm – ‘Huge puma’ lurking near The Glade
- 8:35pm – Gin at sunset at the front of the queue
12:30am – Signing off
After tens of thousands of ticketholders enjoyed an emotional return to the fields today, our Tuesday night and Wednesday liveblog is coming to close. Click here for our Thursday liveblog with photos and updates from day two of Glastonbury, starting from around 7am! Night.
11:30pm – Arcadia spider in the shadows
The Arcadia spider lurks in the shadows between The Park and The Other Stage.
11:02pm – Laser display over the festival
10:52pm – The fireworks have started
The traditional opening night firework display has now begun, with thousands of people gathered across the hill to mark Glastonbury’s emotional return.
9:32pm – Sunset at The Other Stage
Some photos of another beautiful sunset over Glastonbury tonight, taken at and around The Other Stage.
7:00pm – Forgotten something?
If you’ve forgotten to bring something you just can’t make it through the week without, you can probably get it delivered to PIlton’s Post Office with free next-day collection. It’s around a 20-minute walk from gates A or B, so it’s quite possibly closer than your car – so no need to drive off-site to a supermarket and lose your parking space. If you or one of your friends has an Amazon Prime subscription it should be free, otherwise you could make use of a 30 day free trial. Click here to read more.
6:20pm – Much quieter at the gates
The massive queues for the gates we saw earlier today have now all but disappeared, as seen at Gate A in the photo below. There may be some small build-ups on Thursday but even then, you can expect a relatively quick entry onto site for the rest of the festival.
5:31pm – Incredible vegan food on offer
Vegan Glastonbury just shared some photos of a vegan double cheeseburger which looks absolutely delicious. It’s from the Veggies Catering Campaign who you’ll find in the Green Fields area. They’re a multi-award-winning, not-for-profit vegan catering campaign!
Check out our list of Glastonbury food traders, which has a special veggie and vegan section right at the top of the page!
4:50pm – Unlucky campers lose tent to the wind
There are a few videos popping up on social media of a tent’s flysheet floating in the wind high above one of the campsites. Hopefully it’s a rare occurrence over the next few days.
4:20pm – Arriving at Glasto by train
ITV’s Ben McGrail speaks to Glastonbury attendees as they arrive at Castle Cary station and board shuttle buses to the festival.
1:15pm – Terry Ried’s set cancelled
In an update, Glastonbury organisers said: “Sadly, Terry Reid has had to cancel his Sunday performance at 16:30 on the Acoustic Stage, but he will be replaced by Glenn Tilbrook.”
12:30pm – Fans continue to gather for coaches
Like the scenes we saw in Liverpool earlier, Glastonbury attendees are now gathering in Manchester ahead of a 1pm coach departure.
12:20pm – First look at bar prices
We’re still not 100% on the prices from the main bars, but we do know the Brother’s Bar at the West Holts Stage is selling pints of cider for £5.
Some bars, such as one near Arcadia, are selling 500ml cans of Carlsberg Pilsner or Brothers Cider for £5.50.
11:52am – Thunderstorm warning issued for Thursday
The Met Office have this morning issued an official yellow weather warning for tomorrow. The warning includes the Glastonbury site and will be in place from 10am to midnight.
A spokesperson said: “Thunderstorms are likely to break out in some areas, particularly during the afternoon and early evening.” They added that while most places will probably miss the storms, where they do occur, torrential rain could be accompanied by lightning, hail and strong winds.
Click here for the full story.
11:00am – Live music already underway in the Green Fields
Though most of the big stages don’t start until Friday, loads of smaller venues have loads going on throughout Wednesday and Thursday – and it seems some live music is already underway in the Green Fields. Check out the video below.
10:52am – Coach ticket holders waiting across the country
Despite the gates opening around 8am this morning, most of those who purchased coach travel package tickets are still yet to arrive with departures scheduled throughout today and tomorrow from locations across the UK.
Excitement is building in Liverpool where fans have started to gather in the sun ahead of their 12-noon departure, shown below.
10:45am – Official advice for those queueing
Glastonbury organisers have just shared some tips for coping in the heat, particularly relevant for those still in the queues to get inside the gates.
09:20am – This one probably isn’t a Banksy
Some graffiti relating to Prince Andrew has appeared on another fence inside the festival.
09:08am – Is it a Banksy?
Rumours are circulating that this graffiti on the main fence, shown below, could be a Banksy artwork.
09:00am – Co-op set to open at 12 noon
The Co-op at Park Home Ground (near the Other Stage and Oxylers) is getting ready to open. Don’t worry if you’ve read online that it won’t open until Thursday. We can confirm there’s a (small) sign on the fence which says it’s open from 12 noon on Wednesday. It will then be open 7am – 3am for the rest of the festival.
08:10am – Official video from Gate A
The official Glastonbury account just shared this video of Michael Eavis welcoming arrivals through Gate A:
07:54am – Michael Eavis pictured at Gate A
ITV West Country Reporter Max Walsh has shared an image of Michael Eavis in his traditional early Wednesday spot at Gate A.
07:53am – Traffic building around the site
After calming down overnight, early morning arrivals are now reaching the festival with queues starting to build on surrounding roads. It’s taking around an hour to reach the festival car park entrance from Glastonbury town and around 30 minutes from Shepton Mallet.
07:35am – The gates are open!
Gates A, B and D are confirmed to be open and we expect this is now the case across the site.
07:26am – Gates about to open
Stewards at Gate D say they have all permissions required to open and are now simply waiting to hear that Michael Eavis has ‘cut the ribbon’ at Gate A before they can start letting people in.
07:01am – Gates still closed but queues moving forward
None of the gates have been opened yet, but the people queueing overnight have woken up and been allowed to move closer to the gates – meaning the queues have started moving for the first time in three years. Anecdotal reports suggest the overnight queues are “bigger than ever” this year.
06:15am – Motorway now fully reopened
An overnight closure of the M5 for roadworks has now been lifted with the road fully open in both directions.
12:01am – Less than eight hours until gates open
Glastonbury organisers said the gates will open at 8am Wednesday morning, although from previous experience we’ve learnt this isn’t always exact. The queues quite often start moving slightly earlier.
11:10pm – BBC film crew talking to people in the queue
Stephen shares a photo from the very front of one of the queues and says the BBC have been interviewing people around him.
We have now been moved up to the start of the queue area ready for Gate A opening in the morning! 🙌 in the front 50 I recon! 🙌🙌 Great crowd in the cue! And the @bbcglasto film crew have already been interviewing the crowd! pic.twitter.com/DtRDOdSvcT
— Steven Willett (@_StevenWillett) June 21, 2022
10:58pm – ‘Huge puma’ lurking near The Glade
The Daily Star are reporting that a ‘huge puma’ has been seen running across a field inside the festival. Allegedly, the animal ran into trees near The Glade and may have been later spotted on Pennard Hill.
10:42pm – Low traffic around the site
The latest update from Google shows the queues on main roads approaching the festival site earlier today have now mostly dissipated. Only short queues to turn into each of the public car park entrances remain.
9:31pm – Met Office thunderstorm warning
Wednesday and Thursday are expected to remain sunny and hot but there’s now a chance of heavy rain showers and thunderstorms on Friday. They should pass over fairly quickly if they occur.
Met Office Deputy Meteorologist Helen Caughey said: “You should plan for both sunhats and raincoats for this year’s festival.”
“There will be plenty of sunshine on Wednesday across the South West, although there could be a bit more cloud later in the day, and temperatures will reach 26C or 27C. The dry, sunny and warm theme will continue through Thursday.
“However, from Friday onwards the weather will become more unsettled. There is a risk of heavy showers and thunderstorms in the Glastonbury area on both Friday and Saturday, although these should be quick moving, some surface water might accumulate at times. Temperatures will start to dip as we go through the end of the week returning to near normal for the time of year, with highs likely around 18-20C.
8:35pm – Gin at sunset at the front of the queue
BBC Radio Somerset presenter Andy Bennet shared this image from the queue:
8:30pm – Hundreds already queuing at Gate D
Jamie Lee-Hill shared an image of the queue at Pedestrian Gate D, the westernmost gate near to the Other Stage, Arcadia, The Park and Carmaggedeon. He estimates there are already “hundreds” of people in the queue.
4:52pm – Parking warning
Travel Somerset have issued a warning to anyone driving to or around the festival site.
They say any vehicles found parked in the clearway or ‘no stopping’ areas on roads around the festival will be ticketed and removed.
4:00pm – Car parks officially open
Fans were told they could arrive in the car parks slightly earlier this year, owing to the disruption on the rail network. There have been reports of delays up to an hour from Shepton Mallet towards the Glastonbury site.
Day one recap
Add as a preferred source