Entertainment

Glastonbury 2023: Everything you need to know

Sir Elton John will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday June 25 for his first performance at the Worthy Farm festival in Somerset.
Sir Elton John will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday June 25 for his first performance at the Worthy Farm festival in Somerset.

As Sir Elton John has been confirmed as the first act to headline Glastonbury 2023, here are all your questions answered.

1) Can I still buy tickets?

Tickets for Glastonbury 2023 went on sale in early November costing £335 plus a £5 booking fee for standard tickets, with £50 as a deposit and the balance due by the first week of April.

This year’s event held in June cost £280 plus a £5 booking fee following a £15 increase after the original 2020 date was cancelled.

General tickets for the festival took more than an hour to sell out after the site experienced a “technical problem”, with many fans reporting that the site repeatedly crashed at different stages of the booking process.

Glastonbury’s official account posted just after 10am on Sunday November 6 that tickets for Glastonbury had sold out on a morning when “demand far exceeded supply.”

It also confirmed that there will be a re-sale of any cancelled or returned tickets in Spring 2023 for those who missed out.

2) Who is performing?

Veteran pop superstar Sir Elton John will top the bill on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday June 25 for his first performance at the Worthy Farm festival in Somerset, it was revealed on Friday.

The show will mark the 75-year-olds final UK show after touring the globe on his marathon Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour over the past few years.

Sir Elton said Glastonbury is a “fitting way” to say goodbye to his British fans.

The full line-up has yet to be revealed but Roxy Music has also been rumoured to be filling the Sunday teatime legends slot.

Other rumoured headline acts include Taylor Swift, who was confirmed as a headliner for the cancelled 2020 festival, and Harry Styles, with fans spotting a small gap in his 2023 tour coinciding with the confirmed Glastonbury festival dates.

US rock band Guns ‘N Roses have also been tipped to be playing Glastonbury alongside Bruce Springsteen, following his surprise appearance during Sir Paul McCartney’s headline set at this year’s festival.

3) Has accommodation gone on sale?

Bookings for caravan and campervan, on-site tipis and official off-site pre-erected campsites went on sale on Thursday.

Campervan and caravan tickets cost £150 for a regular pitch and £250 for oversized vehicles while the Festival Tipi Village on the southern slopes of the site offers a “unique camping experience within the festival fence line” at a cost of £1500 which sleeps up to six people.

Worthy View, Glastonbury’s original off-site campsite, is a “short steep climb up the hill from the festival site” ranging from £400 for a two-person pre-erected classic scout style tent for the five festival nights to £875 for a Glastonbury Bell Tent which sleeps four people, the official festival website said.

Sticklinch, Worthy View’s sister campsite, offers a “more gently undulating walk to the festival site” with accommodation ranging from Podpads, Tipis, Yurts and Bell Tents. Prices vary from £525 for a two-person Podpad to £1200 for a six-person 16ft Yurt.

Accommodation at both Sticklinch and Worthy View are both unfurnished so guests have to bring their own bedding.

4) When is it on?

The 2023 music event will run from June 21 to 25, it was previously announced.

This year Glastonbury ran from June 22 to 26 with 200,000 revelers returning to the Somerset dairy farm enjoying a sun-soaked festival that had defied ominous forecasts of thunderstorms and a yellow weather warning from the Met Office.

5) What happened at the festival in 2022?

This year at Glastonbury Billie Eilish, Sir Paul and Kendrick Lamar headlined, with Diana Ross performing in the traditional Sunday Legends slot.

Eilish’s Friday slot made her the youngest ever solo performer while Sir Paul’s Saturday headline gig on the Pyramid Stage saw the former Beatle become the festival’s oldest solo headliner, performing a week after he celebrated his 80th birthday.

The festival featured countless other memorable moments including Greta Thunberg delivering a passionate speech from the Pyramid Stage calling on society to take on its “historic responsibility to set things right” with the global climate crisis.

It also hosted an array of Ukrainian representatives, with the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky giving a poignant address via a video message and Kalush Orchestra playing their first UK performance since they triumphed at Eurovision 2022.

The festival finally celebrated its 50th year this summer after the coronavirus pandemic forced organisers to cancel twice.