Glastonbury 2025 was my first ever festival - here's what I thought

Leader Live

11 hours ago

Glastonbury Festival has always been the one festival I have always wanted to go to. I've just never been able to get a ticket, nor could I justify the ticket's pricetag at just under £400; however, this year I thought I would try it.
It's iconic in British culture, with performances from a wide variety of bands, including farewell appearances and mystery guests getting brought out on stage.
There's clearly a reason why all the tickets sell out within minutes, but I wanted to see if it's really that special.
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Whilst at the festival, I made the rookie error of underestimating just how big the Worthy Farm site is. Trying to squeeze past thousands of people to get from one stage to another was incredibly difficult, especially between the Other Stage and the Pyramid Stage.
One thing I didn't rate was just how expensive Glastonbury merchandise is. One case of this was a Neil Young hoodie, which had a price tag of £80. Unbelievable. A Rod Stewart hoodie was also £75, which is ridiculous.
I watched several acts at Glastonbury 2025, including all three Pyramid Stage headliners. And with every single one, I left to go somewhere else before they finished up.
Neil Young had barely anyone at his Saturday set compared to The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo, but the best headliner actually appeared on the Other Stage, with The Prodigy returning to Glastonbury for the first time since former frontman Keith Flint died in 2019. They were definitely the best, closely followed by Charli XCX.
Other impressive acts I saw included Kaiser Chiefs, Busta Rhymes, Pulp, Noah Kahan, Sir Rod Stewart, and Lewis Capaldi, to name a few - with the latter sending thousands of people to tears.
Special mention to the Park Stage, with Geordie Greep and Melin Melyn the standouts for me. I wish I could have seen Gary Numan perform there, as I've heard good things, but unfortunately, Pulp were heavily rumoured to play the Pyramid Stage, so I stayed there, and they were immense.
So in summary, I thought the Pyramid Stage headliners were lacklustre and the Other Stage seems to be the place to go.
I was worried about food at Glasto. Three meals a day for five days was going to rack up the costs, not to mention alcohol/soft drinks.
In total, I spent £137, which is roughly £27.40 a day. Not bad, I was expecting at least £170.
The food at Glastonbury offers a wide variety, with a personal favourite place of mine being Bayou, where I got a Surf 'n' Turf Cajun Basket for £14.
To see everything I ate at the Glastonbury Festival, you can read more here: Everything I ate at Glastonbury 2025 and how much it cost.
The secret sets were probably my favourite part of the whole festival. Sitting in your tent, wondering who's going to turn up and play on the day is such a fun feeling.
This year on the main stages we got Lorde, Lewis Capaldi, and Pulp - as well as surprise appearances from Mick Hucknell, Ronnie Wood, and Lulu, all of whom performed with Rod Stewart on his £300k+ Pyramid Stage performance.
One thing's for sure, the toilets are the worst bogs I have ever seen and can certainly put you off your dinner as you're walking past.
One case of this, and it's making me feel a bit queasy just thinking about it, was when I went to the toilets near the Park Stage. Inside, someone had left a lump of their own faeces on a chain. Disgusting.
The toilets are conveniently dotted around at Glastonbury, though, and I didn't know this before I arrived, but you can get a free loo roll from the info stands around the site. Ideal.
Queueing for a shower is a bit of a nightmare. I tried to avoid showering between 8am-11am, as all showers had queues of 30 minutes+.
I wasn't on the hunt for celebrities in particular, but I did find it interesting when I saw mini crowds gathering around certain spots.
I managed to get a selfie with former Liverpool and Real Madrid footballer, Steve McManaman, which, as a Liverpool fan, I was pretty happy with.
Meeting Steve McManaman was a plus to my festival experience. Very nice guy. (Image: Harry Mockridge/Newsquest)
Other celebrities I spotted at Glastonbury 2025 included Idris Elba, Francis Bourgois, Aitch, and Andy Carroll, all of whom were just walking around the site like every other festival-goer, pretty cool.
Glastonbury Festival can be summed up in one word. Magic. With so much going on at Worthy Farm, it's difficult to do everything and describe just how good it is there.
The festival feels like one of the friendliest places in the world. I saw lots of families and people of all ages at nearly every set I watched. The people camping near me offered me drinks and let me sit with them, and a woman even offered me some sun cream as she could see I was struggling with the heat whilst Kaiser Chiefs performed on the Pyramid Stage.
I would very much love to return if lucky enough to get my hands on a ticket. A special mention to Johnny, Joe, Gyles, and Frank for showing me around Worthy Farm. These weren't the only top people I met over the five days, but they were top.
Sadly, there will be no Glastonbury Festival next year in 2026 due to a fallow year, allowing to let the ground to settle. However, the festival will return in June 2027, and I'm hoping I will be able to get my hands on a ticket when it comes around then.
I just hope there are some better headline acts next time.