Emily Eavis interview: ‘I've already booked a Glastonbury 2028 headliner'

Cosmopolitan

6 days ago

For Glastonbury goers, the last two weeks of sunshine may have been bittersweet. Is this heatwave a sign of what's to come over the festival weekend? Or is it the beautiful sunny calm before a (literal) storm? Only a few days will tell.
Glastonbury is almost as famous for its tempestuous weather as it is for, well, being the best festival in the world. And, as it hasn't seen torrential downpours since 2016, with the last few years being scorching hot — some might even say too hot — dare I ask: are we due one?
'Because we haven't had a wet one for a while, it's very easy to forget the extra challenges that [they bring],' says organiser Emily Eavis, 'but wet ones also lead to some really wonderful, magic moments that you don't get [when it's sunny].'
Because none of these things happened to me, 2016 is, indeed, filled with some of my favourite Glastonbury memories: huddled inside my friend's tent on camping chairs, scooping water out with plastic cups; a friend slipping over into the mudbath as we trudged across the site; sitting on the Glastonbury hill cheering people on as they skidded their way up or down, forgetting that, soon enough, we'd be the ones in the firing line.
Still, whether it sticks around or not, the heatwave has, at least, been useful for the festival set-up — a Herculean operation that's still ongoing when Eavis and I speak just a week before Glastonbury's gates are set to open. 'The sunshine makes the build so much easier,' she says. Although things are still being built up until the last moments, Eavis reveals that the set-up takes the full year. 'It absorbs every piece of everybody's energy and imagination,' she tells Cosmopolitan UK. 'But it's the most rewarding thing in the world because then we open the gates and everybody comes in with this fresh enthusiasm and full of joy. There's nothing better, really, than that moment.'
This year marks the 53rd iteration of Glastonbury Festival, which has grown from its humble roots in 1970, when just 1,500 people attended, to the behemoth it is now, hosting over 200,000 people, including more than 2,000 performers across over 100 stages, stomping their way around 1,100 acres of Somerset countryside for five glorious days (and a fairly torturous morning after).
As with every year, the internet has had its opinions about 2025's line-up, with hyperboles like 'worst' and 'tragic' being bandied around with the likes of 'amazing' and 'perfection'. On the bill are our headliners: The 1975, Neil Young, and Olivia Rodrigo, while Rod Stewart takes the Sunday 'Legends' slot. Other notable names include: Charli XCX, Scissor Sisters, PinkPantheress, Lola Young, CMAT, and too many more to mention, as well as Cosmo girls Doechii, Gracie Abrams, and Beabadoobee.
For Eavis, Saturday night's headliner is distinctly momentous — particularly this year. 'Neil Young is one of my dad's [Michael Eavis, Glastonbury's founder] favourite artists of all time, and mine,' she says. 'We've sort of grown up with him. He played in 2009, and it was an incredible set, so getting him back has been a really important thing for us — and especially in my dad's 90th year to have him back singing all his beautiful songs will be something very special.'
The 1975 — who've played three times before, but never in the prime Pyramid slot — are Friday's headliners. A decision, says Eavis, that came from a desire to 'champion British rock music'. And Olivia Rodrigo? 'She came off the stage [after her last set in 2022] in tears,' recalls Eavis. 'It was so incredible. When you see an artist who's so young storming through, it's really exciting.'
Does Eavis get any time to actually watch the bands she books? 'I try my best,' she reveals, 'but it depends on what's happening on site at the time. But it is really important to watch because you're creating this huge show of artists, bands, and activities, and then if you miss them all, it's a bit gutting.'
At last year's festival, Eavis wasn't the only one who may have missed out on watching their favourite artists. Many of those who attended, including myself, came away complaining of overcrowding across the site all weekend. Stages were shut down — notably for Charli XCX, Avril Lavigne, and the Sugababes (the latter of whom immortalised the moment in merch) — walkways were closed off, and, in some cases, artists' sets were cut short. The weekend, at times, felt like a bit of a slog.
Shortly after the event, Resident Advisor published a widely shared article suggesting that the fault was, in part, due to the programming and a failure to keep up with the demand for electronic music, which has pockets of dedicated stages/areas, but none with as big capacities as the major stages.
So, what went wrong? And how are Eavis and co tackling the threat of overcrowding this year? 'Crowding is something we're going to address,' says Eavis. 'I think the issue was that people were moving in similar directions, so we're trying to spread the programming out [this year] by putting more high level artists on at the same time. Also telling people that there's 10 routes to anywhere; you don't have to go the one way you think you have to. There's also endlessly interesting things you can find that aren't at massive stages or with big crowds.'
Glastonbury has also sold a few thousand less tickets ('not dramatically less,' Eavis notes), which organisers hope will make a difference, and they've carved out a new field, called Dragon's Tail, for partygoers in the late night area of the site, known as South East Corner, to take a break from the action. 'It's basically a bar and a big dragon,' says Eavis, 'and Notting Hill Carnival are doing a sound system. I hope [the whole site] feels nice and roomy for people.'
When you're away from the crowds, though, the site is almost too roomy — so much so that step counts have, bizarrely, become a sort of badge of honour. 'It's sort of like marathon training,' Eavis jokes. 'Someone said to me it's the great British music walking holiday.' This year, the Vodafone Glastonbury app is getting in on the step-counting action, allowing festivalgoers to compare their daily totals to see who's covered the most ground — that includes walking and two-stepping, obvs. Vodafone has also pledged to match this year's daily average step count, up to 75,000 (if it gets that high!), with a donation to its everyone.connected campaign, which seeks to help people and businesses cross the digital divide by providing connectivity, devices, and skills to those who need it most.
'We had an American artist — I won't tell you who, but someone very high profile — who did 100,000 steps [in a day],' reveals Eavis. 'It was just unbelievable. I was particularly astounded because I've never counted my steps, but this year I will.'
For those who find themselves regularly two-stepping away from their pals, the app has also introduced live location sharing, so you can always find your way back to your mates (well, to the stage they're at — good luck pushing through the crowds). 'The app has really come on this year because you can do all of your planning and then share that with your friends,' continues Eavis. 'Back when I was growing up, there were no mobile phones, so if you lost someone, you left a note on a big milk drum in the middle of the site, which was a meeting point. You'd stick a message on there and say, 'Jake from Sheffield, meet me at the noodles at six', or whatever. And then you have to rely on them seeing that.'
If you're looking for a good meeting point at around 6PM on Saturday, you'll want to head to see the mysterious 'Patchwork' on the Pyramid Stage, slotted in right after John Fogerty and just before Raye and Neil Young. In 2023, The Foo Fighters made a surprise appearance in basically the same slot (except on Friday), being billed as the alias 'The ChurnUps'. It's no secret, then, that this year's mysterious performers are also going to be someone big. Rumours include Haim, Pulp, and Mumford & Sons — but all Eavis can say is: don't miss it.
'It's one of my favourite bands,' she tells Cosmopolitan UK, 'and it's going to be so exciting. It's one thing I really don't want to miss.'
For all the line-up hot takes, and although many people came away from last year's iteration with a bittersweet taste in their mouth, Glastonbury remains one of the most magical places in the world; a hedonistic city that opens its doors to revellers just once a year. 'What's really great is that [Glastonbury] is evolving and changing all the time, but it's always remained very close to its roots,' says Eavis. 'You never know who's going to come, which is the excitement of opening the gates. It's just [a mix of] completely different people every year.'
For those who missed out on tickets this year, there's a longer wait than usual, as the festival will take a 'fallow year' in 2026 — a five-yearly break that gives the farm, and its organisers, some time to recover. That doesn't mean prep hasn't already started for 2027, and even 2028. 'I've just booked my first headliner for 2028,' reveals Eavis. '2028! That's how far ahead we are at the moment.' What about 2027? 'It's nearly there,' she adds, coyly.
But before all that, there's still a whole weekend of merriment to go. 'For me, I feel it's the best it's ever been,' Eavis concludes. 'We've got an amazing team of people who are just so committed and so love it. We all live by it. It's something we think about and care about so much. You know, we're not hiring a site somewhere that we're disconnected to. We all live here, and it's very interwoven into everything that we do all year. And we're in a really good place to be able to work closely with all the charities and the local organisations while also selling out this festival that brings in people from all over the world, and brings the best music in the world to this tiny, quiet part of the West Country.'