Glastonbury Festival: A haven of rhythm and resistance

The Hindu

19 hours ago

Chants of 'free, free Palestine' reverberated on the grounds of Worthy Farms, and Palestinian flags flooded the venue as artists from across the spectrum voiced their support for Palestinian resistance. For five days every summer, the ceremonial county of Somerset in England becomes the epicenter of countercultural movements and political resistance.
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, which first began in 1970, has entertained diverse music genres over the decades. However, it has steadfastly stuck to its left-wing politics. Last week, the founder of what is now the largest music festival in the UK, Michael Eavis, said that anyone who didn't agree with the politics of the festival 'can go somewhere else.'
While the festival grew in popularity and scale through the 1970s, it was in the 80s that it truly came into its own by building a space for activism and politics within its fences. In 1981, the festival was organised in conjunction with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, an organisation that advocates for unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament, and tighter international arms regulation.
Environmental activism
Over the years, environmental activism has become a core issue that united festivalgoers and organisers. Today, Glastonbury is powered by 100% renewable energy sources, and single-use plastic is banned on the premises. The festival takes a break every five years to let the farmland on which it is hosted breathe and rejuvenate. So in 2026, Somerset will not see droves of passionate people organise, groove, and agitate against the powers that be.
In 2000, musician Billy Bragg and his partner Juliet Wills organised the Left Field stage at Glastonbury to tackle apathy and promote left-wing politics and trade unionism among young festivalgoers. This eventually turned into a regular fixture at the festival. The stage features left-wing musicians who champion anti-establishment sentiments, and political comedians like Mark Thomas. It is also a site of political speeches and debates.
Keeping up this legacy, in 2017, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was invited to speak at the main stage of the festival, called the Pyramid Stage, which was built for the first time in 1970 after taking inspiration from the Pyramid in Giza.
Charities like Oxfam contribute manpower in the form of volunteers who keep the festival running. In return, the festival donates its profits to these organisations.
Dissent in 2025
This year, too, the resistance is bubbling with intensity at the Worthy Farm grounds. Irish singer-songwriter Cmat and rock band the Libertines voiced their support for a free Palestine during their sets, while former BBC presenter Gary Lineker echoed the sentiment after concluding his talk at the festival. Other singers and speakers turned up in keffiyeh scarves to indicate their solidarity with the cause.
Musician Nadine Shah performed her set in front of a backdrop showing the destruction in Gaza. She went on to read an open letter from Artists for Palestine UK in support of the activist group Palestine Action, which the UK executive is planning to declare a terrorist organisation.
Irish rap trio Kneecap took to the stage to address U.K. politics and the genocide in Palestine. Their set on the West Holts stage drew a massive crowd, reaching capacity nearly an hour before showtime. However, BBC chose not to broadcast their performance citing 'editorial guidelines.'
But the trouble had already beset the media organisation as punk rock duo Bob Vylan took to the same stage and called for the death of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). While some joined the chants, others flagged it as incitement to violence. The organiser of the festival, Emily Eavis, responded to the incident and said she was 'appalled' by the comments made by the singer.
This statement from her drew flak from some performers and fans alike. Rock band Amyl and the Sniffers took to their Instagram to highlight that the media, by highlighting the politically charged performances of Kneecap and Bob Vylan made it seem like these were isolated incidents and a couple of 'bad bands' whose sentiments the public at large does not share, which according to them was not the case.
As Avon and Somerset Police investigate the video footage to determine if any offences warranting a criminal investigation have been committed at Worthy Farms, it remains to be seen how a music festival with its roots in the 60s counterculture movement responds to ever-evolving semantics of protest in a world where spaces of resistance are facing onslaught from the state.