The infamous Glastonbury festival kicks off in little over a month, and with female artists Dua Lipa and SZA taking two of the three headline slots, alongside Coldplay, for the first time ever, this year’s event is set to be bigger and better than ever.

Over 200,000 people are expected to converge on Worthy Farm in Pilton from June 26th-30th, and with more areas and stages in the festival than ever before, there is always going to be something note worthy going on. Here’s everything we know so far about Glastonbury 2024…

Who’s playing and when?

For the first time ever, female artists will dominate the headline slots with Dua Lipa and SZA playing alongside Coldplay on the pyramid stage. US country icon Shania Twain will also be playing the pyramid stage in the coveted ‘Legend Slot’, which last year saw Elton John play what is regarded as one of the best Glastonbury sets ever.

READ MORE: The best unknown artists to look out for at Glastonbury

Afrobeat star Burna Boy will also make his first appearance on the pyramid stage, whilst dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem return for their third Glastonbury performance since 2010. Elsewhere Seventeen, who have a whopping thirteen members, will make history by becoming the first ever K-Pop band to play the main stage.

Highlights from the rest of the festival include Idles, Two Door Cinema Club and Disclosure, who all play the Other stage, whilst Jungle, Jamie xx and Fontaines D.C. play West Holts, Woodsies and The Park respectively.

Organisers also announced the introduction of the ‘Arrivals’ area, which aims to celebrate South Asian artists such as Papadon, DJ Ritu and Shivum Sharma as part of the wider Shangri-La area.

Exact timings for each set are yet to be announced, but historically come in late May/early June.

See the full line-up below

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Can I still get tickets?

If you weren’t lucky enough to get tickets in the recent April resale, it’s very unlikely you’ll be able to attend this year’s festival. Tickets for both general sale and resale sold out in under an hour this year, with resale tickets being snapped up in under 22 minutes.

After the final resale, festival organisers apologised to fans on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “Our thanks to everyone who bought one and we’re sorry to those of you who missed out, on a morning when demand greatly exceeded supply.”

There are still many individual resellers who claim to be able to get you in, however Glastonbury organisers have warned that any ticket purchased outside their official retailer, See Tickets, will be cancelled in an effort to combat ticket touting.

If you missed out this summer, you can still watch all the action from the comfort of your own home, with the BBCs live coverage available across the weekend featuring some of the biggest acts and behind the scenes footage.

Where and when is the festival?

Glastonbury kicks off this year on Wednesday the 26th of June and runs through the weekend until the 30th. Gates first open at 8am on Wednesday morning, but most of the music is saved until the following day. Though some breakaway acts have been known to appear on smaller stages in the past, the best advice for Glasto newcomers on the first day is to grab a few tins and go for a wander around the enormous festival site to see what is on offer, before watching the sunset as the crowd begins to liven up for the first day of more consistent music on Thursday.

Speaking of sunshine, this year’s festival is taking place at Worthy Farm in Pilton, the festival’s original site since it first began in 1970. The venue is infamous for its susceptibility to rain and the mud pits that follow, with absolute washouts most recently in 2016 and the infamous 2007.

Travel to the festival is often slowed by heavy traffic around the main site, especially when there is heavy rain, so organisers encourage ticket holders to travel by public transport for a quicker, greener journey.

What should I bring?

Famed for its unpredictable climate, preparing for Glastonbury can be a nightmare for indecisive packers. Here’s a list of the key things you need to bring that you might not have considered:

• Wellies! The number one thing on any newcomers Glastonbury packing list has to be wellington boots or some form of sturdy, waterproof boots. They are vital in keeping you dry, and even when the sun is shining, some beaten paths can become very muddy in places. Best not ruin your dancing shoes!
• A reusable water bottle – Plastic or single use bottles have been banned from the site since 2019, and may be confiscated if found. There are however free water refill sites dotted across the festival.
• Contraceptives. These are recommended by the official Glastonbury website, and who are we to disagree? Festivals are lively, exciting places and whilst it can be easy to get carried away, no one wants to have a child asking why their birthday was nine months after your first time at Glasto.
• Medical information and contact details, on as many things as possible. Whilst your festival experience should be full of enjoyment and cracking music, accidents do happen sometimes and it is important that other people can help you if you lose something or get into a serious medical emergency. Help them help you!
• Disposable ponchos. These are cheap, light and always keep you dry. You might be eyeing up an expensive rain jacket, but water can soak through these and once you’re wet, you stay wet. A disposable poncho is like wearing a big waterproof plastic bag, and they make ideal sitting mats in a pinch too. They are a must for festival first timers.
• On a similar vein as ponchos, bin bags are also an essential for both keeping the camp clean, and keeping your tent unsullied from the copious amounts of mud you brought in on your wellies.

Why was Glastonbury Festival invented?

Michael Eavis, founder of Glastonbury, was first inspired to run his own festival in 1970, after sneaking into Led Zeppelin’s headline act at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. When he arrived home in Pilton the next morning, Eavis started calling various agents to see if he could book some bands for his own event. Worthy Farm was to be the festival site, a property Eavis initially reluctantly inherited when his father died of cancer, and every Glastonbury Festival has been held at this venue ever since.

Read more: What does it take to run your own festival? : Glastonbury 2024: the line-up, tickets and recommendations

The first ever Glastonbury, then called Pilton Pop, Blues, and Folk Festival, took place on the 19th of September 1970, one day after the news of Jimi Hendrix’s death rocked the music world. Tickets to the event cost only £1 for entry and entitled ticket holders the right to as much free milk as they wanted from Worth Farm’s cows. This scheme, mixed with main stagers The Kinks pulling out at the last minute, led to Eavis making a loss of £1,500 from 1,500 paying visitors. A notable highlight from the first Glastonbury was that an early evolution of T.Rex, then known as Tyrannosaurus Rex, took the stage in place of the absent headliners.

Undeterred by his losses, ‘Glastonbury Fair’ followed for Eavis in 1971, with David Bowie making his first of two headline appearances. This edition saw a much more successful turnout with 12,000 in attendance, and from there the festival has grown and evolved each year into what we know today.

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