Glastonbury Festival is world famous for it’s sparling Pyramid Stage sets showcasing global superstars – but it has also seen its fair share of surreal moments.
From stages sinking to Royal visits, and from riots to giant sex toys. A lot of unexpected things have happened over the years.
Take a look below at the 15 of the most surreal moments at Glastonbury Festival.
The Other Stage sank into the mud
The Other Stage once sunk into the ground after heavy rain. Torrential downpours during the 1997 festival saw the second stage start to “sink” into the mud on the Friday of the event, causing the cancellation of performances.
You can watch a BBC television report of the stage sinking below.
Everyone thought Michael Jackson’s death was a joke – but it wasn’t
There was an air of disbelief at Glastonbury Festival when rumours began to build that the King of Pop had passed away during the 2009 event, a time before smart phones were widely used. Thousands of people, some in a festival haze, didn’t knew if it was actually true.
However, it was, and after coming to terms with his death, the festival paid homage to Michael Jackson and Lily Allen wore a white glove on stage. T-shirt stalls began selling clothing which stated “Michael Jackson is dead” and “I was at Glastonbury when Michael Jackson died.”
‘A poo in a bra in a tree’
“A poo in a bra, hanging in a tree” – Andy Wilcott, who previously ran the clean-up operation at Glastonbury Festival, did not hesitate in 2017 when asked what the strangest thing he and his team had ever found was.
He continued: “We found a cannonball once, and we’ve found mannequins. We find a lot of lost wallets and jewellery and millions of phones. The lost property system is incredible. They try for months to return items. Phones can normally be returned.”
Alex from Wells became viral sensation
Teenager Alex Mann, from Wells, became an overnight viral sensation after joining famous rapper Dave on the Other Stage in 2019 and rapping his hit song Thiago Silva word perfect. A video of the performance was watched more than 20 million times and brought him a whole legion of fans as well as an appearance on Good Morning Britain.
Actor Keanu Reeves performed at the festival
Keanu Reeves, best known for playing the role of Neo in The Matrix films, has performed at Glastonbury Festival. He played with his band, Dogstar, in 1999, in a set which saw him having to dodge objects thrown from the crowd.
And actor Bradley Cooper also took to the Pyramid Stage
Another famous actor, Bradley Cooper, also popped up on the Pyramid Stage in 2017 when he appeared for four minutes moments before country legend Kris Kristofferson’s set. The Hollywood actor was filming shots for the movie A Star Is Born and later described his time at the Somerset festival as “magical”.
Everyone stopped to wish a random person a happy birthday
During Elbow’s secret set in 2017, the band and thousands in the crowd stopped and wished Sarah a happy birthday. Her mum Jan said “it was so fantastic for her and one of the best nights of her life”.
A ‘policeman’ waved around a huge sex toy at Stormzy gig
The BBC cameras caught a man in a policeman outfit waving a giant sex toy during Stormzy’s Other Stage set in 2017. The clip was later accidentally broadcast again on BBC Breakfast in December 2017.
The Killers left their guitarist behind at a service station
Guitarist Dave Keuning was left behind at a motorway service station as The Killers made their way to the 2005 festival. Staff rushed back to fetch him and Keuning almost missed their set on the Pyramid Stage.
Crowd for England v Portugal was larger than the game’s actual attendance
Glastonbury Festival screened the Euro 2004 clash between England vs Portugal. Around 65,000 people are estimated to have watched the game at the festival – a crowd larger than the audience who were actually at the stadium to see it live.
Liam Gallagher’s iconic parkas were reportedly pinched
The former Oasis frontman claimed that his signature Stone Island parkas were taken from him. He says the coats were stolen from his hotel room while performing at Worthy Farm in 2017.
Travellers ‘armed with metal bars’ refused to leave
After the finale of the 1990 festival, hundreds of convoy travellers, allowed onto the site for free over the weekend, refused to move on. The Wells Journal reported how having been accused of stealing from the market area, six vehicles full of travellers, armed with metal bars, retaliated by driving towards the security compound and surrounding the farmhouse.
They were met by police riot squad complete with shields and helmets and the travellers backed off, looting and burning as they went. Two hundred people were arrested. After all this mayhem, the festival took a rest for a year to take stock.
A number of very unexpected guests
The Dalai Lama
One of the most famous spiritual faces in the world attended Glastonbury Festival in 2015. The 14th Dalai Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhism, spoke to crowds at the Stone Circle, as well as joining a climate change protest and appearing on the Pyramid Stage with festival organiser Emily Eavis, where the crowd sang Happy Birthday to him.
Boris Johnson
Former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson attended Glastonbury Festival 2000 alongside left-wing activist Billy Bragg and performed a rendition of The Iliad, an ancient Greek epic poem, in the Poetry tent to a sizeable crowd. He was also accosted by a group of nudists, and declared the festival was “a triumph of right wing ideology”, adding that revellers selling illegal drugs at the Stone Circle “represent a strong libertarian ideology”.
Prince Charles
King Charles, then Prince, spent a day at Glastonbury Festival 2010 as the president of WaterAid, one of the main beneficiaries of the event’s annual fundraising efforts. Dressed in a beige suit and stripy tie, he took a tour of the expansive 900-acre festival site, taking in the Greenpeace field and the Green Fields, as well as speaking with rock band Two Door Cinema Club and appearing on the Pyramid Stage.
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