Glastonbury Festival became the unwilling centre of a row involving Keir Starmer’s government and the BBC, after it played host to not one but two controversial performances over the weekend.
This year’s event was held in its traditional location of Worthy Farm, Somerset, where around 200,000 music fans flocked to see performances from acts including rock band The 1975, pop singer Olivia Rodrigo, Rod Stewart and Neil Young.
Dominating much of the conversation this year, however, was the presence of Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap and a headline-generating performance from punk band Bob Vylan, who played the Other Stage immediately before Kneecap’s set.
The prime minister and other public figures had earlier voiced their objections to Kneecap’s performance due to band member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, being charged with a terror offence – for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah, while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig in November last year.
He has denied the charges, calling them a “distraction” from the plight of Palestinians.
Discussing his bandmate’s forthcoming court date onstage, Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said they would “start a riot outside the courts”, before clarifying: “No riots, just love and support, and support for Palestine.”
The trio also led chants of “f*** Keir Starmer” after the prime minister said their performance would not be “appropriate”.
However, it was Bob Vylan’s set in the moments before Kneecap took to the stage that generated a bigger row, and made this year’s festival one of the most politicised in recent memory.
The duo led crowds in a chant of “death, death to the IDF” – a moment that was broadcast live by the BBC – prompting Avon and Somerset Police to say they were assessing video footage of both performances.
Glastonbury organisers said they were “appalled” by Bob Vylan’s conduct and that their chants “very much crossed a line”. The BBC called the band’s language “deeply offensive” and confirmed it would not be shown on demand on iPlayer.
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The prime minister said: “There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech… The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”
Kneecap and Bob Vylan’s performances –as well as statements in support of Palestine from artists including Joy Crookes, Turnstile, Nadine Shah – were in stark contrast to headliners The 1975. Controversial frontman Matty Healy made a nervous speech about how he didn’t want the band’s legacy to be “one of politics… we want it to be that of love and friendship”.
“I’m not trying to be too earnest, but you can go out into the world and there’s loads of politics everywhere,” he continued. “We don’t need more politics. We need more love and friendship.”
In a positive review for The Independent, critic Hannah Ewens wrote: “Undoubtedly, nerves or not, they’ve established themselves as the first future legacy headlining band of their generation.”
There were plenty of secret sets across the sun-soaked weekend (along with plenty of sunburn), predictably most of which were rumbled hours before the acts in question took to the stage. It had long-been rumoured (and was later confirmed) that US pop star Lorde would make an appearance on the day she released her new album, Virgin. The mysterious “Patchwork” – in a prime spot on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday – turned out to be Britpop heroes Pulp, while Haim blurted out that they were the “TBA” act on the Park Stage later that evening.
Other highlights singled out by The Independent’s critics included Irish pop singer CMAT’s triumphant spot on the Pyramid Stage, pop-rock star Alanis Morissette, and Grammy-winning rapper Doechii, pop star Charli XCX and headliner Neil Young, whose three sets clashed as Young topped the bill on Saturday night. American rapper Busta Rhymes received a rapturous reception, while the UK’s own Skepta saved the day after alt-rock band Deftones were forced to cancel their set due to illness.
Following the controversies of Saturday’s sets by Kneecap and Bob Vylan, musician Nadine Shah played on the Other Stage with a backdrop that displayed images of a devastated Gaza. She ended her set by playing voicenotes from Palestinian children, which brought her to tears. The backdrop was designed by digital artist Cold War Steve and closed on an image of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu sitting on deckchairs in a bombed-out Gaza while Starmer served them cocktails. At the end of the set, she read out an open letter by Artists for Palestine UK in support of Palestine Action – the organisation that the government is proposing to ban under anti-terrorism laws.
Around the festival site, too, were demonstrations and statements against figures including Tesla CEO and former Trump advisor Elon Musk. The protest group Led By Donkeys erected a billboard installation that featured Musk inside a rocket, with figures including Trump, Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Jeff Bezos, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and author JK Rowling queuing to board. “Send them to Mars… while we party on Earth,” the slogan said.
“Music brings us together!” Rod Stewart told his audience at the Pyramid Stage as he took on the Legends Slot on Sunday, not long after endorsing Farage in an interview with The Times. The “Maggie May” rocker brought out special guests Mick Hucknall of Simply Red Fame, as well as The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood and singer Lulu. He also invited Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis onto the stage, to celebrate his upcoming 90th birthday, with his proud daughter, festival co-organiser Emily Eavis, watching.
In a two-star review for The Independent, critic Mark Beaumont compared him negatively to headliner Neil Young, commenting: “The overall sense of the set is of the wringing out the dregs of a career. Far more than Neil Young last night, Stewart’s show suggests that the old guard’s time has well and truly passed, and that in future all legend slot bookings need to involve a fresh audition tape.”
Reactions to Olivia Rodrigo’s closing headline set were considerably more glowing. In a five-star review for The Independent, Kate Solomon said the pop star had the crowd “so deeply in their feelings that it feels like any deadbeat ex in the vicinity would burst directly into flames”.
Glastonbury organisers have disclosed that 2026 will mark the festival’s traditional fallow year, in which the grounds where the festival is held are given time to recover. After a year so fraught with political tension, the Eavis family might need some time too.
