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The founder of Glastonbury, Michael Eavis, has said anyone who does not agree with the politics of the festival “can go somewhere else”.
Glastonbury, which has a history of political activism, opened on Wednesday and is set to be especially charged this year, with performances, talks and installations taking aim at big tech, campaigning for free speech, tackling the climate emergency and calling for action on a range of social and political issues.
The focus this year will probably be rising tensions in the Middle East, especially the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, with a number of acts expressing support for them.
The Irish rap group Kneecap are due to perform on Saturday, despite criticism from the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said they should be banned from the festival after the band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offence.
The 27-year-old is accused of displaying a flag representing Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a gig in November last year. In response to the allegations, Kneecap wrote on X: “We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction.”
Emily Eavis, Michael’s daughter who has taken over organising the festival, said the group were welcome at Worthy Farm.
She told BBC Breakfast: “There have been a lot of really heated topics this year, but we remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world and, you know, everyone is welcome here.”
When asked by Glastonbury Free Press, the festival’s newspaper, whether the event still stood for something, Michael Eavis said: “Oh heaven’s above, yes, of course it does. And I think the people that come here are into all those things. People that don’t agree with the politics of the event can go somewhere else.”
He added: “I still take a lot of pleasure from all of it. I’m enjoying every day. And Emily is doing so well. I’m just feeling really safe with the show being in her hands.”
The former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who left the BBC One show last month, will be speaking at the Information stage in the Silver Hayes area on Saturday as part of a panel called Standing Up for ‘Getting Along’ in a World that’s Being Pushed Apart.
He told the festival newspaper: “It’s basically along the lines of: everything is done to try and divide us, and I think if people can pull together – because I think most of us are decent human beings – then just a bit more kindness in the world would go a long way at the moment.”
