Glastonbury Festival 2025

2025 marked thirty years since my first visit to the hallowed fields of Pilton. For my first three visits, I was lucky enough to be there as a performer, playing drums on various smaller stages across the site. Aside from one year when I paid for a ticket, every other visit has been with a camera in my hand. The result being, each visit feels like a visit home.

Going into 2025, there were only a few acts that I was looking forward to seeing, but this always works in my favour as I end up putting in the miles, hiking between stages to find something interesting. Of the bands playing, the only ones that were must-sees for me were Doechii, Ezra Collective and Nova Twins, the former two based on enjoying their albums, and the latter based on a combo of always being amazing when I’ve previously shot them, and writing good music.

My favourite new discovery may sound like I’m making up a random series of ingredients to appear cultured, but I promise you, it works. Duo Ruut are an Estonian duo who perform on stage, face to face, playing either side of the same traditional zither. Performing in a small tent in the Green Fields late at night, the lucky audience who filled the space were treated to their amazing harmonies and music, and wonderful inter-song banter, in a magically Glastonbury setting.

Any festival of the arts will also attract political voices and this year was a particularly vocal affair. Going into the weekend, usually the only brief that I get from my editor is “Do you want to do Glastonbury?” However, this year there was an addition; “Are you shooting Kneecap?” With Gaza dominating the headlines, it wasn’t hard to find signs and mentions of the ongoing crisis, even when relieving yourself in the urinals.

Just because the world was looking towards Gaza didn’t mean that Elon and the gang escaped comment. The illustrated queue of high-profile figures who were deemed fit to send to Mars on a one-way ticket included quite a few homegrown faces. It was interesting to stand back and listen as people attempted to name them all. While some were a little harder to identify due to the choice of photo, it’s always a little surprising to hear how few of the current political figures are recognisable by the public. As a news photographer photographing these people from across the political spectrum on a regular basis, it’s very easy to assume that everyone knows the key players. I’m sometimes not sure whether I’m surprised or envious of their ignorance.

For the second year running, Terminal 1 returned to provide a satirical look at the issues of migration and patriotism. The mock airport terminal even featured a fragrance salesman, promoting his latest line “Go Homme”.

Enough politics, back to the music!

As ever, the programme featured a selection of tantalising TBC slots, with the internet being full of theories as the festival approached. I’m proud to say I called Pulp at a very early stage, after seeing the current tour and the convenient gap in the chosen dates. I’m going to put it down to my SheffieldSense.

The other surprise that was anything but, was the return of Lewis Capaldi to finish his previously-interrupted set on the Pyramid Stage. I was there when he was forced to walk off-stage halfway through his performance in 2023, as he struggled with his mental health. His music isn’t in my list of favourites but it was still good to see him back and in a much better state of mind.

Wandering between stages, it always pays to be ready to shoot as the crowds briefly clear and present you with someone who’s made that extra bit of effort.

The hunt for new and interesting bands to shoot always pays off if you put in the research time and step-count, and this year proved to be no exception the rule. It seems creative anonymity is very “in” this year.

Whenever there’s a particular news story of interest at Glasto, it puts a bit of a spanner in the works of coverage as due to the nature of the site, it’s never just a case of swinging by and grabbing a few shots before moving on. The biggest example in recent years of this was when Elton John’s headline slot was billed as his final ever performance with huge guest stars, resulting in a less-than comfortable seven hours in the crowd, securing a decent spot while foregoing drink and food to get the required images.

Looking at the bill for this year, I spotted that Bob Vylan were playing before Kneecap so while it was worth being at the stage early to try to beat the crowds, it would be a decent set of images, having enjoyed their set in previous years. Opening the set with the obligatory light stretches, Bobby Vylan (not to be confused with drummer Bobbie Vylan, of course) exploded into life, leaping around the stage, dreads flying, before crowd-surfing and even bringing his young daughter out for a cameo in the second song.

Three tracks in, the photographers were ushered from the pit to wait for Kneecap’s arrival. As we chatted and scrolled through our images in a backstage area, the now infamous chant of “Death Death to the IDF!” came through the speakers. Eyes wide, we all looked at each other, in shock. Oh boy. I think we need to file even more frames…

After that, it must be said that Kneecap’s controversial set proved to be uneventful in comparison. Any attempt to get out into the crowd to shoot the rest of the set was quickly nipped in the bud as we were ushered from the pit. The whole area around the West Holts stage was at over-capacity and no-one was allowed in. I guess that’s one way to be free to head off and find something a little lighter in tone.

A big part of the Glastonbury experience is going out on night patrol and finding the weird and wonderful sights that you can stumble across in all corners for the site.

As Olivia Rodrigo finished her set, the obligatory closing night fireworks erupted above the Pyramid Stage, marking the end of another Glasto. With next year being a planned fallow year, the fields will get a rest before facing the masses once more when Glastonbury returns in 2027. I can’t wait to see what surprises it can throw my way next time.

Many thanks to Getty Images for asking me to return to Pilton yet again, to Nikon for making great cameras and lenses to capture it all on, and to the team who put the whole festival together. Enjoy your year off!