But behind the scenes, broadcasting Glastonbury can be a fraught affair. BBC bosses battle uncooperative headliners, technical gaffes, angry viewers and jealousy from colleagues who haven’t scored a golden ticket to Worthy Farm, insiders have claimed.
An estimated 400 BBC staff and freelancers will descend on the Somerset site next week, joining 200,000 revellers set to be entertained by headline acts including Charli XCX, The 1975, and Olivia Rodrigo.
With extensive coverage across five main stages simultaneously broadcast live on iPlayer streams, as well as prime-time TV and radio slots, the BBC claims its network is “the ultimate place to watch Glastonbury”.
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♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper“Sending 400 people to cover a music festival seems a huge expense to people who work in departments facing cuts like news or local radio,” said one news figure.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The number of accredited workers, such as specialist technical and camera crew, producers and presenters, reflects what is required to ensure the quality and breadth of coverage audiences expect from the BBC.”
BBC presenter Nick Grimshaw (with Pixie Geldof) has been a Glastonbury ever-present since his first festival in 2003 (Photo: Getty)“They pay for the rights but what the BBC shows is in the hands of the organisers and artists.”
‘It’s not the BBC’s show’
Saturday’s Pyramid Stage headliner Neil Young pulled out in January claiming that the “corporate” BBC wanted him to “do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in”.
One former senior Glastonbury producer said: “Viewers now expect to see the headline act live on TV. It felt like Elton John’s touring farewell in 2023 became a national moment.
Coldplay’s main stage headline performance in 2024 was watched live by 2.5m viewers (Photo: Getty)
The figure added that Bruce Springsteen’s manager had initially restricted the BBC to airing only 25 minutes of the Boss’s 2009 performance. “But he saw how well Bruce was going down on the TV monitors so he told them to keep the cameras rolling and the BBC got 90 minutes in the end.”
A BBC source said: “We aim to bring audiences as many performances as possible from the Pyramid Stage, and broadcast plans continue to be finalised.”
The BBC cited the “complexities” of broadcasting an event on the scale of Glastonbury, with insiders disclosing that technicians, relying on outside broadcast facilities in a Somerset field, struggled to upload the full three-hour performance onto iPlayer.
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Viewers also complained of sound problems affecting Cyndi Lauper and Shania Twain’s vocal performances last year.
Boozy jolly for staff?
The BBC is also battling the perception that Glastonbury is a boozy jolly for staff, with the 4-star Chorlton House hotel used as a base for those not expected to rough it on the camp site.
The BBC defended the 2002 party, calling it a legitimate event, since it was related to its Glastonbury coverage.
Dolly Parton performing in the Glastonbury Legends slot. Rod Stewart is the 2025 choice (Photo: BBC/Steve Barney/www.sarahjeynes.com)
A BBC source said: “There are no free tickets. Everyone who has a ticket provided by the BBC is working at Glastonbury around the clock to bring audiences blanket coverage across our platforms.”
The BBC’s presenters also have to appear bright-eyed and ready to perform, even after an all-night rave in Shangri-La.
His highlights include “the time we took my 15-year-old niece with a stick-on handle-bar moustache to Block 9 with Scissor Sisters and raved till dawn”.
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Read MoreElton John’s 2023 set was watched live by a peak BBC One audience of 7.6 million viewers.
Next weekend there will be more than 100 full sets available. With so much to cover, ensuring all broadcasts meet the BBC’s rules on impartiality and offence will be challenging.
Kneecap previously said: “We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves.”
A BBC spokesperson said its coverage will include dozens of sets available on both iPlayer and Sounds, which will remain available throughout July.
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