The Glastonbury Festival is arguably the jewel in the U.K.'s music festival crown, having welcomed millions of visitors since it was first held more than five decades ago.
Considered a hallowed hallmark of British culture, Glastonbury is an annual summer music festival that is held across five days between Pilton and Pylle, two small villages located in Somerset, southwestern England.
According to the festival's website, it was first held in 1970, the day after rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London. That year, admission cost only a single pound, and the 1,500 attendees were also given free milk from a local farm. A poster for the 1970 festival advertised such performers as The Kinks and Wayne Fontana.
In the more than half-century since, Glastonbury has ballooned to a massive and highly revered festival that attracts acts from all around the world. These have included Dolly Parton, Beyoncé, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Johnny Cash, Blur, The Who, U2, Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Miley Cyrus and Billie Eilish, to name but a few.
Proceedings have stayed true to form this year, with another extensive, star-studded offering that includes Dua Lipa, Coldplay and LCD Soundsystem as headliners on the main Pyramid Stage. Shania Twain, Janelle Monáe, Cyndi Lauper, Burna Boy, PJ Harvey, and Bloc Party are also among those on the bill.
If you're not lucky enough to be among the more than 200,000 revelers able to land any one of the tickets that continue to sell out each year in record time, there's the option to watch the performances live or on demand.
Newsweek has provided information on how those in the U.S. can join the revelry.
How to Watch Glastonbury 2024
This year, the five-day performing arts extravaganza takes place from Wednesday, June 26 to Sunday, June 30.
If you're based in or visiting the U.K., you can watch the festival through BBC iPlayer. The programming content offers all of the sets that were shown from the multiple stages on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four.
However, if you're in the U.S. or anywhere else outside of the U.K., you will need a VPN (virtual private network) to watch it. A VPN makes it possible to view content online as though you're in the country it's intended for.
Some examples of popular VPN services include ExpressVPN, NordVPN and PureVPN.
Read more: NordVPN vs. ExpressVPN
Viewers who plan to watch the content via VPN should be in possession of a TV license. In the U.K., anyone watching or recording live TV on any channel—be it through an app, website, or television—is required to obtain a TV license. The license was implemented as a means to fund the BBC, which is a non-commercial entity.
With the U.K. being five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (EST), it's also important to note when the acts you're looking for will be performing. A list of times on each day and at each of the main stages is provided on the official Glastonbury Festival website.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
