Glastonbury 2025 review: sunshine, ticket checks and so much walking
Ah, Glastonbury Festival was a fun time in 2025! There was a lot to enjoy, from great music to great views.
In this article, I’ll share my review of the festival this year. It was my fourth time attending Glastonbury, and my third time attending as an Oxfam volunteer, so I finally don’t get lost at every turn and can focus on the music. I hope it gives you an idea of what 2025 was like!
Ratings
Music: 5/5 • Activities: 5/5 • Audience: 5/5 • Site: 3/5 • Accessibility: 5/5 • Facilities: 4/5 • Value: 4/5 • Volunteer experience: 5/5 • Overall: 4.5/5
About Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury is an overnight music festival held in Pilton, Somerset, every year. With a capacity of 210,000, it’s the UK’s largest music festival and has a big reputation to match.
Glastonbury is probably the UK’s most famous festival and is always super popular. Tickets always sell out quickly every year, and for good reason. Its fame means that it attracts some of the biggest names in music, as well as BBC coverage across multiple stages and on radio. As it’s massive, there are over 100 stages, meaning the festival has areas covering a range of genres, with new and established artists both performing there.
What is Glastonbury like?
Glastonbury, on paper, is all about the music. There are the big stages which have round-the-clock BBC coverage, such as the Pyramid and Other Stages. And there are dozens of other smaller stages dotted around the site.
But saying Glastonbury is just for music doesn’t do its breadth of experiences justice. There is so much else going on. There’s a circus field putting on indoor and outdoor performances. A cinema shows films, some of which have Q&As with the director or lead actors. Elsewhere there’s a craft field where you can try out new activities, and a healing field where you can receive massages. There’s space for talks and activism as well as DJ sets and kids activities.
All this means that getting a ticket is hotly contested, and many punters are regulars.
What makes Glastonbury different to other festivals?
The most obvious difference between Glastonbury and its competitors is its sheer size. The site is so massive, as you’d expect for the number of people, and getting from one side to the other is a trek and a half. But how else can you fit so many stages and areas into one arena?
Other things that come to mind are:
- It’s independent. No Festival Republic here – Michael and Emily Eavis, who run the show, are widely visible and have their hand in everything. There aren’t many adverts or sponsorship.
- They have their own newspaper. The Glastonbury Free Press publishes a paper twice during the weekend. Meanwhile, there’s a radio station to keep things going.
- Secret sets. There are normally a couple of ‘TBA’ acts where big acts perform at smaller stages. Likewise, many artists bring out a special guest to add a bit extra pizzazz to their normal set.
- A vibrant nightlife. If you think things end when the music does, think again. Glastonbury contains a range of after-dark venues, such as the South-East Corner, Silver Hayes and Arcadia, which go on until 6 am and keep the party going.
New elements for 2025
As Glastonbury has been around for over 50 years, there is the odd change every year. They have to mix things up somehow!
The changes for 2025 appeared to be less significant than in the last few years. The arena around the Other Stage increased in size, perhaps due to 2024’s overcrowding issues, and a few other stages have been moved around to add capacity. A new open space, the Dragon’s Tail, was added in the South-East Corner as a relaxation area too.
Weather at Glastonbury 2025
For me, every festival I go to is strongly defined by the weather. Whether it’s raining or shining, blustery or boiling, how the weather acts affects how I feel, and most likely everyone else is the same too.
In 2025, Glastonbury had fairly warm weather. There were a few early showers – I got soaked coming back from my overnight shift on Wednesday morning, for example – but for the most part it stayed dry and sunny. Evenings also felt a little warmer than I was expecting, which was great for me.
It’s always nice leaving a festival with a tan!
My experience in 2025
2025 was my fourth time attending Glastonbury. I volunteered with Oxfam, working three shifts on the gates throughout the festival; I have done this for other festivals such as Reading, Boardmasters and Isle of Wight, and think it’s a great way to experience festivals.
After getting early shifts in 2024, I was dismayed not to get them again. However, I ended up being very happy with the shifts I got. For one thing, all my shifts were at the closest gate to the Oxfam campsite, which meant no long walks back to camp after a long shift. And my overnight shift was on the Wednesday, which meant I could sleep in afterwards.
I was mainly working the gates, checking punters’ tickets when re-entering the festival, and scanning workers in and out. Whilst the night shift and early morning were quiet, on the whole they were dynamic and interesting shifts – certainly more interesting than 2024’s back-to-back night shifts on a staff vehicle gate!
Unexpected music
Having a reasonable shift schedule meant that I was able to see a lot of music, particularly on the Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I missed a lot of activities this year; it was the first time I hadn’t made it to the circus tent, and I have still never made it into the cabaret or poetry tents either.
One thing that I loved in particular was the surprise sets. Lorde held one at 11:30 am on Friday morning. It was almost as though she knew my shift began at 2 pm, because it meant I was able to go! She performed the whole of her new album released on the day, which really tested the audience (the enthusiasm of the crowd was much diminished), but it was worth it to dance to Ribs at the end.
And then Haim held a surprise set on Saturday evening. I had wanted to go to their October tour but was put off by the high cost of the tickets, so it was great to see them then instead!
Glastonbury 2025 ratings
I have a ranking system for any festival I attend – and, for that matter, another one for any destination that I’ve made it to! My ratings are below. In the next few paragraphs I’ve explained why I gave Glastonbury these scores for 2025:
- Music: 5/5
- Activities: 5/5
- Audience and atmosphere: 5/5
- Site: 3/5
- Accessibility: 4/5
- Facilities: 4/5
- Value for money: 4/5
- Volunteer experience: 5/5
Overall: 4.5/5 (excluding volunteer experience)
For comparison, I gave 2024’s Glastonbury a 4.5 and 2023’s a 4.25.
If you attended Glastonbury in 2025, do you agree with these ratings? Let me know in the comments!
Music: 5/5
Glastonbury always has a brilliant lineup, and 2025 brought it as always. The headliners were the 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo. Olivia’s set was the highlight of my weekend; she’s a fantastic performer, and I had a great spot in the crowd and could just have a singalong. The 1975 were all right, and I have to say, I didn’t make it to Neil Young (heading to the Other Stage for Charli XCX instead).
As I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the surprise sets this year, with two of my favourite artists, Lorde and Haim, making unannounced appearances. There were a few acts I missed due to my shifts; I was particularly gutted to miss Gracie Abrams on Friday night. But on the whole, I listened to a lot of different performances.
Activities: 5/5
There are so many other things to do at Glastonbury beyond the music. This year, I didn’t see or do that much of this, which makes sense as it is normally similar each year, so I had less need to explore on Wednesday and Thursday. However, I love that the option to do something different is there, and know that it was as epic as always.
Audience and atmosphere: 5/5
Glastonbury Festival normally has a good atmosphere. It’s not the sort of festival that attracts large hoards of teenagers, so most people there have experience attending music festivals and gigs. That means, normally, better crowd etiquette.
Of course, there’s always the odd moment which is troublesome. The crowd at Charli XCX, for example, were on the aggressive side: certainly the worst crowd I was in this year.
Site: 3/5
Glastonbury is absolutely massive, and when you’re dealing with so many people, there’s never going to be an ideal arena. On the whole I think it’s okay.
After last year’s crowding issues, the increase in Other Stage size did not go unnoticed to me. I didn’t feel like there was an appreciable difference in how busy the walkways felt, and there were still a few stages which were closed due to being at capacity.
There were also a few points where I thought the crowd management had gone out of the window. For example, on Sunday night, as I was trying to go to the Pyramid for Noah Kahan, the main route between the Pyramid and Other Stages was at a complete standstill; I ended up having to turn around and go a much further route to get around. Later I saw that the acts on both stages finished at the same time, so of course there was a crowd crush between them. Whoever thought that was a good idea?!
Accessibility: 5/5
I haven’t used any of the accessibility actions at Glastonbury, but from my outside observations they seem as good as any other festival, with a dedicated campsite and platforms for viewing.
Facilities: 4/5
To attend Glastonbury, we all know you have to sacrifice of your home comforts, like showers, running water and electricity. It gets quite dire in the campsites!
The long drops at Glastonbury are a particular low point, and I could tell things were getting bad when I celebrated going to a loo without any wee on the seat. They’re often queuing and smell really bad, but I feel like I’ve got used to them now.
Things are much more pleasant in the Oxfam campsite, with showers and composting toilets, so I was somewhat sheltered from the worst aspects of festival camping.
Value for money: 5/5
Glastonbury tickets cost £378.50 per person in 2025. That puts it as one of the most expensive music festivals in the UK.
Volunteering with Oxfam means that I didn’t have to pay for a ticket. The price of a Glastonbury ticket is now quite high in my opinion and puts me off from going as a punter (if I’d even manage to get one).
That being said, many big names perform at Glastonbury, so if you counted the cost of their tours, you would easily get to the full cost of the tickets.
Volunteer experience: 5/5
Given that I attended Glastonbury with Oxfam Festivals, I have also rated the volunteer experience.
On the whole, I thought the Oxfam experience in 2025 was great. I got good shifts; the showers were warm and dependable, with fairly short queues; and I felt like the catering had got much better compared to 2024. There were a few smaller issues, such as a lack of space in the field for tents (it was hard for us to find a space as a group), but on the whole I thought it was good.
Overall: 4.5/5
Glastonbury 2025: summarising the experience
I had a great time at Glastonbury Festival in 2025, with good shifts that mostly fitted around what I wanted to see on the line-up. Some of the worst aspects in 2024, such as the crowds, were slightly better. It also helps that, as my fourth Glastonbury, I had got to grips with the geography and could get around more easily.
It’s a shame Glastonbury is having a fallow year in 2026, but I’m sure 2027 will be big…
