The music and performing arts festival, held at the Worthy
dairy farm in Somerset, southwestern England, is known for its
wet weather and "wellie"-wearing fans, who trudge through the
farm's muddy fields in rubber boots and hope desperately to
return to find tents still dry, and where they left them.
This year's event has proved to be no exception. Though sunshine
did sometimes pierce the clouds, rain poured down for long
periods on Friday and Saturday, and more showers were expected
on Sunday.
International superstar Adele, 28, known for her chart-topping
hits on heartbreak such as "Someone like you" and "Rolling in
the Deep", forms part of an all-British line-up of headliners at
this year's festival.
Rock band Muse took the final slot on the main Pyramid stage on
Friday night, putting on a visual spectacle for a crowd of
almost 75,000. Fellow British rockers Coldplay top the bill on
Sunday.
Adele, who collected four Brit awards earlier this year, and
last month was named songwriter of the year at Britain's Ivor
Novello awards, last performed at Glastonbury in 2007, but not
on the main stage.
"I am so excited. I think there's set to be some teary moments
because she's just special, isn't she?" said 24-year-old fan
Helena. "I feel like it's going to be a powerful performance."
BREXIT SADNESS
Many of the young revelers said they were still upset over
Britain's referendum decision to leave the EU, revealed in the
early hours of Friday morning when most at the festival were
still asleep. Surveys indicated that the vast majority of young
voters had been in favor of staying in the EU.
Some performers, including Damon Albarn and Foals frontman
Yannis Philippakis, shared their sadness from the stage.
"My heart is broken," Albarn told the crowd gathered at the
Pyramid Stage to watch him play alongside the Orchestra of
Syrian Musicians, a group of musicians who fled the Syrian civil
war whom he has brought together from around the world.
"Democracy has failed us."
|
There had been worries that not enough of the more than
150,000 festival-goers would vote, and that this would affect
the outcome; no polling stations were allowed on site, so those
arriving before Thursday had to either submit postal votes or
appoint proxies.
But a survey of more than 1,000 Glastonbury attendees,
commissioned by the Times newspaper, found that 78 percent had cast
a ballot - higher than the 72 percent nationwide turnout. It found
83 percent had voted "Remain".
"I think we're just going to move abroad and never come back to
England," said 23-year-old Ed.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour party who had
campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU, had been scheduled to talk
at the festival on Sunday, but pulled out.
This year's Glastonbury saw various tributes to the late British
rock star David Bowie. U.S. composer Philip Glass's "Heroes"
symphony, based on Bowie's album of the same name and written 20
years ago, was to be performed just before midnight on Saturday,
accompanied by a laser show.
Glastonbury runs until June 26, with James Blake, Tame Impala and
Earth, Wind and Fire all due to perform.
(Reporting by Jemima Kelly,; Francis MacGuire and Sarah Mills;
Editing by Kevin Liffey)
[to top of second column]
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|