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Elated fans wore sun hats and lugged camping gear to the site of
the world's biggest open-air arts and music festival, primed to
witness hundreds of acts over five days culminating in British
singer Elton John's last ever UK show on Sunday night.
Other performers include singer Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Blondie,
rappers Lizzo and Lil Nas X, Lana Del Ray, Rick Astley and a
Friday evening mystery act on the main stage billed only as "The
Churnups" and believed by some to be rock band Foo Fighters.
Heavy showers fell over the 900-acre grassy expanse of
Glastonbury on Wednesday, although fans, many equipped with
Wellington boots to wade through muddy fields, appeared
undeterred.
"Up at half-two in the morning and we've got another couple
hours' wait ahead of us, but I'm looking forward to the week
ahead," said Tom Hemmings from Bristol, who was among thousands
queueing on foot to enter Worthy Farm.
"It's Elton John's last performance so definitely looking
forward to seeing that."
Doubts still swirled over the status of Arctic Monkeys' Friday
night performance on the main Pyramid stage after singer Alex
Turner's laryngitis forced the Sheffield rock band to cancel a
gig in Ireland this week.
Glastonbury, founded by Michael Eavis 53 years ago, typically
sells out before any headliners have been announced, given the
strength of previous line-ups.
Tickets for the 2023 edition sold out in one hour when they went
on sale in November. For the re-sale tickets five months later,
it took just six minutes.
"I've done a festival before but I've never managed to get my
tickets here," said Glastonbury first-timer Hemmings.
Last year's festival, which returned after a two-year hiatus due
to COVID-19, featured artists ranging from Paul McCartney to
Billie Eilish and was attended by 210,000 fans.
(Reporting by Jason Cairnduff and Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by
Alexandra Hudson)
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