As the Glastonbury Festival has been cancelled again this year the BBC has announced they will instead be running ‘The Glastonbury Experience 2021’ and beaming some of the highlights from previous years into people’s homes.
For the second year running organisers Emily and Michael Eavis have had to call off the world famous music festival due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, and, as they did in 2020, the BBC will be devoting airtime across the corporation’s television channels, iPlayer, BBC radio and BBC Sounds, from Friday June 25 until Sunday Jun 27, the dates om which the extravaganza would be held at Worthy Farm, Somerset, South West England.
Some of the highlights available include more than 50 full Glastonbury sets, and in addition the BBC will be making performances from the ‘Live At Worthy Farm’ available on BBC iPlayer. The streaming concert took place on May 22, 2021, and featured artists such as Coldplay, Wolf Alice, Michael Kiwanuka, George Ezra, IDLES, HAIM, Damon Albarn and Jorja Smith among others.
iconic Glastonbury sets, such as Radiohead in 1997 and Kylie Minogue in 2019, will also be broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Four.
There will also be an exclusive 60 minute BBC Two documentary, ‘Live At Worthy Farm: Backstage’ presented by Jo Whiley, which will tell the story of how this once in a lifetime event was put together.
That weekend will also see Glastonbury themed programmes running across Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2 and 6 Music.
Regular festival host Whiley said: “Whilst we can’t be together in the fields of Pilton just yet, I can’t wait to go back in time and share a selection of my favourite Glastonbury memories and performances with you all. I have incredibly fond memories of the nineties at Glastonbury, so join me on Friday 25 June to relive some of the very best moments from that unforgettable decade.”