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Glastonbury's best bits: Capaldi's comeback, celebrity sightings and lots of spoons

2025-06-30 09:00:15

Is it really over? After five days of surprise performances, setlist clashes, crazy outfits and blistering heat, Glastonbury is closing its gates until 2027.

We watched epic shows from Pulp and Olivia Rodrigo, did viral dances with CMAT and Charli XCX and, for no apparent reason, saw two incarnations of Doctor Who on stage with Franz Ferdinand and Jade.

There's always too much to process in the moment. We missed Gary Numan making his Glastonbury debut, and were locked out of Scissor Sisters' epic set on the Woodsies stage after turning up too late.

But here are some of the highlights and memorable moments from a weekend of mayhem.

In 2023, Lewis Capaldi had to abandon his Glastonbury set, after Tourette's syndrome caused his vocal cords to seize up.

He took two years off to deal with his health issues, but that incomplete set was always at the back of his mind. On Friday, he arrived unannounced on the Pyramid Stage to finish what he couldn't last time.

"Second time's a charm on this one, everybody," he said, as tears welled up in his (and our) eyes.

The set was short on time, but big on emotion. From the opening lines of Before You Go to the set-closing Someone You Loved, the crowd sang every line, giving the star their full attention and affection.

Lewis, displaying none of the physical tics that plagued him two years ago, was in fine form. That sandpapery voice was undiminished, even as the lump grew in his throat.

As he laid his Glastonbury ghosts to rest, he observed that Friday's set would also be difficult to finish for "different reasons. Good reasons."

Actors Dominic Cooper and Gemma Chan channelled festival glam as they were spotted backstage

A weekend at Worthy Farm isn't complete without a celebrity sighting or two and this year has certainly delivered.

One Direction fans were delighted to see Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson in attendance, presumably to see The 1975's headline set on Friday. Harry was also spotted in the field for Doechii's set, dancing with a manbag slung over his shoulder.

The backstage areas were filled to the brim with acting royalty, including Eddie Redmayne, Taron Egerton (who watched Lewis Capaldi's set with his top off), Lily James and Paul Mescal.

Andrew Garfield was also spotted at a fan Q&A, talking about his new film We Live in Time - as well as reading some spicy social media posts fans had written about him.

It was also great to see some of the weekend's performers letting their hair down after hours.

Lorde was spotted in the South East Corner dancing at NYC Downlow on Saturday morning, whilst Charli XCX celebrated headlining the Other Stage by dancing alongside fiancé and The 1975 drummer George Daniel at a 1am DJ slot on Sunday morning.

Glastonbury veterans such as Pixie Geldof, Lily Allen, Alexa Chung and Daisy Lowe were also on site over the weekend too, proving you can be effortlessly glamorous in a sweaty field (as long as you have money to burn and access to electricity and running water).

Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill is the biggest-selling debut album of all time, with sales of 33 million.

With the record celebrating its 30th birthday this month, the singer made her Glastonbury debut with a spectacular sunset performance on the Pyramid Stage, that showed songs like You Oughta Know and One Hand In My Pocket have lost none of their edge, or their allure.

The singer, now 51 years old, had the strongest vocals of the weekend, belting out the hits so hard that she had to hold her microphone a solid three feet from her mouth, as she spun around the stage in a guileless blur of sparkles and hair.

But when she broke into Ironic, fans had a surprise in store: Spoons. Hundreds of spoons.

They held them aloft during the lyric "it's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife" – a line that comedian Ed Byrne once pointed out "isn't ironic, it's just frickin' stupid."

"We haven't got 10,000 spoons between us. How big is your sink, Alanis?"

A contestant prepares for a round of sock wrestling

If Fatboy Slim isn't here, does Glastonbury even happen?

The DJ/producer played his 100th (and 101st and 102nd and 103rd) set at the farm this weekend, drawing huge crowds everywhere he went.

He celebrated his centenary with a mash-up of his signature hit Praise You, and The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

As you might expect, it went off. He's come a long way, baby.

Irish singer CMAT ended her performance on the Pyramid Stage by saying it was "the biggest moment" of her career.

Asked how she was processing that incredible reception, she told us she had "no idea".

"I think I'm going to process it in about three to five business months," laughed.

The 29 year old, whose real name is Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, said she didn't speak for around an hour after her set ended.

"I was pretty, pretty shocked. Yeah, no idea," she said.

"I'm scared still. As if it's about to happen, but it's over."

She said it had taken "constant grafting" to get to the Pyramid Stage - but all the practice paid off, as she lit up the stage with her powerful vocals and kooky stage presence.

It felt very much like we were watching a star being born. She'll be back here very, very soon.

Spotted by the incredible team behind the @GlastoLive account on Bluesky, this installation is made entirely of keys that people lost or left behind after last year's festival.

If you're still on site this morning, check your pockets before you go!

Carhenge is one of Glastonbury's biggest installations, modelled on the nearby Stonehenge monument - but with cars

At home, you're probably not aware of this – but there's an entire team at Glastonbury dedicated to creating "broadcast safe" versions of the music for daytime radio, to avoid the wrath of Ofcom.

They sit in a cramped office, carefully editing out curse words. And, as the taboos around explicit language have weakened, their job's only become harder.

"Did you see the swear sheet for Self Esteem?" I heard one sigh on Friday night.

"After the second mother****** I was like, 'This is going to be a long night'."

Glastonbury loves a surprise set, and this year they outdid themselves. The "secret" acts (whose secrets weren't particularly well kept) were so big that they often overshadowed the headliners.

Lorde was first up, sauntering onto the Woodsies' stage on Friday morning, playing her just-released album Virgin to an eager crowd of fans.

Lewis Capaldi got a hero's welcome as he played the Pyramid Stage in a "TBA" slot; and the mysterious band billed as Patchwork were, to no-one's surprise, Pulp.

The Britpop heroes were marking the anniversary of their 1995 headline set: One of the truly legendary Glastonbury performances, where the band - who'd just released Common People - first established their status as national treasures.

They finished the set with that song, naturally, assisted by Red Arrows flypast; and Sunday night headliner Olivia Rodrigo hollering the lyrics from her boyfriend's shoulders.

Robert Smith of The Cure was Olivia Rodrigo's special guest during her Sunday evening headline slot

"He is perhaps the best songwriter to come out of England, he is a Glastonbury legend and a personal hero of mine," Olivia Rodrigo tells the audience during her headline slot.

She is talking about Robert Smith, The Cure's frontman for the past 49 years and a four-time Glastonbury headliner.

There are audible gasps from a few mums and dads in the crowd when one audience member asks, "Who is he?" but you'd hope they were won over after an absolutely superb duet on the Pyramid Stage.

The pair sang Friday I'm in Love and Just Like Heaven, with their vastly different sounding vocals somehow contrasting perfectly.

Rodrigo confessed her love of British culture throughout, including Marks and Spencer's Colin the Caterpillar and also admitted she'd got through "three sticky toffee puddings" since arriving on Worthy Farm.

Perhaps she‘ll give apple crumble a go next.

Emily Eavis (centre) made the most of this year's festival before taking a well-deserved break next year

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