Thousands of festival-goers descend on Glastonbury as gates open for 2023

By Naomi Clarke, PA Entertainment Reporter

Thousands of campers will descend upon Glastonbury today in the hope of claiming a prime spot as the world-famous festival opens its doors for its 51st year.

Festival-goers could experience travel disruption as they make their way to Pilton in Somerset due to wet weather but the skies are due to clear across Worthy Farm as the music kicks off on Friday.

This year will see world-class music stars play across the 900-acre festival, which will run until Sunday, as well as speeches by politicians, film screenings, theatre and circus performances and more.

Arctic Monkeys will top the bill on Friday night on the Pyramid Stage, which will mark their third time headlining the festival having previously done so in 2007 and 2013.

However, their slot has been thrown into question after the rock band had to cancel their Dublin show which was scheduled for Wednesday at the last minute due to their frontman Alex Turner suffering from acute laryngitis.

Saturday night will see US rockers Guns N’ Roses headline, after the original line-up of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan reunited in 2015.

Lizzo will play immediately before and has joint headline billing on the line-up poster.

However, the acts closing the Pyramid Stage throughout the festival will be all-male.

Co-organiser Emily Eavis told the BBC she aimed for gender balance and this year they had a female headline but “she unfortunately had to pull out”.

Sir Elton’s headline slot on Sunday night is expected to draw large crowds, as it marks the end of his scheduled farewell tour dates in the UK.

Yusuf/Cat Stevens will perform during the teatime legends slot on Sunday afternoon, followed by classic rock outfit Blondie.

The veteran folk-rocker, best known for a string of albums in the 1970s, follows in the footsteps of artists such as Dolly Parton, Kylie Minogue and Diana Ross in the coveted slot.

Also on the bill across the weekend are Christine And The Queens, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi and Lil Nas X.

Eurovision winners Maneskin will make their debut at the festival, as will Brits Rising Star winners Flo.

Friday’s main stage also has a mystery band listed as the ‘The Churnups’ set to perform before Arctic Monkeys and rock duo Royal Blood, which has been rumoured to actually be the rock band Foo Fighters.

“Impactful” thunderstorms in Devon and Cornwall and eastern areas of England were predicted to cause travel disruption on Tuesday with wet weather expected for Wednesday.

However, the festival itself should avoid the worst of the storms as some showers are expected for the first couple of days with temperatures set to be remain warm at 22C on Wednesday and Thursday.

Towards the weekend, the rain is expected to clear, making way for dryer and brighter conditions with highs of 26C expected on Sunday for Sir Elton’s headline performance.

Organisers have also urged festival-goers not to bring a number of items, with disposable vapes top on the list as they “pollute the environment and can be hazardous at waste centres”.

Gazebos, non-biodegradable body glitter, disposable wipes, knives and anything made of glass are also all on the ‘what not to bring’ list this year.

The 2023 event will run from June 21 to 25 at Worthy Farm in Somerset.