Glastonbury branded a ‘ticking time bomb’ in fresh warning from former executive

Glastonbury insider voices concerns around overcrowding at festival (Picture: Joe Maher/Getty Images)

With less than a month to go before Worthy Farm opens its gates, an unnamed insider said it was a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.

On June 26, Glastonbury will kick off with headliners The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo all taking to the Pyramid Stage across the weekend.

Huge crowds are part of the festival experience, with officials often having to close down sections to alleviate the numbers.

Last year saw Sugababes shut down West Holts while secret set Kasabian caused chaos at Woodsies – then there was Avril Lavigne whose fans flooded the Other Stage area.

‘Worst-case scenario, people are going to die, I think we are going to have some massive issues this year,’ said the insider to the Mail on Sunday.

He said someone could ‘die’ if things don’t change(Picture: LEON NEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Concern was raised after the announcement that Charli XCX, who saw huge success last year with her Brat album, would headline the Other Stage.

He claims her DJ set on Levels last year prompted an emergency meeting for bosses as it was anticipated that thousands would rush there after Dua Lipa’s headlining slot ended.

In the end, while the small stage was packed, no emergency intervention was needed.

The source also claimed that there is prolific drug-taking among both festival goers and staff, even those who drive vehicles around the festival.

Calls for emergency medical assistance for overdosed or collapsed gig-goers were reportedly being made every 15 to 20 minutes each night.

Last year Charli XCX’s set was of particular concern (Picture: Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

Crowds around iconic points or big sets are a logistical nightmare (Picture:Andy Buchanan / AFP)

He continued: ‘How has it [Glastonbury] survived this long without a major disaster?

‘It’s got to be a mixture of luck and a mixture of good will, the jewel in the UK’s crown is actually something of a ticking time bomb.’

Glastonbury Festival responded and told Metro: ‘As always, Glastonbury 2025 will have a robust, dynamic crowd management plan in place, with crowd safety paramount at the Festival. 

‘Our team works year-round on crowd management, which is at the forefront of all decisions and planning for the site and artist bookings. Our proactive crowd management team monitors data (including from the official Glastonbury app line-up planner) for information on potential act popularity for weeks in advance of the Festival and develops a comprehensive crowd management plan accordingly. 

‘At the Festival, our dedicated, 500-strong crowd management team is overseen by a team of world-leading experts and works closely with all relevant agencies and authorities, establishing plans and procedures against all possible outcomes, with detailed plans developed for certain areas and scenarios, even if the likelihood of them being used is very low.’

They added that their team ‘utilises state-of-the-art crowd monitoring systems to ensure that at all times of day and night crowd safety is at the forefront of everyone’s minds, with a far greater capacity to respond to issues than might be found in the rest of the sector.’

The 1975 are set to headline along with Olivia Rodrigo and Neil Young (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

The Sugababes stole the show at last year’s festival (Picture: Jim Dyson/Getty Images for ABA)

The Event Control Centre, which includes the emergency services and local authority representative, is given a real-time feed across the festival.

Across the festival, there are plenty of brilliant artists set to perform from newcomers like English Teacher and Lola Young to established acts like The Libertines, Scissor Sisters and even Busta Rhymes.

With Charli XCX’s return, fans had already noted the concern about a potential rush to get to her set which clashes with Neil Young’s Pyramid Stage set.

Glastonbury Festival continued: ‘Access being restricted to Sugababes’ set in 2024 is a literal example of our extensive, dynamic crowd management plan being put into operation. Glastonbury is the size of a small city and, like any city, all of its venues have capacities – when they reach those capacities, we obviously restrict further access for safety reasons.  

‘This year, we have reintroduced a “Fine Guide” leaflet accompanying all tickets being sent out which – alongside lots of useful information – helps inform Glastonbury-goers around crowd movements and expectations of being able to see everything. As that leaflet mentions, we will publish a list each morning of performances expected to be busier than usual, to allow ticket holders to better assess which shows they’ll attempt to see, alongside advice for areas of the site likely to be quieter. We’ll also use the app to give dynamic updates during the event. 

Glastonbury released a fresh map, suggesting more space around big stages (Picture: Glastonbury Festival)

2025 boasts far more open spaces than 2024 around the stages (Picture: Glastonbury Festival)

‘As always, there will also be changes to the site at this year’s Festival with crowd safety in mind. These include a significant increase to the size of Other Stage arena; widening of footpaths in busy areas; increase in capacity and new open-plan layout for the Shangri-La area; and the new Dragon’s Tail field introduced to the South East Corner as a new calmer, quieter space within that late-night entertainment area, made possible as part of the site-wide relocation of thousands of Festival crew camping spaces outside the fence line to provide more space for the public.’

Glastonbury released an updated Worthy Farm map last month which did indicate larger areas were being created around the popular stages.

Dedicated Glastonbury X account The Glasto Thingy shared a gif comparing last year and 2025’s maps, pointing out the changes in areas.

Finally, the festival added: ‘Drugs are as illegal on the Glastonbury site as they are in the rest of the UK, and drug use figures on the site mirror those in line with national statistics.

‘Like other responsible organisations with large numbers of people driving vehicles on their behalf, we have, for many years, employed systematic drug and alcohol testing of driving staff, and we are proud to do so. ‘

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