Glastonbury's Emily Eavis hails “inspiring” festival crowd as 99 per cent of tents taken home

Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis has revealed that 99 per cent of tents were taken home by festival goers at this year’s Glastonbury Festival.

Ahead of this year’s festival, which was headlined by Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar, festival organisers had urged fans to “leave no trace” by taking tents and belongings with them when leaving the festival. “Love the Farm, Leave no Trace” was a prominent slogan at the 2019 incarnation of the festival too.

In a tweet posted this evening (July 12) alongside a picture of clear green fields at Glastonbury, Eavis wrote: “Green, empty fields! We’re delighted to let you know that 99% of tents were taken home again this year.”

She added: “Thank you to every person who packed up & left no trace, it’s an inspiring feat, a huge effort and one we appreciate so much. Thanks also to our amazing team of litter pickers.”

Green, empty fields! We’re delighted to let you know that 99% of tents were taken home again this year. Thank you to every person who packed up & left no trace, it's an inspiring feat, a huge effort and one we appreciate so much. Thanks also to our amazing team of litter pickers. pic.twitter.com/4abA5WyoHh

— Emily Eavis (@emilyeavis) July 12, 2022

Action on climate change was a huge part of this year’s Glastonbury Festival, with environmental activist Greta Thunberg invited onto the Pyramid Stage to speak.

Taking to the stage ahead of Haim’s slot on the main stage, Thunberg was introduced by Emily as “the most inspiring speaker of this generation”. With paper notes to hand, she spoke for roughly ten minutes on a range of sustainability issues, critiquing governmental ‘greenwashing’.

“The biosphere is not just changing, it is destabilising, breaking down… unfortunately, this is not the ‘new normal’. It will get worse until we manage to halt the constant destruction of our life-supporting systems, until we prioritise people and planet over profit and greed.”

To enormous applause, she emphasised the importance of collectivity: “If a bunch of schoolkids were able to get millions of people on the streets to start changing their lives, just imagine what we could do together if we really tried?”

To close, Thunberg embraced the spirit of her first Glastonbury, leading her very own rockstar chant: “when I say climate, you say justice!”

Before her appearance, big screens implored Glastonbury goers to reuse, reduce and recycle, as well as showing promotional footage from Greenpeace, Oxfam and CND, all prominent sponsors of the event.

Thunberg’s speech reiterates the themes of both her 2019 collaboration with The 1975, and her forthcoming book, The Climate Book, which will include 100 interviews from trusted scientists, communicators and activists from around the world. It is due to be published by Allen Lane on October 27.

Reviewing this year’s Glastonbury, NME said: “This year’s Glastonbury Festival represents a significant milestone in getting back to where we once belonged. And festival bosses Michael and Emily Eavis certainly rise to the occasion, laying on the youngest-ever headliner in Gen-Z icon Billie Eilish and the oldest-ever headline in Sir Paul McCartney; a pandemic-delayed 50th birthday bash for the greatest music festival in the world.”