HAIM, Lorde and Bloc Party among classic sets added to BBC's Glastonbury experience

The BBC has announced a second raft of classic Glastonbury sets that will be aired on a pop-up channel later this month to mark what would have been the festival’s 50th anniversary.

The Worthy Farm event’s 2020 edition – set to be headlined by Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift – was cancelled in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after the news broke, fans were told to expect a celebratory run of programming across Glasto weekend (June 24-28) instead.

It was subsequently confirmed that BBC iPlayer will launch “a brand new pop-up BBC Glastonbury channel” broadcasting back-to-back iconic sets and highlights from previous festivals.

Today (June 12), a slew of classic sets have been added to the virtual line-up, including Ed Sheeran’s triumphant headline performance from 2017, Christine & The Queens’ 2016 debut and Florence + The Machine conquering a Pyramid Stage headline slot in 2015.

The other artists who have been added to the line-up today are:

  • Bloc Party (2009)
  • Elbow (2011)
  • Janelle Monae (2011)
  • Disclosure (2014)
  • Jeff Lynne’s ELO (2015)
  • HAIM (2017)
  • Laura Marling (2017)
  • Lorde (2017)
  • Royal Blood (2017)
  • Idles (2019)
  • Sheryl Crow (2019)
  • The Streets (2019)

These performances will line up alongside sets by the likes of Dave, Little Simz and FKA Twigs, which were all announced last week. All sets can be accessed from 10AM on Thursday 25 June until late Monday 29 June.

BBC Two and BBC Four will air classic performances in full, including headline shows from Adele (2016), David Bowie (2000) and Beyoncé (2011).

Elsewhere, Jo Whiley and Lauren Laverne are set to present highlights over on BBC Radio 2 and 6Music respectively, while Radio 1, 1Xtra and BBC Asian Network will also join in the celebrations. Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis will appear as a guest on Laverne’s morning show on Friday, June 26.







Glasto-goers are being encouraged to join in via social media by posting their memories via the #Glastonbury2020 hashtag. A selection of these will be broadcast onscreen throughout the course of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Glastonbury organisers recently urged the public to stay away from Worthy Farm during the lockdown. This came after they were made aware of  “increasing numbers of visitors” travelling to the site.

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