Thousands of Glastonbury revellers are drenched by torrential rain

Thousands of Glastonbury-goers have been drenched by rain this afternoon as they set up to camp to watch Elton John, Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses headline in the five-day music spectacular.  

Stages at the 900-acre site will host music stars as well as speeches by politicians, film screenings, theatre and circus performances from today until Sunday. 

Festivalgoers dragged crates of beer and bottles of booze with them as they descended on the fields. 

Revellers remained cheery as they got drenched while setting up their tents and enjoying the first day of festivities at Worthy Farm in Somerset. 

Some said they had experienced a ‘whole week’ of weather during the festival’s first day, as hot sunshine rapidly interchanged with torrential storms.  

Edyta Krzesak, a music photographer from Minehead, Somerset, was wearing a t-shirt, trousers, bucket hat and sunglasses when she was left ‘soaking wet’ by a heavy downpour at 11.30am. ‘

‘I would say it’s been the whole week in one day,’ the 45-year-old said. ‘It’s been a fresh morning, kind of breezy – it was cold when I woke up – then it was extremely hot when I had my breakfast, then it kind of cooled down.

‘Now look at me, I don’t have even my waterproof coat, I left them at my tent thinking I will not need them and I’m soaking wet.’ 

Ms Krzesak, who is at her eighth Glastonbury in a row, said the weather ‘could always be worse’ as she recalled ‘horrendous’ mud at Worthy Farm in previous years. 

‘Our little car was pulled from the mud by a tractor… (and) getting my trolley through the mud – it was horrendous,’ she said. ‘I came home I was soaking wet, I was so tired – but I still did it next year.’ 

This year’s festival will see Arctic Monkeys, US rockers Guns N’ Roses and Sir Elton John headlining on the famous Pyramid Stage. 

The gates for the festival were officially opened by co-organiser Emily Eavis this morning, after attendees queued overnight to be the first in at 8am.

Glastonbury co-founder Michael Eavis, who was recently pictured in a wheelchair, sat in a red Land Rover nearby as his daughter opened the gates for the festival.

Addressing thousands of queuing festival-goers Ms Eavis announced: ‘Welcome to Glastonbury’.

The festival co-ordinator counted down from 10 to 1 with the crowd before walking back through the opened gates.

Asked how it felt to greet the crowd and open the festival, she said: ‘It was good. I love welcoming people in – it’s always my favourite moment.’

Asked about her father, she told reporters: ‘He’s over there – he’s still very much here. He’s going to be waving everybody in. He’s doing really well. He had a late night last night.’

She said her father had been at the National Portrait Gallery in London, unveiling a painting. ‘He’s been out, we’ve all been here, heads down… he’s been off to London to a gallery opening,’ she added.

Forecasters have warned the festival could get off to a shaky start, with glorious sunshine being replaced by cloud and possibly even light rain. The Met Office is forecasting highs of 22C and lows of 12C.

But Glastonbury should avoid the worst of the storms as some showers are expected for the first couple of days with temperatures set to 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.

But Glastonbury fans didn’t let the potentially dodgy weather dampen their mood as they streamed on to the site this morning.  

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

But 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 a joint headline billing.

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

Co-organiser Ms Eavis told the BBC she aimed for gender balance and this year they had a female headliner but ‘she unfortunately had to pull out’.

Sir Elton John’s headline slot on Sunday 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’ who are set to perform before Arctic Monkeys and rock duo Royal Blood. They are rumoured to be the rock band Foo Fighters.

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.

Grandmother Lisa Stone, 56, was first in the queue at gate A this morning, making her one of the first of 200,000 who will pass through over the next five days.

She arrived at Pilton at 11am yesterday alongside her granddaughter and they got on site at 4pm – and have been waiting patiently since.

This is the fifth time Lisa has been to the festival and she was well prepared with a pop-up tent and even managed to get a few hours of sleep.

Lisa said she is looking forward to seeing Elton John and the Foo Fighters, who are rumoured to make an appearance.

People at the front of the queue said they were ‘surprised’ to reach the coveted spot after setting off from their homes at 1.30am.

Nigel Hayes, 42, a kitchen fitter from London, said he has been to every Glastonbury since 2002 and his 40-year-old sister Joanne Hayes, who is also from London and works as a personal assistant and accompanied him, has been to every one since 2007.

Mr Hayes said: ‘We got here at 4.30am, we set off at 1.30am from London … it would be nice to set off and get a beer.’ Ms Hayes added: ‘We’re a bit surprised to be at the front to be fair.’

When asked what he likes about the festival, Mr Hayes said: ‘Glastonbury is all about the people, it’s a lovely vibe, it’s a lovely place to be.’

Ms Hayes added: ‘There’s something for everyone, I always say – no matter who you are, try it once if you can. There’s so much going on with music and comedy.’

Yesterday the price list for alcohol at Glastonbury was confirmed, leading to shock online. 

The Twitter account for Glastonbury @TheGlastoThingy shared information about their prices ahead of the five-day festival. 

Many revellers have slammed the prices for being too expensive and are shocked at the £6.00 starting prices for a pint.  

Spirit lovers are also surprised as a double and a mixer will set you back at least £12, with the most expensive combination being a spirit and Red Bull. 

A can of the energy drink on its own will cost £4.50 as opposed to their starting retail price of £1.50. The cheapest wine option appears to begin at £29 and a half pint of soft drink starts at £3. 

Twitter users have responded in outrage over the soaring prices of drinks, with one writing ‘SIX POUNDS EIGHTY PENCE’ and another commenting ‘Just shy of 7 quid for a San Miguel?!’

Another user commented: ‘Robbing b*******… can’t wait.’ 

One user commented with an angry emoji: ‘Half a pint of coke £3’ 

One savvy social media user said: ‘Glad I packed plenty of rum. Maybe backed up by the odd cheeky pint from the cider bus.’ 

Others appeared content with the prices, one said: ‘£6 for a cider, not too shabby’ while another agreed: ‘Actually not that bad’.

Another said: ‘Considering it was £8+ at the cricket at the weekend, I don’t fall out with this.’ But others appeared unpleased – one said: ‘F*** me those spirit prices.’ 

The drinks are roughly the same as the cost of a pint in London, and the festival offers free drinking water. 

Meanwhile, a short distance away from the festival, an alliance of around 10,000 druids, pagans, hippies, locals and tourists gathered around Stonehenge to express their devotion to the sun ahead of the summer solstice.

They celebrated at Stonehenge for the night and greeted sunrise this morning – on the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere.

Both Stonehenge and Glastonbury supposedly lie on ley lines – mystical energy connections across the UK, according to believers.

Supporters will go to Stonehenge to perform dawn rituals around the solstice in traditional white robes. This year, the summer solstice at Stonehenge started at 7 pm on Tuesday and ran through to 8am Wednesday. 

For this one night, worshippers are allowed to spend time inside the stone circle. Others chant or play acoustic guitars. Alcohol is prohibited, as are sound systems. 

The rules have been tightened over the decades, especially during the pandemic. 

But the event remains one of the country’s biggest tourist draws, despite the seemingly permanent traffic jams on the nearby A303 highway, a popular route for motorists traveling to and from the southwest of England.