The BBC, Glastonbury’s exclusive broadcast partner, brings audiences its longest celebration of the festival yet in 2024, with six weeks of build-up and coverage from Monday 3rd June – Sunday 14th July across TV, BBC iPlayer, radio and BBC Sounds.
Lorna Clarke, BBC Director of Music says: “The BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury is one of the biggest jewels in the BBC’s pop crown and we’re evolving our programming to bring audiences many ways to enjoy the festival across our platforms – it’s their Glastonbury on the BBC.“
“This year will see the debut of Glastonbury Channel II, a welcome addition to our multiple BBC iPlayer streams, giving viewers a rolling round-up of the key moments from each day.“
“We’re also proud that for the second year, Pyramid Stage – Signed returns, with performances from Glastonbury’s most iconic stage in British Sign Language, bringing the Glastonbury experience closer to all viewers.“
“This is in addition to over 90 hours of live performances from the five main stages on BBC iPlayer, extensive coverage on TV, 90 hours of radio broadcasts live from the festival, plus much more to discover on BBC Sounds – including Sidetracked by Glastonbury, presented by Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw, which will also be available on BBC iPlayer from the first week of June.“
Emily Eavis says: “We’re incredibly proud of our ongoing partnership with the BBC and always look forward to hearing about the exciting developments in their coverage each year. I’d like to thank Lorna Clarke, Alison Howe and their team for celebrating our festival so brilliantly and for sharing the special spirit of Glastonbury with an audience far beyond these fields. We’re so looking forward to welcoming them back to Worthy Farm in June.”
BBC iPlayer will allow viewers to experience the festival their way, with 10 streams – including the brand new Glastonbury Channel II – across five weeks (Monday 10th June – Sunday 14th July), in addition to over 90 sets and key tracks from the five filmed stages, as well as themed compilations, which will be available on demand for 30 days after broadcast.
Glastonbury Channel Live returns, with presenters guiding viewers through the best live performances and highlights, meeting up with special guests and sharing the festival with viewers at home, as it happens (Friday 28th – Sunday 30th June, 12pm-late).
Glastonbury Channel II – new for 2024, will be the place to catch up on Glastonbury’s most talked about performances and moments every day (Friday 28th June, 6pm-midnight, Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June, 10am – late).
Pyramid Stage – Signed –after its success in 2023, Pyramid Stage – Signed returns this year, bringing audiences performances from Glastonbury’s most iconic stage in British Sign Language (Friday 28th – Sunday 30th June, times may vary).
Five live streams from each of the main festival stages – Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park– allowing viewers to choose their Glastonbury experience as if they were there, moving between the five main festival stages at the click of a button.
On the Classic Glastonbury Channel – viewers can kickstart Glastonbury early from Monday 10th June with an extensive selection of classic performances from previous festivals. Sets include Elton John’s instant classic headline performance from 2023, Kylie Minogue’s unforgettable Legends slot from 2019, Dave’s famous 2019 performance – including that Thiago Silva moment – on the Other Stage, Ed Sheeran (2017) and Fred again.. (2023), as well as themed compilations and documentaries. Classic Glastonbury continues throughout the weekend itself, until Sunday 30th June, allowing viewers to move between the years as well as the stages.
Glastonbury Highlights Channel – for those wanting to catch up on the sets they missed, or to relive those memorable moments they experienced in the field, Glastonbury Highlights will provide a 24 hour stream, featuring a range of artists from 2024 (Monday 1st July – Saturday 14th July, midnight-midnight).
In addition, Sidetracked by Glastonbury – Annie Macmanus’ and Nick Grimshaw’s Glastonbury will be visualised in full for BBC iPlayer for the first time and available on Mondays throughout June, featuring interviews with Shania Twain, Emily Eavis and more.
On the BBC’s TV channels, coverage begins in the week leading up to Glastonbury, as BBC Two follows the journeys of artists including Dua Lipa and Coldplay, from the first time they set foot on Worthy Farm, right up to performing on the Pyramid Stage this year. Each of the 30 minute episodes will see these artists talk about their Glastonbury stories, alongside archive of their key performances from over the years, as well as some of the other artists they’ve enjoyed. In addition, BBC Two will broadcast Reel Stories: Shania Twain, which sees Shania in conversation with Radio 2’s Dermot O’Leary about her life and career. The channel then opens live proceedings with its first show from Worthy Farm on Thursday 27th June, warming viewers up for the festival and looking ahead at what’s to come.
Also on Thursday 27th June, CBeebies Bedtime Stories kicks off a weekend of Glastonbury specials with Joe Talbot, vocalist of Grammy-nominated band IDLES. From the CBeebies studio, Joe reads The Boy with Flowers in his Hair by Jarvis, a beautifully-illustrated story about friendship. Then throughout the weekend, a host of stars will bring some more CBeebies Bedtime Stories magic from on-site at the festival.
Following a weekend of performances across the BBC’s TV channels, BBC Two will round up the best of Glastonbury 2024 with a highlights programme.
BBC Radio 6 Music will be broadcasting over 54 hours of live shows from Glastonbury and for the first time, joining forces with BBC Sounds’ Sidetracked, broadcasting three Glastonbury specials of the podcast on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 6-7pm. BBC Radio 1, Radio 1 Dance and Radio 1Xtra, while Radio 2 and Radio 4 will play a key role throughout the festival.
Glastonbury on BBC Sounds begins in the first week of June and across the month and beyond, brings music fans a range of specials, mixes and live performances they can hear wherever they are and whenever they wish:
The BBC Introducing Stage opens earlier than ever before this year at 1pm on Thursday 27th June.
Artists performing on the stage over the weekend include: Antony Szmierek, ARXX, August Charles, Chiedu Oraka, Chloe Slater, DEJA, Cousin Kula, FIZZ, GIRLBAND!, His Lordship, Jordan Mackampa, Kingfishr, Letisha Gordon, Lizzie Esau, Maruja, mary in the junkyard, Mary Middlefield, Maya Lakhani, Paris Paloma, Pixey, Sabiyha, The Parallels, Sam Evans, TIANNA and Tors. Plus, there will be a set from one of Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition finalists, Olivia Nelson.
In addition, for the first time, on Thursday 27th June (4.45-6.15pm), the stage will host BBC Introducing Open Deck – an open call for emerging DJs who are attending the festival to jump on the decks and play a set.
BBC Introducing is a one-of-a-kind platform which supports unsigned, undiscovered, and under-the-radar music talent across the UK. Since its launch in 2007, there have been more than 1 million tracks uploaded to the BBC Introducing uploader and there are currently over 300,000 registered artists. BBC Introducing gives up-and-coming artists broadcast opportunities across BBC radio, television and online alongside the chance to perform at major festivals and showcases.
Fans can watch highlights from the BBC Introducing stage on BBC iPlayer and BBC Music’s YouTube channel after the event. BBC Introducing shows from across the UK will be reflecting the action on-air throughout the weekend.
