Man cycles to Glastonbury Festival – from Spain

For most of us, getting to Glastonbury Festival usually involves a choice between gridlock traffic in a car, a crowded coach or a ram-packed train.

But 25-year-old Ollie White has avoided all three by deciding to cycle – from Madrid in Spain.

Over the course of nearly a month he has crossed "desert-like landscapes, a mountain range and hundreds of kilometres of coastline", and has documented every day in TikTok and Instagram videos edited in his tent.

"A lot of people think Im crazy for doing this but for me it doesnt seem too crazy," he told the BBC.

"Its just a challenge Ive set myself and, at the end of the day, once youve done all the preparation, you just have to get on the bike each day and do the kilometres," he said.

Having spent the past three years living in Spain and working as a content creator for La Liga, the highest level of Spanish football, Mr Whites journey to Glastonbury is part of a longer adventure home to Sligo on Irelands west coast.

Having walked part of the Camino de Santiago in 2024 to reach a festival in Bilbao, Mr White said the decision to take the long route had been as simple as "I have a ticket for Glastonbury, so why not cycle?"

"Its been absolutely incredible to be honest, everything has been really positive," he said, adding that most of his journey had been focused on taking in nature having spent three years living in cities.

In addition to covering up to 100km each day, Mr White has filmed and uploaded daily videos documenting his journey online, amassing tens of thousands of views.

"As much as I love football, travel and adventure is really the thing Im most passionate about, so its been really nice to take the skills I developed in my day job over the past two years and put all that energy into this new style of video," he said.

"Sometimes Im in my tent in the middle of a forest while camping and Im trying to put the videos together and add the subtitles, stuff like that, so it is challenging," he added.

"Hopefully itll be worth it in the end and, if anything, I just have the memories of this trip for the rest of my life."

As for the festival itself, Mr White said he was most looking forward to catching Neil Young, Loyle Carner, Kneecap and Caribou, as well as acts from his childhood such as Scissor Sisters and Kaiser Chiefs.

"In terms of the headliners, Neil Young will be the one Im looking forward to most... when Im cycling through lovely fields and desert-like landscapes hes been a really good soundtrack."

After more than three weeks of cycling through Spain and France, Mr White crossed from Roscoff to Plymouth by ferry on Sunday and is planning to touch down in Glastonbury by Tuesday.

"Its just one pedal after the other and hope for the best – thats served me well so far," he said.

Follow BBC Somerset on Facebook and X. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.