Glastonbury gears up for The 1975, Alanis Morissette and more

After two days of build-up, Glastonbury will open its main stages on Friday with performances from music stars including Alanis Morissette, Wet Leg, Rizzle Kicks, Denzel Curry, PinkPantheress, Loyle Carner and Busta Rhymes.

The day will reach its climax when rock band The 1975 headline the Pyramid Stage at 22:15 BST, giving their only concert of the year.

The band, fronted by Matty Healy, have reportedly spent four times their festival fee on a "specially designed set" for the show.

Meanwhile, theres fevered speculation over the mystery acts on this years bill, with Lewis Capaldi rumoured to be making a return to live music at the festival after a two-year hiatus.

The singer stepped out of the limelight in 2023 after a difficult performance at Glastonbury, where a combination of anxiety and Tourettes caused him to lose his voice.

With a new single, Survive, which was released at midnight, the star is the presumed frontrunner to play the Pyramid Stages "TBA" slot at 16:55.

New Zealand singer Lorde opened the festival with an unannounced pre-lunchtime set to a packed crowd in the Woodsies tent.

The 1975 will top the main stage bill on Friday, with fans hoping for a glimpse of their forthcoming sixth album, tentatively titled GHEMB (God Has Entered My Body).

"Its such a big gig, and its the only show that were playing this year," their manager Jamie Oborne recently told the Money Trench podcast.

"Matty thought doing it in isolation would be a really powerful thing. I obviously agreed with him, as I often do."

Tickets for the festival sold out in just 40 minutes last November, before the line-up had been announced.

The majority of festivalgoers arrived for the gates opening on Wednesday, and were treated to an opening ceremony featuring theatre and circus performers in front of the Pyramid Stage that evening.

Others started their festival with a "ravers to runners" 5k race on Thursday morning, braving a torrential downpour as they circled the site.

And thousands of revellers spent Thursday night sampling the festivals nightlife, as the dance stages opened with DJ sets from acts like Confidence Man, Eliza Rose and BBC news analysis editor Ros Atkins.

This years festival is expected to have a political dimension, too, with performances and talks addressing political upheaval, conflict in the Middle East, the climate crisis, and the rise of the far right.

Among the speakers is former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who will take part in a panel called "Standing Up for Getting Along in a World thats Being Pushed Apart".

He told the festivals on-site newspaper The Glastonbury Free Press that the talk was inspired by the idea that "everything is done to try and divide us".

"And I think if people can pull together - because I think most of us are decent human beings - then just a bit more kindness in the world would go a long way at the moment."

Festival founder Michael Eavis said he stood by the events left-leaning ethos - which sees a share of profits go to organisations including Oxfam, WaterAid and Greenpeace.

"I think the people that come here are into all those things," the 89-year-old told the Free Press.

"People that dont agree with the politics of the event can go somewhere else."

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