Entertainment

Glastonbury clean-up under way as 2024 music festival comes to an end

Glastonbury clean-up under way as 2024 music festival comes to an end
Glastonbury Festival 2024, ยฉ PA Wire/PA Images

A pair of high-heeled crocodile skin shoes are among the โ€œstrangestโ€ items left behind at the Glastonbury Festival site as the clean-up begins in earnest.

The clean-up of Worthy Farm in Somerest comes hours after US R&B star SZA closed the festival with a headlining set on the Pyramid Stage.

Thousands of revellers leaving the site on Monday have been urged to take all their belongings and tidy their campsite.

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People had been told the best time to leave to avoid queues was between midnight and 7am on Monday and long waits are likely between 8am and 5pm.

Andy Rock, 55, from west Somerset, team leader for litter pickers on the Pyramid Stage, told the PA news agency on Monday: โ€œThereโ€™s about 300 staff down here this morning, and they all got up early in the morning to pick the litter to clear up from last night.

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Glastonbury Festival 2024
Litter and rubbish being picked up at the end of the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm (Ben Birchall/PA)

โ€œTheyโ€™ve been doing that for the last four days and every morning itโ€™s a bit messy in the morning, but this place is absolutely spotless by about 10-11 oโ€™clock.

He said โ€œnothing particularly unsavouryโ€ had been found, but added: โ€œI think somebody did leave behind some high-heeled crocodile skin shoes yesterday, but that was the strangest thing we found yesterday.

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โ€œIโ€™m not sure why anybody brought those to Glastonbury, but mainly itโ€™s the stuff you see around us. Itโ€™s cans, bottles, paper cups, and virtually everything we pick up gets recycled.โ€

Teams separate the litter into recycling, non-recycling and composting, he said, adding that it is a โ€œvery, very slick processโ€.

Police urged those leaving the site after SZAโ€™s set to drive safely, be patient and listen to guidance from stewards.

The American singer admitted she was โ€œso nervousโ€ as she delivered an energetic set on the Pyramid stage on Sunday, but appeared to have some sound issues during her performance.

Fans watching at home said that her vocals appeared distorted or muffled, but the revellers at Worthy Farm sang along to hits including Love Galore, F2F, I Hate U and Kiss Me More, her collaboration with Doja Cat, which was interspersed with Princeโ€™s Kiss.

The star, whose real name is Solana Rowe, appeared on stage on an elevated podium to open her show with her Travis Scott collaboration Love Galore.

She was lowered on to the stage which was adorned with elaborate pillars and a large insect, which she sat on for her rendition of ballad Drew Barrymore.

SZA sits astride a large model insect on stage with a green background
SZA sits astride a large insect (Yui Mok/PA)

Dressed in a patterned body suit and flat boots with neon laces that ran up to her thighs, she asked her fans: โ€œDo I have any day ones in the crowd?โ€

She brandished two machetes during her rendition of her track Kill Bill, which takes its name from the Quentin Tarantino film starring Uma Thurman, before changing into a forest green gown decorated with leaves and metallic wings, for her track Supermodel, from her debut album Ctrl.

During track Nobody Gets Me, she climbed up a large fallen tree trunk and sat on an elevated platform on the tree.

She also performed Normal Girl and Rich Baby Daddy, her collaboration with Drake and Sexyy Red, before closing her set with throwback hit 20 Something, also from Ctrl.

She told the crowd: โ€œGlasto, you want to do 20 Something before we leave? This is for day ones and day ones only.โ€

Glastonbury Festival 2024
SZA delivered an energetic performance (Yui Mok/PA)

Concluding her show, she said: โ€œGlastonbury, I was so nervous to be here with you today.

โ€œIโ€™m so grateful, you have my deepest love and my deepest respect. I love you always, god bless you.

โ€œGet home safely, my name is SZA, good night.โ€

Her headline set followed Shania Twainโ€™s โ€œlife-changingโ€ gig in the Legends slot, when she performed from her back catalogue of hits including That Donโ€™t Impress Me Much and Man! I Feel Like A Woman!

Twain will also perform a headline set at Hyde Parkโ€™s British Summer Time (BST) festival on July 7 with special guests The Corrs.

Shania Twain performing on the Pyramid Stage
Shania Twain was performing on the Pyramid Stage (Ben Birchall/PA)

After Twainโ€™s set, fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne played hits including Sk8r Boi, Girlfriend and Complicated on The Other Stage, telling the crowd she has always โ€œlovedโ€ performing in the UK.

Nigerian singer Burna Boy and Paloma Faith were among the other musicians on Sundayโ€™s Pyramid Stage line-up.

Festival organiser Emily Eavis has said 2026 will be a fallow year for Glastonbury, to allow the land to rest and recover, but she is already in talks with acts to headline in 2025.

This was the first year to feature two female headliners on the Pyramid Stage, Dua Lipa on Friday and SZA on Sunday.

On Saturday Coldplay made history as the first act to headline the festival five times.

By Laura Harding, Deputy Entertainment Editor

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, Beat102103.com.

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