Glastonbury festival is known for its mammoth crowds – with more than 200,000 people descending on Worthy Farm for the event each year, the huge audiences in front of the big stages are a sight to behold.
But this year festivalgoers have been left frustrated by overcrowding at smaller stages, which have led to areas being closed off to prevent crowd crushes and one act being forced to halt their set.
Dozens of fans said they were unable to see the Sugababes on Friday afternoon, with organisers closing off the area they were performing in due to overcrowding.
The band shut down the Avalon stage at Glastonbury two years ago, when thousands flocked to see them at one of the festival’s smaller stages and the area was closed off due to safety concerns.
This year, they were upgraded to the larger West Holts stage, but the area was still overwhelmed by the amount of people flocking to see them. Some said it was the largest crowd they had ever seen at the stage.
People who arrived at the area well before the trio were due to perform said they were unable to get close enough to see the stage, while hundreds were turned away to prevent overcrowding.
Glastonbury festival said major artists performing at smaller stages with limited capacities was “part of the magic of Glastonbury” and some fans may be left disappointed.
That was the case with many fans trying to get to Charli XCX’s DJ set at Levels on Friday night, with some reporting the queue to get in the area was longer than the queue to get into the festival itself.
Organisers eventually closed the area off when it reached maximum capacity, with marshals directing people away for safety.
Later that night, the electronic duo Bicep halted their set on the IICON stage due to overcrowding concerns, after first briefly pausing the set to ask the crowd to step back.
After that failed to alleviate overcrowding near the stage, they halted their set over safety concerns and to allow the crowd to dissipate.
The band said: “Apologies to everyone that came to see our CHROMA AV DJ Set last night in Block 9. Due to crowd safety concerns our set was paused. We’re sorry to anyone who was disappointed by the situation night, which was completely outside our control. We hope to be able to come and play for you again soon.”
The Scottish electronic music producer Barry Can’t Swim also attracted a huge crowd at the smaller Park Stage, much larger than the crowd at the Pyramid stage – the festival’s biggest stage – at the same time.
Glastonbury festival said in a statement it had “a robust, dynamic crowd management plan to protect the safety of its crowds, working closely with all of the relevant authorities, with measures put in place both in anticipation of and in response to crowd movements.
“Our plans include close monitoring and the ability to pause and stop artists where appropriate, as was the case for Bicep’s set at IICON, where a swift show-stop was managed effectively.
“Major artists wanting to perform at smaller stages with limited capacities is part of the magic of Glastonbury. This can mean some fans will be disappointed, but our crowd management plan always puts safety first.”
Signs posted backstage at the festival state that the organisers “take all crowd concerns seriously” and call on staff to inform a supervisor or event control if they see any crowd problems.
