Rock ‘n’ roll ‘n’ sweat: Glastonbury punters sweat through near-record temperatures

The New Daily
Jun 28, 2019, updated Jun 28, 2019

Glastonbury's 150,000 patrons are enjoying a rare couple of festival days without torrential rain. Photo: AAP

The annual Glastonbury music festival is usually associated with rain, mud, and artfully accessorised plastic ponchos – but not this year.

As Europe melts through an extreme heatwave, the 150,000-attendees are doing the unheard of in applying sunscreen and wearing less than five layers of clothing.

A rare sight: sunscreen at Glastonbury. Photo: AAP

That English summer sun. Photo: AAP

Ahead of the gates opening on Wednesday (UK time) organisers warned attendees to prepare for extreme temperatures (those temperatures being between 27 and 33 degrees).

Tweet from @GlastoFest

If it reaches 33 degrees, it’ll be the hottest ever Glastonbury on record – the previous peak was 31 degrees in 2017.

Attendees have been spied with water pistols, misting sprays, ice creams, and some have even resorted to their birthday suits to escape the heat.

For once, icy poles are colder than the weather. Photo: AAP

This is the Glastonbury we’re more familiar with. Photo: AAP

Gumboots could still get a run, however: the forecast hints at rain and thunderstorms in the second half of the festival.

The five-day event, the largest greenfield music and performing arts festival in the world, will be headlined by Stormzy, The Killers and The Cure.

Standard tickets for Glastonbury 2019 sold out in just 36 minutes.

It’s not Glastonbury without a couple of capes. Photo: AAP

Elaborate outfits are par for the course. Photo: AAP

Festival stalwart Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, has played at Glastonbury since 1996 and will be performing three DJ sets this year.

“Glastonbury is a town the size of Colchester, populated by a bunch of lunatics escaping from reality and escaping from convention,” he told the Press Association.

“For four days we get to live a fantasy, utopian existence.”