More about: Glastonbury Festival

If you're already plagued by FOMO at everybody's Glastonbury posts, then we apologise in advance for adding to it. That being said, perhaps the article you're about to read will also alleviate some of your feelings...because as in life, nothing is all sunshine and roses. There are lowlights to Glastonbury too.

Here, we asked the Gigwise contributors who were there what their personal high and lowlights were. This is what they said.

Highlights

Paul McCartney on the Pyramid Stage

Although Emily Eavis had managed to nab three outstanding headliners, on Saturday there are was only one name on everyone’s lips, with Paul McCartney delivering the goods with a career-spanning, three hour set. The audience may not have known a lot of his post-Beatles work but he and the band were enjoying themselves, and with the ability to call of such heavyweights as Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen, there was certainly no paucity of crowd-pleasing moments. (Richard Bowes)

Amyl and the Sniffers playing 'Knifey' at the John Peel Tent

There were too many highlights at Amyl and the Sniffers' massive John Peel performance on the Sunday afternoon to cover, but one of the biggest was Amy Taylor belting out 'Knifey' after becoming one of endless acts calling out the U.S. Supreme Court and then adding: "this song goes out to all the ladies and all my non-binary mates. We're not respected if we dress slutty, we're not respected if we dress daggy so fuck every cunt". A genuine and powerful introduction to a chill-inducing song. (Jessie Atkinson)

Olivia Rodrigo on the Other Stage

Like everyone else, I think 'Good 4 u' is a banger, what I didn't expect was for Olivia Rodrigo to become one of the standouts of my entire weekend. I've not really listened to her music, didn't really expect it to be something a 27 year old man would get into, but found myself gripped by her electrifying performance, her calling out of each Supreme Court justice by name and then performing 'Fuck You' with Lily Allen, directed at said Court. She dominated the Other Stage and has left a lasting mark on Glastonbury with her debut performance. (David Roskin)

Shining light in a dark space

With the news of the US Supreme Court's horrific decision to overturn Roe v Wade, so many acts took to the stage to show their solidarity with those in the States, whether these acts were British, American, or Kiwi (cc: Lorde), artists used this platform to shout out their stance to the world. It's easy to forget we live in a progressive bubble sometimes, especially at Glastonbury, but it's unifying and hopeful to be surrounded by thousands rallying a cry of support championed by their favourite artists. Whilst bad news continues to rain down around us, this year's line up made sure to shine a ray of light on us all. (David Roskin)

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds on the Pyramid Stage

Warming up for ‘the Big Man’ (his words), Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds put on a show of two halves, the first covering his solo career and the second half made up of just a portion of some of the anthems he wrote with Oasis, with not a closed mouth in sight for closer Don’t Look Back In Anger. (Richard Bowes)

Jack White's secret set on the Park Stage

It took something special to steal the crown of Sunday‘s best performance from the joyous Pet Shop Boys, but Jack White marginally stole their thunder with a bravura performance from a man who seems to be powered by guitar ferocity. (Richard Bowes)

Self Esteem's secret set on the Greenpeace Stage

Catching Self Esteem’s Secret Set on the Greenpeace stage - it was like one big  celebration of her biblical set on the John Peel stage earlier that day. Based on her captivating live show and the huge crowd that she drew in, there’s no way that anybody is seeing her in such an intimate space anytime soon. (Laura Dean)

Kendrick Lamar Headlining

Glastonbury is a festival like none other, it truly has a special aura around it and its return after three years was bound to be a special experience. This was aided by scorching sunshine for the majority of the weekend. There were some incredible performances - especially Kendrick Lamar who performed a hit-packed career retrospective alongside an engaging theatrical display. (Philip Giouras)

Peckish Peacock curry

If, of all the food stalls in all of its 800 acres, you walk into the Peckish Peacock, you've won at Glastonbury. A huge portion of their vegan spinach and chickpea curry with rice, poppadums, chutney and truly massive onion pakoras was only £11 making it one of the best value meals on site, as well as one of the nicest. (Jessie Atkinson) 

Nova Twins on the Truth Stage

Though their sound cut out for half a song towards the end of their set, absolutely nothing could have marred what Nova Twins brought to the Truth Stage in Shangri-La on Thursday night. Their new album Supernova is a tour de force, but nothing compares to seeing Amy Love and Georgia South live. Their riffs are crunchy, enormous propositions that threaten Rage Against The Machine supremacy with their ability to wallop you around the head. Two stars on a rapid ascension. (Jessie Atkinson)

Lowlights

The Libertines on the Other Stage

‘The Libertines have managed to become a heritage act in the last decade, and while their set delivered the crowd pleasers, there was a hint of disappointment in what was a functional performance.’ (Richard Bowes)

Clashes

This year the clashes seemed worse than ever before, with mega headliners overlapping everyday (Billie Eilish, Foals and Khruangbin on Friday, Meg Thee Stallion, Paul McCartney, Mitski and Jessie Ware on the Saturday) and lots of mixups throughout making it difficult - Haim and Glass Animals was a particularly tough one for me. Whilst clashes are to be expected, this year's lineup seemed to be the worst one I've experienced for this, maybe that's a symptom of a huge 50th anniversary celebration. (David Roskin)

Crowds

Many acts were on stages way too small for their size, sure Bastille are great to see in a small tent like William's Green, but considering they filled the Pyramid Stage a few years ago, it was a poor choice. The field got shut off hours ahead of their secret set, and wasn't the only time this happened. Sugababes, McFly and George Ezra (also a secret set) also spilled out massively creating chaos that could have been avoided by shifting stages around. (David Roskin)

Raspberry Sauce Drought

Queueing for half an hour for an overpriced ice cream to find that the van had ran out of raspberry sauce. (Laura Dean)

The walking!?

Having to walk a half-marathon every day may be a necessary evil...but it is still an evil. Much like the long drops, this is an aspect of Glastonbury that you can't see or feel by just looking at peoples' smug Instagram posts. A reasonable-to-good level of fitness is kind of required to go along, unless you want to be sat at just one stage for the whole time, that is. (Jessie Atkinson)

The Roe Vs Wade news

Laughing yoga in the Healing Fields!!?

Watching my friends partake in something called Laughing Yoga in the Healing Fields was an unnerving experience that came close to the warning signs of a dangerous cult. Laughing on demand? Falling asleep in a communal heap, also on instruction? Chilling. (Jessie Atkinson)

See photos below, captured by the Gigwise team:

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More about: Glastonbury Festival