Glastonbury Festival 2025 ends after weekend of controversy and surprises

The sets of Bob Vylan and Kneecap were assessed by Avon and Somerset Police

Lorde performed a surprise set on Glastonbury’s Woodsies stage on Friday (Yui Mok/PA)

The 2025 edition of Glastonbury Festival has come to an end after a weekend of controversial moments and surprise performances.

Punk duo Bob Vylan and Irish rap trio Kneecap have seen both of their sets on Saturday being assessed by Avon and Somerset Police to decide whether any offences were committed.

Bobby Vylan, of Bob Vylan, led crowds on the festival’s West Holts Stage in chants of “death, death to the IDF”, before a member of rap trio Kneecap suggested fans “start a riot” outside his bandmate’s upcoming court appearance, and led the crowd on chants of “f*** Keir Starmer”.

Starmer had said in the run-up to the festival that he thought Kneecap’s set was not “appropriate” at Glastonbury.

On Friday, festival goers were treated to surprise performances from alternative pop star Lorde, who played her new album Virgin in full, and Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi, who played two years after a set at the festival during which he struggled to manage his Tourette syndrome symptoms.

The 1975 took to the Pyramid Stage to headline that night, with a set which saw singer Matty Healy joke he was his generation’s “best songwriter”, with the band playing songs such as Chocolate, Love Me and About You.

Pulp were revealed to be Patchwork appearing on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday to a backdrop paying homage to their classic 1995 stand in headline set.

The Jarvis Cocker-fronted band performed some of their best known songs such as Common People, Babies and Do You Remember The First Time?.

Lewis Capaldi returned to Glastonbury two years after a set at the festival during which he struggled to manage his Tourette syndrome symptoms (Yui Mok/PA)

Their appearance came 30 years after their breakthrough headline performance at the festival when they stood in for The Stone Roses after the Manchester band’s guitarist John Squire was injured in a cycling accident.

Candida Doyle, the band’s keyboard player, had previously appeared to confirm the band would not perform at the festival, despite being keen to play, telling BBC Radio 6 Music last week “they (Glastonbury) weren’t interested”.

Also on Saturday, Haim made a surprise appearance on the Park Stage opening with one of their best known songs in The Wire, before performing a mix of older songs such as Summer Girl, and new singles including Relationships.

The day saw veteran rocker Neil Young headline, performing some of his best known songs including Cinnamon Girl, Like A Hurricane and Rockin’ In The Free World, at one point in the set he performed with Hank Williams’ guitar.

The 1975 lead singer Matty Healey joked he was his generation’s ‘best songwriter’ (Yui Mok)

Brat star Charli XCX headlined the Other Stage on Saturday, performing tracks from last year’s summer sensation such as 360, Von Dutch and Club Classics.

Performing the viral Apple dance, during the song of the same name, was US singer Gracie Abrams, who had played on the same stage a day earlier.

Rod Stewart performed in the Sunday legends slot, bringing out former Faces bandmate Ronnie Wood for Stay With Me, Lulu for Hot Legs and Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall for a performance of his band’s If You Don’t Know Me By Now.

He was also joined by the festival’s founder, Michael Eavis, who was wheeled on to the stage by his daughter, organiser Emily Eavis.

Charli XCX headlined the Other Stage on Saturday (Ben Birchall/PA)

Bagpipes had signalled the arrival of Stewart, who kicked off his afternoon performance with 1981 single, Tonight I’m Yours (Don’t Hurt Me).

His set also included hits such as Maggie May, You Wear It Well and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?.

The Pyramid Stage was headlined by pop rocker Olivia Rodrigo on Sunday evening, who brought out The Cure frontman Robert Smith to sing his band’s songs Just Like Heaven and Friday I’m In Love.

As the 66-year-old indie-goth star arrived on stage on Sunday night, Rodrigo said: “Glastonbury would you please welcome Robert Smith, give him a big welcome, come on.”

Sir Rod Stewart was joined by the festival’s founder, Sir Michael Eavis (Yui Mok/PA)

At the end of Just Like Heaven, the pair hugged, before Rodrigo said “give it up for Robert Smith you guys” before adding she was “so honoured to play with him tonight”.

The weekend saw many acts express their support for Palestine, with singer Ellie Rowsell of indie rockers Wolf Alice telling the crowd: “We want to express our solidarity with the people of Palestine, and we shouldn’t be afraid to do that.”

Their Other Stage set saw them climax with their best known song Don’t Delete The Kisses, which came after they had played snippets of The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army and Black Sabbath’s War Pigs.

Irish country star CMAT, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, chanted “free Palestine” during her set, which included Take A Sexy Picture Of Me, from her forthcoming third studio album Euro-Country.

The Pyramid Stage was headlined by Olivia Rodrigo on Sunday evening (Yui Mok/PA)

While frontman Dan Hoff of Irish noise rockers Gurriers said during their Woodsies set: “Free Palestine, unlike other bands we know where we stand politically.”

A number of other acts performed through the night on some of the festival’s smaller stages, before a large scale clean-up operation begins in the early hours of the morning.