Emily Eavis wants Kate Bush to headline Glastonbury
Emily Eavis has revealed that her dream headliner for a future Glastonbury would be Kate Bush.
Glastonbury returns to Worthy Farm, Somerset from June 26-30, with Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA headlining the Pyramid Stage. Other major acts on the bill include Shania Twain, LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz, The National, Avril Lavigne, The Last Dinner Party, Jungle, Justice, Bloc Party, Fontaines D.C., Yard Act, Arlo Parks and Gossip.
Festival organiser Eavis has been previewing this year’s event in an appearance on the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast, where she was asked by hosts Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw who would be her dream booking to top the bill one day.
Eavis revealed that Kate Bush would be her pick, despite the fact that she has not played live in any capacity since her 2014 residency at London’s Hammersmith Apollo. That in itself was Bush’s first set of full live shows since 1979.
“I hope it will happen one day,” Eavis said. “I mean, Elton was a pipe dream and it happened, so you never know.”
In the same interview, she also confirmed that Glastonbury is likely to take a year off in 2026. “We are due a fallow year,” she said. “The fallow year is important because it gives the land a rest, and it gives the cows a chance to stay out for longer and reclaim their land.”
Glastonbury last took a fallow year in 2018, although no festival was held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think it’s important, I think it gives everybody time to just switch off and the public as well,” Eavis continued. “Then you kind of go away for a bit and it feels lovely when you come back. And I think it’s quite good not to be seen to be cashing in.”
With the festival now just a few weeks away, the full day splits and set times have been revealed – you can plan your whole weekend here. For those not lucky enough to secure a ticket, the BBC have also outlined their coverage for television, radio and online, which you can explore here.
There are a number of new additions for this year’s festival, including Terminal 1, a “re-purposed airport” that will celebrate migration, and a new stage in the Shangri-La area called Arrivals, which will be dedicated to South Asian talent.
Elsewhere on the site, Arcadia’s iconic spider will be replaced by a “giant biomechanical” dragonfly. The Park, meanwhile, will introduce two new venues this year in the form of The Wishing Well and Scissors. These will replace the Rabbit Hole, which has left Worthy Farm after 17 years.
There also remain a few tantalising ‘TBA’ slots on the line-up, which appear to represent secret sets. One such slot is on the Woodsies Stage at 6pm on Saturday, and earlier this week, bookie William Hill suspended betting on that slot being filled by Kasabian, who have been heavily tipped.
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Max Pilley
NME