Glastonbury has announced the acts that will be performing at its Left Field stage later this year, with English Teacher, Bob Vylan and more joining the line-up.
The official 2024 line-up for Glastonbury was dropped in March, and revealed that Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA would be headlining the iconic Pyramid Stage this summer, while Shania Twain is set to take on the coveted legends slot.
From there, the organisers of the Worthy Farm festival have been counting down the weeks to this year’s instalment by gradually announcing the artists playing at other stages around the site. This kicked off with news of new artists set to headline the Acoustic Stage, followed by details on those who have joined the Field Of Avalon line-up, Shangri-La area, Fields of Avalon, Silver Hayes, The Glade and Woodsies area.
Now, with just over a month to go before the 2024 edition kicks off, the complete line-up for the Left Field area has been announced.
The area is organised and co-founded by Billy Bragg and Juliet Wills, and was first designed in the year 2000 to promote left-wing politics and political action in those attending the festival. As well as hosting a series of performances, it also offers a platform for lively, politically-centred debates.
“With an election just months away, @GlastoLeftField returns to Glastonbury 2024 with a line-up of musicians and speakers to help recharge your activism,” a post on X/Twitter read this morning (May 1), sharing the new poster for the area.
With an election just months away, @GlastoLeftField returns to Glastonbury 2024 with a line-up of musicians and speakers to help recharge your activism. pic.twitter.com/WexwZ8M6YZ
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) May 1, 2024
In the update, it is confirmed that Big Special, The Lottery Winners, Sprints, English Teacher and Bob Vylan are among those that will be taking to the stage at this year’s edition, as well as singer-songwriter Billy Nomates and the site’s host Billy Bragg.
For Bob Vylan, the slot comes on the heels of their third studio album ‘Humble As The Sun’, which arrived last month, and just months after they made headlines while on tour for calling out the “cowardly” bands who refuse to speak out in support of Palestine.
For English Teacher, the news that they’ll be performing at the Left Field stage follows the release of their critically acclaimed debut album ‘This Could Be Texas’ – which NME described as having “everything you want from a debut; a truly original effort from start to finish, an adventure in sound and words, and a landmark statement”.
Others lined up for the stage include Charlotte Church, Bow Anderson, Noah Lonergan, Jack Jones, Pillow Queens and more.
Details on the debates have been shared too, with a ‘Trans Liberation Now!’ panel being held on Friday (June 28) with Hiba Noor, Noah Lonergan, Sabah Choudrey, Travis Alabanza and Shon Faye, as well as an ‘Israel Palestine: Hope and Solidarity in Action’ discussion with Ahmed Alnaouq, Na’amod, Rachel Shabi, Shaista Aziz and John Harris.
The Saturday will see debates on the Post Office Scandal with Christopher Head (Former Postmaster), Kate Osborne MP, Kojo Koram, Why Me? and Minnie Rahman, as well as one on the 2024 Election with Angela Rayner MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Danny Sriskandarajah, Stephen Bush and John Harris.
Finally, Sunday’s edition sees discussions ‘Small Boats: Safe Routes & Solidarity’ with Baby Stockholm Campaigner, Nadia Wittome MP, Rainbow Migration, Survivors Speak Out and Minnie Rahman, and finally, ‘How To End The Housing Crisis’ with Andy Burnham, Kwajo Tweneboa, London Renter’s Union, Museum of Homelessness and John Harris.
Speaking to NME back in 2020, Bragg reflected on the “emotional solidarity of being in a crowd and all singing the same song together”.
“You come away feeling like you’ve been lifted up. That’s why people sing in church, that’s why people sing at football matches – because you’re sharing an emotion,” he explained. “Music doesn’t have agency to change the world but it can change how you feel. It’s about empathy. We can’t just dismiss it as entertainment. When we come out the other side of this, I think we’ll appreciate these things a lot more.”
In the run up to the 2024 edition of the festival, Glasto organisers also announced a brand new stage dedicated to South Asian talent as part of the Shangri-La area, with Bobby Friction, Anish Kumar, Nabihah Iqbal and Nikki Nair as part of its lineup.
The Acoustic Stage was confirmed just days before, and is set to see Scouting For Girls, Stornoway, Ocean Colour Scene, Angie McMahon, and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ cover band, Red Hot Chilli Pipers perform, as well as Russell Crowe’s Indoor Garden Party. The latter particularly caught the attention of festival-goers, with many taking to social media to share their thoughts on the Gladiator actor being added to the bill.
This year’s instalment will run between June 26 and June 30. Visit here for the full line-up and stage splits for Glastonbury 2024 so far.
