The iconic gates of Glastonbury Festival 2025 officially swung open this morning, unleashing a wave of excitement across Worthy Farm. BBC Radio 6 Music marked the momentous occasion by broadcasting Nick Grimshaw’s Breakfast Show live from the site, launching 58 hours of extensive festival coverage set to air until Sunday, June 29th. This inaugural live programme from the farm signalled the true start of Glastonbury 2025.
Grimshaw was joined by festival organiser Emily Eavis just after 9 AM, who shared the palpable joy of opening the gates. "Do you know what, really good, we’ve come from the gates, which was very exciting," Eavis told Grimshaw. "Me and my dad today just opened the gates, and it was so lovely. Welcoming everyone in, full of joy, excitement, anticipation… It was a really joyous occasion." She recounted the vibrant scene, complete with Sudanese volunteers from Oxfam, a countdown, and a band, creating a truly memorable welcome. Grimshaw noted hearing the "amazing roar" of the crowd from across the site, a sound Eavis described as the "most joy filled city in the whole of the United Kingdom for the next five days."
For Eavis, the moment the gates open is profoundly moving. "It’s the best and most exciting, lovely, heartwarming feeling actually. I think it’s one of my favourite moments of the whole weekend," she explained, reflecting on the immense planning and collective effort involved. "It’s all about these people having the best time over the next five days. It’s sort of quite moving when you think about the lengths that people go to make it good." She highlighted the dedication of volunteers "picking up stones in the arena or sewing crochet hearts onto branches, or painting bins and posts and making everything beautiful."
Eavis also teased an exciting new opening ceremony for the Pyramid Stage. She watched a rehearsal last night, detailing a show designed to be enjoyed with minimal sound due to council restrictions. "We’re using a choir and some drummers, the refugee choir, and we’re going to scatter them through the crowd, and we’ve got some amazing artists who are going to be doing all kinds of trapeze," she revealed, promising a "magnificent" spectacle. For Eavis, such acts truly embody the festival's spirit: "It’s not really about big names and all these headlines, it’s about celebrating the arts in all its forms."
Ultimately, Eavis hopes attendees take away "optimism, hope, love, joy, peace" from their Glastonbury experience, carrying these feelings back into their lives.
