Glastonbury crowds fuming about sound ‘issues’ on day one – but there’s a good reason why

Glastonbury attendees have complained about issues with the sound on the first day.

The gates of the mammoth music festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset were opened yesterday, with more than 200,000 expected to descend on the site in the coming days.

This year the main festival programme will launch on Friday, with the headlining acts being The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo.

Although most of the stages aren’t yet open, on Wednesday night there were two Opening Ceremonies titled The Dreamweaver’s Journey in the Pyramid arena and the Green Fields with acrobats and singers, followed by a firework display.

However, many who attended have said they couldn’t actually hear anything.

Disgruntled punters said the opening event was plagued by sound issues.

‘The opening ceremony started 10 minutes late, there was a huge choir on stage that no one could hear,’ one told The Sun.

‘All we could hear was the sound of a couple of drums.

‘It was a massive fireworks display with no music, the whole silence lasted 30 minutes.’

Many others echoed those sentiments and posted on social media.

‘Not good from a sound standpoint. I think you have let the performers down here to say the least,’ one posted on X.

‘Is there meant to be no sound at the #Glastonbury2025 opening ceremony? Local regs? Crowds a bit restless at the back,’ someone else shared.

‘Where’s the sound? Kicked out of Greenpeace for crowds. No sound and lost audience at opening ceremony. Get it together,’ a fan fumed.

‘No sound. Can’t hear anything. Underwhelming,’ another added.

However, Metro entertainment reporter Danni Scott explained: ‘After watching the fireworks from the stunning Park viewpoint, I explored the late-night stages. While music may have been less amplified, the festival goers were already in full party mode and started Glastonbury off with exactly the right tone.’

As per the Glastonbury Town Council rules, there is no amplified entertainment at the festival until Friday due to noise restrictions surrounding its licence. However multiple choirs were placed around the audience during the spectacular-but-unamplified circus show and the big screens encouraged the crowd to sing along.

The organisers had previously told people attending last night event’s that it wanted to create a ‘’visceral, immersive acoustic musical soundscape and we need your voice’, encouraging them to ‘participate in a living, breathing chorus of sound’.

When a ‘Dreamweaver digital cyclist’ appeared on the big screens, attendees were asked to ‘hum along’.

The next few days will see a string of massive acts perform at Glastonbury. Aside from the headliners, other acts on the line-up include Alanis Morissette, Wet Leg, Gracie Abrams, Busta Rhymes, Raye, Charli XCX, Scissor Sisters, Noah Kahan, The Prodigy and Sam Ryder.

For those who didn’t manage to score a coveted ticket, you can still watch along from the comfort of home.

There are more than 100 different stages at the Glastonbury Festival, and while the BBC won’t be covering all of them, they’ll have highlights from the big five, which includes the Pyramid Stage, The Other Stage, West Holts, Woodsies (formally the John Peel) and the Park Stage.

Metro has contacted representatives for Glastonbury for comment.

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