Entertainment
Glastonbury clean-up begins: Litter-pickers have massive job ahead as Worthy Farm littered with rubbish and vapes-Rebecca Sayce-Entertainment – Metro
Despite pleas from organisers, a sea of rubbish covered the festival grounds.
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Now that the fun of Glastonbury 2023 is over, a mammoth task begins – this year’s clean-up.
For the past five days, Worthy Farm has been home to more than 200,000 music fans eager to watch the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Guns ‘N Roses, and Sir Elton John perform in front of thousands of fans.
And just hours after Rocketman hitmaker Sir Elton played what was billed as his final UK show, volunteers began tackling the mountains of rubbish left strewn across the festival grounds.
The campsites are beginning to empty as fans leave the event for another year, with organisers urging attendees to ‘love the farm, leave no trace,’ by taking their belongings with them rather than leaving them to be cleaned up.
Everything from discarded tents to cups, plastic bags, and disposable vapes can be seen littering the grounds of the farm in a series of disturbing photographs.
An army of volunteers has been tasked with the enormous clean-up operation as well as helping to dismantle the festival’s iconic stages.
The clean-up operation has begun at Worthy Farm following Glastonbury Festival 2023 (Picture: Tom Wren/SWNS)
Volunteers have taken on the momentous task of cleaning the fields inch by inch (Picture: PA)
Everything from discarded tents to paper cups need to be cleaned (Picture: Tom Wren/SWNS)
Festival organisers urged fans to clean up after themselves following the iconic five-day event (Picture: Tom Wren/SWNS)
However, this did not stop a sea of rubbish being left on the grounds (Picture: Tom Wren/SWNS)
Clean-up work began this morning to return the field to its former glory (Credits: PA)
Drivers were encouraged to leave the site before 7am today to avoid queues and were advised to have food, drink, and supplies in their car in the event of long waits.
‘From 8am until 5pm on Monday there are likely to be queues as our stewards work hard to help all the cars which arrived over three days to leave in one day,’ organisers said.
‘None of the staff can go home until you have, so please be calm, respectful, and understanding.’
Roads were busy but moving well on Monday morning, according to Somerset Council.
Avon and Somerset Police recorded 120 incidents at this year’s event, a force spokesman said. This included 27 thefts, 20 drug offences, and seven sexual assaults. A total of 35 arrests were made.
The figures included incidents and arrests both on and off-site, in areas around the perimeter and on approach roads, and in the car parks.
Shattered festival-goers are now leaving the site as Glastonbury 2023 comes to a close (Picture: PA)
Drivers have been warned of queues as they head home (Picture: PA)
Drivers were also urged to have essentials such as food and water in the event they become stuck in traffic (Picture: PA)
Tonnes of rubbish are expected to be removed from the site (Picture: EPA)
A sea of plastic bags, empty cans and bottles, dirty food packaging and wet wipes were pictured left behind. (Picture: EPA)
This has sadly become the norm despite pleas from climate change activists and festival organisers (Picture: EPA)
The clean-up and journey home bring to a close three days of music at the festival, with the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, Queens Of The Stone Age, Lil Nas X, and Lana Del Rey performing alongside this year’s headliners.
Sir Elton brought the festival to a close on Sunday night, in what was billed as his final UK show before he retires from touring at the end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
He treated fans to hit after hit on the Pyramid Stage as he delivered a “special and emotional” two-hour set that included crowdpleasers such as Rocketman, Tiny Dancer, Your Song and I’m Still Standing.
He also surprised the crowd with unexpected musical guests, putting paid to rumours of big names and famous collaborators.
He opened the show with Pinball Wizard, taking a seat at the piano as fireworks went off.
After performing The Bitch Is Back, Sir Elton told the crowd: ‘I never thought I would ever play Glastonbury and here I am.
Elton John closed the festival in epic fashion during his headline slot last night (Picture: EPA)
Guns ‘N Roses took the top slot on the Pyramid Stage on Friday (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Despite doubts over whether they would play, Arctic Monkeys headlined the Saturday (Picture: Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
‘It’s a very special and emotional night for me because it might be my last show ever in England, so I had better play well and I had better entertain you, you’ve been standing there so long and I really appreciate all the outfits and everything.’
He then launched into renditions of Benny And The Jets, Daniel, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.
Instead of collaborators such as Dua Lipa and Britney Spears, Sir Elton was joined by friends and musicians he admires, starting with Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, who came on stage for Are You Ready For Love?
He was joined by US singer Stephen Sanchez to perform Sanchez’s song Until I Found You, while The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers came out for Tiny Dancer.
His final guest was Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama, who performed Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
Sir Elton paid tribute to a collaborator who could not join him on stage as he launched into Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me dedicated to late star George Michael.
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