Thursday at Glastonbury 2025: Getting your bearings as Worthy Farm

Posted On June 27, 2025June 27, 2025

Waking up to the pitter-patter of rain on tent roofs, faraway beats, and the faint but constant smell of weed on a Thursday morning can mean only one thing: Glastonbury Festival 2025 is in full swing. As those who got to the site on Wednesday awaken from their slumber, and the fashionably-late crowd roll through the gates, there is a palpable sense of excitement and unpredictability that can only come with the greatest music festival in the world.

While Wednesday is the opening day of the festival, it is a day mainly for setting up tents, discussing potential secret sets, and trying to drink as much cider as possible. Thursday is the day that things start to get going – no more weird silent circus performances at the Pyramid, but plenty of incredible acts across the expansive site. As such, Thursday is the perfect day to set aside some time for exploration, particularly if it is your first time at the festival. The sheer size of the festival site is incredibly overwhelming, particularly for newcomers, so a simple stroll around the main areas will serve you well, come the rest of the weekend.

Having racked up over 35,000 steps on Thursday, it is fair to say that we did as much exploring as our already-tired feet would allow. From sending postcards to folks back home to visiting Glastonbury-on-Sea and, of course, buying merch. After all, how is anybody supposed to know you had a great time with your pals at Glastonbury if you don’t have a t-shirt, tea towel, or novelty magnet to show for it?

Thursday is also the ideal day to take it easy a little bit, steadying yourself for the onslaught of Friday-Sunday. There have already been hints at just how busy the festival site will become, despite the apparently reduced capacity of this year’s event. Walking through Silver Hayes in the evening was akin to a salmon swimming upstream, if the stream in question consisted of thousands upon thousands of spangled ravers. 

There were, however, moments of calm on Thursday too. Lying down on the grass by the stone circle, or kicking back with a drink in the tranquil surroundings of Toad Hall, is enough to make even the most highly-strung of people (it takes one to know one, I assure you) feel pretty zen.

In between those moments of exploration, calming relaxation, and sheer chaos, we managed to see some fantastic artists and immerse ourselves in all the diverse activities this wonderful festival has to offer. So, without further ado, let’s recap our Thursday at Glastonbury Festival.

Green Futures: The politics of Glastonbury

Inevitably, the instincts of festival goers are to seek out live music – or a bar – as soon as possible. However, the Glastonbury site has far more to offer than that. So, while getting a lay of the land on Thursday morning, I walked through the Green Futures area, and it quickly became one of my favourite areas at the festival. After all, Glasto has always been political, despite what some might tell you. Back in the 1980s, the festival was known as Glastonbury CND Festival, and was one of the biggest donors for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

CND still have a colossal presence at the festival, and it is Green Futures that they call home. Stopping by their tent on my travels, I was greeted with a free temporary tattoo and a whole host of passionate campaigners who offered an entirely different perspective on the festival. Alongside CND, various different charities and campaign groups make their presence in the area, culminating in an incredibly wholesome, inspiring sense of togetherness and resistance and forming a perfect start to the festival. 

Toad Hall: Sheltering from the sun

Although the day started off with heavy rainfall, this soon gave way to blistering sunshine. While many festivalgoers basked in this glorious sun (and, by how many bright red faces I saw in camp on Friday morning, are now paying the price), others used the opportunity to find a pocket of calm and sit back with a cold drink. This was certainly the mood in Toad Hall, also situated in the Green Futures area. Welsh-Ghanian songwriter Adjua perfectly reflected the calming nature of the tent, treating audiences to a collection of compellingly chilled-out R&B efforts, performed solo without her usual backing band.

Following on from Adjua, the vibe certainly shifted when Bristolian duo Try Me took to the stage. Blending genre-defying high-energy tunes with improv and a League of Gentlemen-esque sense of the surrealism, the pair certainly brought the energy levels in the tent up. Complete with their ‘big baby’ wandering around the stage in a giant papier-mache head, the set was unpredictable and utterly euphoric, just as every great festival slot should be. Topping off my time at Toad Hall, the adjoining cafe’s vegan lemon cake is a festival essential. I didn’t want to leave.

Shangri-La: Otherwordly power

Still, the call of the festival explorer came upon me, and I ventured back out from the tranquillity of Toad Hall into the heart of the beating heat and ever-growing crowds. Tucked away in the Southeast corner of the site sits Shangri-La, a definitive area of the festival where you could easily spend your entire weekend. On this particular occasion, crowds had amassed to witness the enduring sounds of Zamrock progenitors Witch, who took to the stage at 18:30. Although the sound quality left a little to be desired, thanks largely to the stage’s proximity to a nearby dance tent, the lasting brilliance of the Zambian group still shone through.

In a set composed of anthems new and old, the band demonstrated their lasting appeal with effortless grace. What’s more, their overwhelming sense of joy and celebration within the set acted as the perfect accompaniment to the sun-soaked surroundings of Shangri-La. The band did indeed cause the havoc that they intended, with their captivating rhythms gripping the crowd almost instantly, but they also fostered a joyous atmosphere which those who were at the set carried throughout the rest of their Thursday.

Levels: Confidence Man dominate

Although Friday is the first ‘proper’ festival day, that didn’t stop huge crowds from amassing on Thursday night. In particular, the Levels stage at Silver Hayes was rammed from around 20:00 onwards. Aussie icons Confidence Man were the prevailing reason for this sardine can crowd, as they were scheduled to perform a B2B set with Dutch DJ Job Jobse at 21:00. That colossal crowd soon spilled over into the walkways and surrounding areas, although it was being contained to the best of the security team’s ability, making for a cramped, sweaty, and pretty chaotic viewing experience.

Still, those who managed to remain in the heart of the crowd for the duration of the set certainly seemed to enjoy themselves, and how could you not? Confidence Man proved their mastery of Glastonbury during their Other Stage slot last year, and their DJ sets are just as commanding – maybe it would be an idea to move them to a stage with a bigger capacity next time, Glastonbury.

Strummerville: Bonfires, bands, and not-so-secret sets

Escaping the claustrophobic crowd for Confidence Man, I made the long and exhausting journey up the hill to Strummerville. A campfire might seem like a misguided idea in such an enclosed, typically packed stage, particularly with the heat of the day, but it does help to foster something of a community atmosphere at the stage – albeit a community who do not mind their clothes honking of smoke for the rest of the weekend. Friends embraced and strangers became best pals for the weekend, and all of this togetherness was being soundtracked by a particularly great Thursday night lineup.

Following Jeanie And The White Boys, the packed-out area continued the immaculate vibes with incredible, if often delayed, sets from Heartworms, Wu-Lu, and Maruja. There was never any doubt in the air over who everyone in the crowd had come to see, though. One of the worst-kept secret sets in this year’s itinerary, Fat Dog were set to return to Strummerville, where they dominated Thursday night at last year’s event. Arriving onstage after Edinburgh-formed, London-based Scarsdale Fats, the band seemed to encounter a wealth of technical difficulties.

Eventually, over 45 minutes from when they were scheduled to begin, the band erupted into a masterful set of high-energy anthems, including the likes of ‘Running’, ‘King of the Slugs’, and their defining track, ‘Wither’. From my vantage point halfway up the Strummerville hill, my eyes stinging from the campfire, I could just make out the constant movement of the crowd at the front, waves of people all being commanded by Fat Dog’s enigmatic frontman, Joe Love.

Bruised, sunburnt, and with eyes still stinging, the end of Fat Dog’s set sent me back down the hill, across the site, and finally back into my wind-battered tent. Thursday might have started out as a day for gentle exploration, but it ended up being a baptism of fire for the remainder of the weekend. Bring on Friday.

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