Glastonbury Festival to Release First Wave Line-Up Next Week

With most of the summer's festival lineups long since in place, one giant player has yet to tip its hand. That looks set to change very shortly, as the Glastonbury Festival's Emily Eavis teased some form of a line-up reveal while speaking at Oxford University’s Women in Music conference on Mar. 7.

Her brief but conspicuous comments revealed that not only will artists be announced soon, but that two women would be the headliners -- spiking fresh interest in the ongoing debate about gender equality within the festival's roster of performers. Last October, Eavis spoke to this issue during a podcast with Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw on BBC Sounds.

"2024 is still a little up in the air," Eavis explained in the interview (via The Independent). "And I thought it was kind of taking shape and then last week I just got a call, and this is what happens if you wait a little longer, because quite often we'll be booked up from July. This year we're holding out for a little bit longer and last week I got a call from a really big American artist saying this person's around next year, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible.’ Thank God we held the slot."

Speculation at that time was that Taylor Swift might snag a headliner spot, but that is now a definite "no" due to her own Eras tour schedule in 2024. "I've always been really passionate about gender split (on festival lineups)," Eavis said during the same interview. "I think actually, our problem was that I'd been so outspoken about it that having a year where there wasn't a female sent people a bit mad...or some people."

Rumors abound about who could slip into the headliner spot, with names like Dua Lipa, Shania Twain, Cher, Stevie Nicks and SZA being bandied about. As for the legends slot, Eavis has confirmed that will be a female artist: the spot has been filled in previous years by Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie and Kylie Minogue.

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The only official word to come from the organization is that the entire event is sold out, with the possibility of resale from canceled/returned tickets in April. In the hopes of avoiding ticket touts, all buyers had to register in advance with the going price for the full weekend placed at £400 ($500 USD). Glastonbury will take place on the final weekend of June, from Wednesday June 26 through to Sunday June 30, at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset.

You can also register to win one of 20 pairs of tickets. Money raised will be donated to the British Red Cross, Oxfam and War Child, who are working in areas of conflict delivering humanitarian support to those who need it most.

The prize draw is open to UK residents, until 12 noon (GMT) on Thursday March 28. You can enter multiple times.