Glastonbury: Jorja Smith, Coldplay and Haim to play Worthy Farm livestream

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Jorja Smith, Coldplay and HaimImage source, Getty Images
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Jorja Smith, Coldplay and Haim will all play sets at the festival site

Glastonbury organisers have announced plans for a "spectacular" livestream from Worthy Farm, after the festival was cancelled for a second year.

Coldplay, Damon Albarn, Jorja Smith, Kano, Haim and Wolf Alice will play at the five-hour event on 22 May.

Organiser Emily Eavis also promised "very special guest appearances and collaborations" at the event.

Performers will be staged at landmarks around the 900-acre site, including the Pyramid field and the stone circle.

"It's going to be like the festival but without the people," Eavis told BBC Radio 2.

Described as an "epic journey around the site", the show will be directed by Paul Dugdale, who previously shot Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift's world tours for Netflix.

Other artists on the line-up include Michael Kiwanuka and Idles, and the music will be linked by "a spoken word narrative, written and delivered by some very special guests".

"What we're hoping is that people watch this from home… and they have a moment and get into the spirit of the festival," Eavis added.

Tickets for the gig have already gone on sale, with proceeds supporting Glastonbury's three main charitable causes - Oxfam, Greenpeace and WaterAid. The sale will also "help to secure the Festival's return in 2022", organisers said.

A commemorative poster will also be sold in support of stage crew who have struggled to make ends meet during the pandemic.

Glastonbury was the first festival to cancel in 2021, with several others - including Download and the BST festival - following suit.

The Isle of Wight Festival, TRNSMT and All Points East have moved their events to late-summer dates, while festivals that were already taking place in August and September, including Reading and Leeds, have spoken optimistically of their abilities to operate as normal.

Glastonbury organisers have also applied for permission to hold a separate two-night concert in September, which would be on a much smaller scale than the main festival, which attracts 200,000 people to Somerset every year.

Eavis said she had "no idea" whether the September event would actually take place, but said she "wanted to get the application in to be in with a chance".

Speaking to Dermot O'Leary on Radio 2, she added that the main festival was ready to return in 2022.

"Pretty much, we're good for next year which is a very, very fortunate position to be in," she said. "We've got a combination of bands that were due to play last year... and then we've also got some new people who are touring.

"So we've got a different line-up but there are some things you'll recognise as well."

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