Glastonbury Festival: Windrush Choir open Pyramid stage

The choir is made of descendants of the Windrush generation

Performers from the Bristol Reggae Orchestra and Windrush Choir have described opening Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage as "the best moment ever".

They kicked off the final day of the festival on Sunday morning in front of a crowd of thousands with a duet set.

One member admitted to pre-show nerves as she feared no-one would show up to watch.

Vocalist and composer Gena Rose said she was "over the moon excited" at the opportunity.

The orchestra and choir opened the main festival stage ahead of the likes of Cat Stevens, also known as Yusuf Islam, Blondie, and Sunday night's headliner Elton John.

Founded in 2011, it was set up to reach out to diverse groups in Bristol.

It works with people of all ages and musical ability and takes its name from the descendants of the Windrush generation.

The group opened the Pyramid stage on the final day of Glastonbury Festival

Speaking after the set, Ms Rose said: "It was the best moment ever, it was just absolutely amazing, I was over the moon excited - are there enough words that I can add in? I don't think so.

"The people were chanting for more - that to me is the best possible response you can ever get as a performer.

"I'm in tears now, but in the moment I was living my best life."

Fellow chorister Rebecca Scott said: "It came together. We had a lot of nerves this morning but a lot of excitement as well.

"It's the biggest stage we have ever played on but it is so nice when we got the feedback from the crowd. Everyone really seemed to be enjoying it.

"I was thinking 'is anyone going to be there after a weekend of partying?' but it was amazing, there were so many people there."

The choir opened the Pyramid Stage on the last day of the festival

Director Ben Jenkins said the group were "in shock" when they learned they would be playing Glastonbury.

"Instead of all yelling [when we found out] we went quiet and the room went silent because we were in shock.

"Such kudos to Glastonbury Festival for supporting community music and supporting the Windrush story too."

The orchestra and choir is one of 35 initiatives across England given a share of £500,000 to deliver projects commemorating the history and contributions of the Windrush generation to British culture.

It will also perform at St Paul's Carnival and the Bristol Harbour Festival in July.