For the first time in its history, the UK’s biggest music festival has two female headliners

Glastonbury — the UK’s biggest music festival — is in full swing.

Headlined by some of the biggest acts in the world, including Dua Lipa, Coldplay, SZA, Shania Twain, and Burna Boy, the weekend so far has also provided its fair share of surprises.

Here’s what you may have missed.

For the first time in history, Glastonbury has two female headliners

For the first time in its 50-plus year history, Glastonbury will be headlined by two female acts on the Pyramid Stage.

Artists Dua Lipa and SZA have been awarded the coveted spot (alongside Coldplay).

It follows the 2023 festival which was criticised for announcing a line-up led by all-male headliners (Elton John, Arctic Monkeys and Guns N’ Roses).

So how many women have actually headlined the Pyramid Stage in the last 20 years?

You can count them on one hand:

• Billie Eilish — 2022
• Adele — 2016
• Florence and The Machine — 2015
• Beyonce — 2011
• Kylie Minogue — 2005

Taylor Swift was supposed to headline Glastonbury in 2020, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dua Lipa performed on Friday night, local time, while SZA will close the main stage on Sunday.

Playing a headline slot clearly meant a lot to Dua who said on stage:

“This is a dream come true.

“I have written this moment down, I’ve wished for it, I’ve dreamt it, I’ve worked so hard in the hopes that maybe one day I’ll get to do it and I can’t believe I’m here, it feels so good to be up here with you guys.”

The crowd goes silent for seven minutes

If there’s one thing the Glastonbury Festival doesn’t do well, it’s silence.

But that changed on Friday evening when performance artist Marina Abramovic led a seven-minute silence from the festival’s main stage.

The 420 seconds of silence was conceived as a “public intervention” to reflect on conflict, violence and peace.

“There are wars, there is famine, there is protest, there is killing,” Abramovic said.

“Here, we will try to do something different.

“We can all together give unconditional love to each other. [It is] the only way to change the world.”

Thousands of festival goers were asked to close their eyes and put their hands on a neighbour’s shoulder.

On stage, 77-year-old Abramovic stretched out her arms to reveal a dress designed in the shape of the CND symbol.

CND stands for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Overcrowding once again during Sugababes set

The last time Sugababes played at Glastonbury in 2022, they pulled in such enormous crowds that police had to “push the button” and shut down the area, stopping more people from arriving.

And it seems as though overcrowding has happened once again, even though festival organisers scheduled them on a larger stage to avoid a repeat.

The West Holts stage was reportedly full before the group’s set even started with some fans missing out on the performance.

Here’s what a few people commented on social media:

“Once again my ambitions to see Sugababes at Glastonbury have been thwarted. They should do the Legend slot next year.”

“The Sugababes crowd at West Holts is humungous! Like absolutely packed out.”

“Glastonbury organisers totally underestimated how popular this set would be.”

Confidence Man represents Australia

Australian indie electro-pop band Confidence Man delivered their trademark dose of fun at Glastonbury.

The four-piece took to the Other Stage where they performed classic fan favourites.

They even sang a few lines from their forthcoming record.

This was the group’s second time performing at the festival.

K-pop boy band Seventeen make Glastonbury history

Boy band Seventeen have made history at the festival, by becoming the first K-pop group to play the main Pyramid Stage.