Glastonbury Festival is set to return this year and run from Wednesday, June 21, 2023 to Sunday, June 25, 2023, at the Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset in England, UK. In anticipation of its return, BBC has confirmed it will broadcast the festival live on its channels.
For UK viewers, the festival can be viewed live on the BBC iPlayer streaming service or on TV on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three or BBC Four. Viewers outside the UK, who would be unable to view the festival on the streaming service or BBC channels, can watch it on the BBC Music YouTube channel, which will provide live coverage of select events, as well as interviews and set excerpts.
The Glastonbury Festival 2023 broadcast schedule explored
The festival has been broadcast live since 1981, when ITV first partenered with the organizers to bring it to TV. The broadcasting efforts were taken over by Channel 4 in 1994 and then finally by BBC in 1997.
The full schedule for the festival's live broadcast is given below:
June 18, 2023
- We Love Glastonbury – 10 pm to 11 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
- Glastonbury: 50 Years and Counting – 11 pm to 12:30 am BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
June 19, 2023
- Artist in Residence – 9 pm to 10 pm BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Glastonbury Anthems 1997-2005 – 10:05 pm to 10:35 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
June 20, 2023
- 6 Music Artist Collection: Arctic Monkeys – 12 am to 5 am BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Glastonbury Anthems 2007-2013 – 10 pm to 10:30 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
June 21, 2023
- Chris Hawkins – 5 am to 7:30 am BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Lauren Laverne – 7:30 am to 10:30 am BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- New Music Fix Daily – 7 pm to 9 pm BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Glastonbury Anthems 2014-2022 – 10 pm to 10:30 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
June 22, 2023
- Lauren Laverne – 7:30 am to 10:30 am BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Steve Lamacq – 4 pm to 7 pm BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- BBC Music Introducing stage Takeover – 6 pm to 8 pm BST at BBC Radio 1 Dance and BBC Sounds
- BBC Radio 1 Dance Takeover – 8 pm to 12 am BST at BBC Radio 1, Radio 1 Dance, and BBC Sounds
- Glastonbury 2023 – 10 pm to10:30 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
June 23, 2023
- The One Show – 7 pm to 7:30 pm BST at BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- Glastonbury 2023 – 7:30 pm to 9 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
- Carly Rae Jepsen & Maisie Peters – 7:30 pm to 9 pm BST at BBC Three and BBC iPlayer
- Glastonbury 2023 – 9 pm to10:30 pm BST at BBC Two and BBC iPlayer
- Fred Again.. – 9 pm to 10 pm BST at BBC Three and BBC iPlayer
- Digga D & Shygirl – 10 pm to 11 pm BST at BBC Three and BBC iPlayer
- Arctic Monkeys – 10:30 pm to 12 am BST at BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- Wizkid & Stefflon Don – 11 pm to 12:30 am BST at BBC Three and BBC iPlayer
June 23, 2023, BBC Radio and Sounds schedule
- The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, LIVE from Worthy Farm – 7 am to 10 am BST at BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds
- Woman’s Hour – 10 am to 11 am BST at BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
- Lauren Laverne – 10:30 am to 1 pm BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Vick Hope and Jordan North – 1 pm to 4 pm BST at BBC Radio 1 and BBC Sounds
- Steve Lamacq – 4 pm to 7 pm BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Glastonbury – 6 pm to 12 am BST at BBC Radio 1, Radio 1 Dance and BBC Sounds
- Huw Stephens – 9 pm to 12 am BST at BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Sounds
- Tiffany Calver and Kenny Allstar – 9 pm to 12 am BST at Radio 1Xtra and BBC Sounds
June 23, 2023 to June 25, 2023
- Live Stage Stream – Live Stream from all five main stages of the festival at at BBC I Player
More about the Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival has its origins in the counter-culture, hippie, and traveller movement of the 1960s and 1970s, which espoused anti-capitalist and anti-establishment views. Till the 1990s, the festival was one of the last bastions of the free festival movement in the country.
The festival is considered a cornerstone of British Culture, with artists from established mainstream sectors as well as the underground music scene feature in the lineup. The festival has also been referenced in several songs by bands such as U2, The Waterboys, as well as Roxy Music and Nizlopi. Other references to the festival can be found in the novel A Finer End by Deborah Crombie.