When does the 2024 Glastonbury Festival start? Mr Bates star Toby Jones says former subpostmaster Alan Bates turned down offer to open event

Actor Toby Jones recently revealed that former subpostmaster Alan Bates declined the invitation to host Glastonbury 2024. Bates had received an offer to kick off this year's Worthy Farm event, however, he denied the invitation.

On June 2, 2024, Jones spoke candidly about Alan Bates at the Hay Festival:

"I get to play a hero. Really, someone who I think of as a hero. Someone [Alan Bates] in the culture who just doesn't seem to be subject to the same forces that we all are."

Speaking to the Wales audience, Toby Jones continued:

“He can’t be bought. He’s asked to open Glastonbury. ‘No, thank you.’ He’s asked to do these things, he doesn’t want to do any of that. He says, ‘I’ve got work to do,’ which is to get that stuff done.

Glastonbury 2024 is slated to take place from June 26 to June 30, 2024. The main musical event will be organized on the Pyramid Stage for the last three days.

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Toby Jones talks about Alan Bates turning down the offer to open 2024 Glastonbury Festival

Toby Jones talked about Alan Bates (Image via Getty)

In the ITV drama titled Mr. Bates Vs. The Post Office, Toby Jones portrayed the character of sub-postmaster Alan Bates. Recently, Jones said that the former sub-postmaster Alan Bates declined an invitation to open the annual event.

During his appearance at the Hay Festival, Toby Jones also shared further details concerning Alan Bates. He went on to say that no one can buy Bates as he was invited to open Glastonbury but he turned down the invitation.

Toby Jones further said:

“[Bates is] a hero and he doesn’t want any honors until he’s finished the job. And these are values that, I’m not going to say I grew up with, but I sort of remember being lectured about. About duty and about following things through.”

Toby Jones added that while Bates' examples of duty and perseverance are out of style today, he heard lectures about them as a child.

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All about the 2024 Glastonbury Festival as Toby Jones talks about Alan Bates and the event

Glastonbury Festival 2024 is scheduled to be held in the last week of June (Image via Getty)

Honoring contemporary performing arts, the five-day Glastonbury Festival is held in Somerset, England every June. The festival features dance, comedy, drama, circus, cabaret, and other arts, in addition to current music.

Following the previous year's event, the 2024 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts is expected to be held at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, UK, and the date has been set from June 26 to June 30.

The festival’s official website states:

“The Glastonbury Festival aims to encourage and stimulate youth culture from around the world in all its forms, including pop music, dance music, jazz, folk music, fringe theater, drama, mime, circus, cinema, poetry and all the creative forms of art and design, including painting, sculpture and textile art.”

The website further mentions:

“A large area of the Festival (the “green” area) is set aside for complementary and alternative medicine, demonstrations and displays of environmentally-friendly technologies and techniques, various forms of religious expression, and a forum for debating environmental, social and moral issues.”

Shania Twain will fill the Legends Slot at Glastonbury this year, while the headliners of the festival are Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA. Their entire lineup includes performances from Little Simz, Burna Boy, Camila Cabello, Disclosure, The National, Olivia Dean, Anne-Marie, Avril Lavigne, Cyndi Lauper, and The Last Dinner Party.

The festival's general admission tickets went on sale on November 19, 2023. They are £355, that is £360 + £5 booking fee. Compared to the 2023 event, which cost £335 plus a booking charge, there is a £20 increase.

The broadcast for the annual event will be available from June 3 to July 14 on BBC Television, BBC iPlayer, radio, and BBC Sounds.