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Noel Gallagher says Glastonbury is ‘a bit woke now’ and criticises political musicians

Former Oasis guitarist describes festival, which has long championed political causes, as ‘kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signalling’

This year’s festival featured some high-profile political statements, most prominently from Banksy, who launched an inflatable raft containing dummy migrants across the crowds at shows by Idles and Little Simz – a comment on small boats that cross the English Channel, a major target of immigration policy by the outgoing Rishi Sunak administration. The Left Field stage, curated by Billy Bragg, plays host each year to political discussions, with 2024’s events including panel debates on the Israel-Palestine conflict, the UK housing crisis and more. This year’s Eurovision song contest was riven with discord over the conflict in Gaza, while an artist-led boycott of Live Nation-promoted festivals such as Download led to the promoter suspending its sponsorship deal with Barclays, over the bank’s provision of financial services to defence companies supplying Israel.

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