Trying to determine the Biggest Glastonbury Crowd is tricky. Since 1970, Glastonbury has grown massively. Areas have come and gone and now there is the super fence making it much harder to get in for free.
In 1970 the capacity of the event was 1,500. Now it is 210,000. So instead of saying which act had the largest crowd in front of them, I will mention a few.
The Levellers | Glastonbury 1994
According to many people, the performance by The Levellers on The Pyramid Stage in 1994 drew a crowd of 300,000. I find this hard to believe. Even without the super fence and with many people getting in for free, 300,000 is a huge number.
Most probably there were 300,000 people on site. Even so, I am sure The Leveller’s performance attracted huge numbers. There were a lot less stages to go to in 1994.
Dolly Parton | Glastonbury 2014
20 years later, Dolly Parton graced the Pyramid Stage in what is now known as The Sunday Legend Slot. She was always going to bring in a huge crowd and she didn’t disappoint.
Sunday is always a busy day down on Worthy Farm because the local villagers are allowed in for free. So you get this wonderful mix of fresh-faced people and people who have been caning it for 4 days.
Dolly brought them all together as only she could.
Elton John | Glastonbury 2023
The Rocket Man’s last-ever UK performance. The sun going down (see what I did there), and a joyous Glastonbury crowd. It was written in the stars that Elton John would attract one of the biggest crowds in Glastonbury history.
I was there and the atmosphere around us was electric. I knew the crowd was huge when I looked back and saw how far back it went. To non-Glasto goers, it looks insane but it isn’t as packed as it looks. You can still move about, unlike some gigs I have attended.
Elton John can also claim the most-watched Glastonbury act on TV, with over 7.6 million people watching his performance.
REM | Glastonbury 1999
My brother-in-law was at this Glasto and like most people in the nineties he climbed over the fence. Officially the attendance in 1999 was 100,500 but there were way more people than that.
REM’s headline performance had a huge crowd. They were almost disappointed though because a security guard did not recognise Michael Stipe and would not let him in. This was only a few hours before they were due to perform. Luckily it got resolved and REM did a legendary set.
David Bowie | Glastonbury 2000
David Bowie’s performance in 2000 is classed as one of the best performances ever down at Worthy Farm. Don’t take my word for it, this is what Emily Eavis also thinks. It also attracted a huge crowd.
This was the last year before the huge fence came up and once again lots of ticketless attendees got in. The estimate is that 250,000 people were at Glastonbury 2000. I am quite sure a big proportion of them watched David Bowie.
I always say to people attending Glastonbury for the first time not to just stay in front of The Pyramid Stage all day. There is so much to see around the festival site that it would be a waste. However, I do say that everyone has to have at least one mass sing-a-long in front of The Pyramid Stage over the 5 days at Glastonbury. There is nothing like being in a huge crowd and all singing together. I get goose pimples just thinking about it.
Can you think of any other acts that attracted huge crowds at Glastonbury? Let me know who they are in the comments.
See you on the farm.
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Rolling Stones was supposedly no a biggie (I wasn’t there)