The Glastonbury Festival Archive

While many museums remain shuttered due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Apollo’s usual weekly pick of exhibitions will include shows at institutions that are now reopening as well as digital projects providing virtual access to art and culture.

In 2014 the Victoria and Albert Museum acquired the archives of Glastonbury Festival, comprising an eclectic range of material from posters, programmes and T-shirts to press cuttings, photos and film footage, charting the development of the UK’s best-known performing arts and music festival. With the 50th anniversary edition of the event, supposed to take place on 24–28 June, cancelled, the V&A has decided to host an alternative celebration (online). You can browse highlights from the collection and read curators’ essays on the history of the festival, the changing fashions of its attendees and the design of its famous Pyramid Stage; there are also a series of soundscapes recorded by the sound designer Gareth Fry. Explore the resource here; and for another virtual taste of the festival, the BBC has created a dedicated Glastonbury Channel on iPlayer showing memorable sets from past years.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here