Crowds of revellers danced and sang along to Muse, Adele and Coldplay during the Glastonbury Festival 2016, but the EU referendum loomed large over the celebrations.
The vote took place the day before the first headliners took to the main stage, and by Friday morning when news broke that the UK had voted to leave the EU, there was a sombre mood amongst campers, the majority of whom were Remain supporters.
Festival organiser Emily Eavis called for everyone not to lose hope in the aftermath of the EU referendum, saying: “It was a complete shock. But we’ve got to rally round and stick together.”
In a message to her guests on Worthy Farm, Emily said: “Thank you to everyone for making this such a special year.
“It’s always so heartening to see the parallel universe people create here, the positivity that people radiate. It brings out the best in people. So let’s rally together and not lose hope.”
Coldplay, Madness and Ellie Goulding made clear they were troubled by the election result.
Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin said: “I take my proverbial hat off to everyone who’s been here through the rain and mud and the carnage essentially, the collapse of a country, everything.”
Ellie called for unity and asked people to “carry the spirit of Glastonbury home” as she performed at the festival.
The British singer told the crowd gathered at the Pyramid Stage that things had been strange following the vote in favour of leaving the European Union, but that she was happy to be in a place where people had come together.
Ellie – who earlier this week tweeted that she was “heartbroken” at the outcome of the referendum – said: “I know things have been a bit weird the past few days.
“Actually that’s an understatement.
“But it is so nice to be in a place where there is so much unity and where everyone is so happy and friendly and dancing together and laughing together and loving each other.”
She continued: “I really hope now for this lovely country that I live in and you live in that that sentiment, that spirit of Glastonbury, happens all over the country still, because I know some really terrible things have been happening and I really hope that when you go home that you guys will take that spirit with you.
“And if you see that that spirit is not happening wherever you live, wherever you are, to other people… We are all one person, we are all human beings.
“I just want to say I really hope that we can all carry the spirit of Glastonbury home with us, because that would make me very happy.”
Madness also gave a nod to the Brexit vote, making clear the country is on the “highway to hell”.
Frontman Suggs handed the microphone to guitarist Chris Foreman, who said he had recently learnt how easy it was to fool 51.9% of people – referencing the percentage of Britons who voted to leave the European Union in Thursday’s referendum.
He then led the crowd in a rendition of the AC/DC song Highway To Hell.
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