Does Glastonbury have a curfew and which acts have broken it in the past?

Lana del Rey found her mic cut off after overrunning (Picture: BBC)

Glastonbury is famous for inviting some of music’s biggest rebels on stage – from Guns N’ Roses to Kanye West – but, as it turns out, there’s actually quite a lot of rules to follow.

One of the biggest rules is to do with noise – there are plenty of people living in the surrounding areas of Worthy Farm, after all.

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Even though many wouldn’t mind a free Lizzo concert or to hear the legendary Elton John play his final show, others might not. Which is why headliners have to be off stage by a certain time.

So, when is the curfew?

What is the Glastonbury curfew?

The thing with Glastonbury is that there’s not actually a specific curfew, as it were.

This is because across the smaller stages, music will be performed into the wee small hours of the morning.

Guns N Roses headlined on Saturday night, and managed to stick to the rules – a rarity for Axl Rose and his badboy reputation (Picture: Harry Durrant/Getty Images)

However, the larger tents and stages will have a curfew simply because of the scale of them – they are bigger and louder, meaning the sound will affect residents nearby.

Per Wales Online, a festival spokesperson said back in 2009: ‘There are limits because a lot of people live nearby and it is right that things draw to a close at a reasonable hour.

‘Each year we get only a handful of complaints about noise.’

This is why headliners usually finish by 12.30am at the latest. It would appear, based on previous years’ performances, that this is the latest a headliner can play.

What happens when an act goes over the curfew?

Legendary musician Bruce Springsteen is one headliner who went over the ‘curfew’.

Bruce Springsteen’s 2009 set ended up costing Michael Eavis £3000 (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

And going over the allotted time usually means the Eavis’ – the organisers of the festival – have to pay up.

Glasto’s Michael Eavis previously opened up about what happened when Bruce Springsteen overran in 2009.

The Boss ended up playing for two hours and 40 minutes, finishing just before 12.40am.

The owner of the 900-acre Somerset farm said he had to fork out £3,000 as a result.

But he said at the time: ‘I’ll pay the fine – £3,000. Paul McCartney – 2004 headliner – paid me back. I’m going to pay the Bruce Springsteen one myself. It’s not a lot because it was fantastic. The last nine minutes were spectacular.’

Michael Eavis has to co-operate with the local authorities requests to keep the Glastonbury licence (Picture: Getty Images)

If acts constantly went over, they’d risk their licence.

Glastonbury has a licence for the event issued by the local authority, Mendip District Council. The licence is not a given.

From noise complaints to damage to the environment, strict plans are put in place to ensure that the festival can go ahead each year without a hitch.

Apparently no peeing on the festival ground is a biggie, as the festival’s account tweeted back in 2014: ‘Remember, please don’t pee anywhere apart from the loos.

‘Urine can kill fish in the streams and pollute our beautiful farm. Thank you.’

Which acts have gone over the curfew in the past?

Bruce Springsteen isn’t the only artist to overrun. In fact, Lana Del Rey is the first to do so at Glasto 2023.

The moody chanteuse’s mic was cut off mid-set on Saturday night (June 24), which led to a surprisingly sweet acapella singalong with fans.

Other stars who’ve run over in the past include:

Paul McCartney

Bjork

Bruce Springsteen.

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Rock, roll and rules.