Cliff Notes – How to find Glastonbury’s secret spots according to past festival-goers
- Look for TBA Slots: Secret sets are often marked as TBA or under unusual band names, with speculation about potential performers circulating among festival-goers.
- Utilise the Glastonbury Free Press: This free publication contains clues about hidden gems and potential secret performances, although deciphering its hints can be challenging.
- Embrace Exploration: Abandon busy areas and wander off the beaten path; joining queues that seem to lead nowhere may lead to unexpected discoveries, such as the legendary underground piano bar.
How to find Glastonbury’s secret spots according to past festival-goers
As one of the UK’s biggest and most beloved festivals, there is plenty of myth and legend surrounding Glastonbury and its secrets.
From casually bumping into celebrities to catching the headliners on the Pyramid Stage, it’s easy to enjoy the festival with minimal exploring.
However, if you want to really immerse yourself in Worthy Farm, there’s a lot more to see than Charli XCX’s Saturday night set.
Secret sets, hidden hideaways, the elusive underground piano bar; the weekend is bursting with places waiting to be discovered.
But how exactly do you find them?
Well, most will tell you to just explore — but with the beauty of social media and some very helpful Glasto-goers, there are some tips you need to know.
Check out the TBAs and ‘Patchwork’
Secret sets are probably the easiest thing to find at the festival, marked on the lineup as TBA or a suspicious band name (2025’s main suspect is Patchwork).
Speculation about who these could be is always huge so you’ll likely have a strong idea of who might be about to burst on stage.
Last year saw a TBA slot at 6pm on Woodsies with festival-goers convinced it was either The Killers, Kings of Leon or who it actually turned out to be: Kasabian.
Clearly the rumour mill was on the right track – a ‘K’ named band with rock vibe. Metro was right at the barrier for this one, getting there an entire act early to secure a slot.
Previous secret sets have included Pulp, Radiohead, Jack White, Foo Fighters and more.
You’ve just got to hedge your bets for this, follow Glastonbury social media pages like secretglasto or The Glasto Thingy for any potential leads or confirmations.
Grab a copy of the Glastonbury Free Press
Okay, disclaimer time: this one is a long shot and did not work for us last year.
Anyone who has been to Glastonbury will have seen the free press paper, which has clues about potential sets and hidden gems.
However, you need to know what you’re looking for and trying to decipher clues is not so easy. This is where keeping an eye on social media comes in extra handy.
Even if you find something you think is a clue that you can’t decipher, post it online — maybe someone can help you out.
Rumour has it that a faint symbol appeared one year on a printed map, marking the location of the underground piano bar.
We couldn’t find this on any of the paper maps we picked up last year, but maybe that was the sleep deprivation and bad eyesight.
Just go exploring
The biggest advice you’ll get from seasoned Glastonbury goers is to abandon the busy areas and just get stuck in.
Go for a walk, find those bars and small corners away from the busy main areas and crowds.
Since the secret areas are changing every year, the only way to find them is by actually stumbling across them in person.
This links to another common bit of advice, which is if you see a queue to nowhere, join it.
‘Just look for long lines to nowhere in the middle of the night,’ said XpertPwnage on Reddit.
This is one of the only ways to find the underground piano bar — the stuff of legends — and it is truly sheer luck.
That being said, stop trying to find everything and tick off your Worthy Farm experience. It will just leave you disappointed.
Let the festival take you wherever it wants to go, you might surprise yourself.
