After another unforgettable weekend at Worthy Farm, we reflect on a weekend of love at Glastonbury Festival

Whether you’re feeling a little tired and weary from a weekend full of festival fun, or you’ve made it here for a catch-up of what you missed at Glastonbury this year, we’ve got you. As always, the festival was about more than just the big names. Filled with inspirational and touching moments, we recount some of the best (non-musical) bits from Glastonbury, including heartfelt tributes and motivating mantras.

Liam Gallagher’s touching tribute to Keith Flint

Saturday saw Gallagher performing on the Pyramid Stage, in a set that combined his solo work along with hits from his band, Oasis. It was as he closed his set with the band’s classic Champagne Supernova that he dedicated the moment to the late Prodigy singer, Keith Flint, who died in March.

Addressing the crowd, Liam said: “Right, you’ve been amazing. This is the last song, I want to dedicate it to the one and only Keith Flint. Champagne Supernova. Look after yourselves, have a good night.”

The audience joined in, singing along with Liam, as he performed the track over a piano. He also dedicated his solo hit Greedy Soul to the late comedian Sir Ken Dodd, who died last year.

In a weekend of touching tributes, ahead of their headline set at Glastonbury on Saturday, The Killers dedicated their song Dustland Fairytale to the You, Me and the Big C creator, Rachael Bland, who died in September last year.

Brandon Flowers said to the crowd at their Cardiff Castle show on Friday night, “There was a light that went out too soon, her name was Rachael. Will you put your lights up tonight for us in her memory?”

Lizzo preaches the importance of self-love

Taking to the stage in a sparkly, purple leotard, Lizzo’s set was full of fun and uplifting messages for the crowd. In fact, it wasn’t Lizzo’s incredible vocal range that was the star of her set - it was the way she spoke to the crowd that left a mark, uniting everyone, and moving people to tears.

“I want you to know if you can love me, you can love your goddamn self.”

She encouraged everyone watching to go home that night and practise her mantra of looking at yourself in the mirror and telling yourself, “I love you, you are beautiful and you can do anything.”

Kylie takes a moment of reflection

14 years after she had to pull out of headlining the festival due to her breast cancer diagnosis, Kylie paused for a sentimental moment with the crowd during her set on Sunday.

“In 2005 I was meant to be here on this very stage. Circumstances meant I didn't make it. I was watching in Australia wishing things had been different but life is what it is.”

In her address to the crowd, Kylie made reference to Coldplay’s cover of her song Can't You Get Out Of My Head at the festival in 2005, which they dedicated to "absent friends".

In an emotional moment, she asked her friend and lead singer of Coldplay, Chris Martin, to join her on the stage to perform the song together. What a beautiful message of kindness, friendship and, above all, the goodness in humanity.

Olly Alexander addresses the fight for LGBTQ+ rights

British pop group Years and Years took to the Pyramid stage on Sunday afternoon, for a set full of love and empowerment.

"If we’re respectful and compassionate, we can show up for each other."

Before appearing on the stage, the band displayed homophobic messages that had been directed towards the lead singer, Olly, on the screens. One of the messages stated ‘He’s a bit too gay. Just creeps me out’, while another said ‘He sounds gayer now, he’s doing too much’.

These messages remained on screen during the band’s first song, as a powerful reminder of the stigma and threat that still faces the LGBTQ+ community.

During their performance, Olly gave a beautiful speech, speaking to the cheering crowd about equality and gay rights. A particularly poignant moment of the festival, showing how far the world has come in the 50 years since the Stonewall riots - but also how far attitudes still need to change.

The Book of Man celebrates positive masculinity

In a new area of the festival this year, organisers created space for a safe and inclusive venue for discussions around positive masculinity. Shed, inside the Shangri-La area of the site, was organised by the award-winning The Book of Man.

The concept of the area was that, from the outside, Shed depicts a traditional view of masculinity - pieces of wood put together to create a ‘man shed’. But, preconceived notions and stereotypes of ‘manliness’ are to be shed at the door, where you enter into an all-inclusive sanctuary to explore the fluidity of masculinity.

Upon stepping inside the shed, visitors were greeted by slogans such as, ‘Never underestimate your strength. Never overestimate your weakness.’

Sessions included topics such as ‘Masculinity and Mental Health’ with Professor Green and Jordan Stephens and ‘Masculinities in Music’ with Frank Turner and Krissi Murison.

In the words of Moses Powers from Shangri-La: “The Shed is a new safe space where self-awareness is encouraged, people can reflect together, express their feelings and emotions, share new ideas of masculinity and address societal expectations about how men ‘should’ behave.”

We hope that this is a concept that will be adopted by music festivals across the country.

So, that’s it for another year, Glastonbury. All in all, a beautiful weekend of music - and so much more than that. We’ll be reliving these stand-out moments for the next 12 months, as we await the festival’s 50th anniversary this time next year.