Glastonbury Festival ushers in its 40th year

(AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal)

The Glastonbury Festival is set to run from June 23 through 27 in Pilton, England, celebrating its 40th year with a sold-out event and a crowd expected to top 177,000.

Glastonbury, one of the biggest and best-loved music festivals in the world, characterized by its top-notch lineups, varied arts offerings, and wellie or rubber boot-requiring weather conditions.

Gorillaz replaces U2 as the festival's top-billed headliner for the 2010 event; other headliners include Muse and Stevie Wonder, to be joined by Shakira, The Flaming Lips, Pet Shop Boys, Orbital, Vampire Weekend, Jack Johnson, LCD Soundsystem, Norah Jones, Slash, Femi Kuti, Fatboy Slim, Hot Chip, MGMT, Mos Def, and Dizzee Rascal, among many other artists.

For those staying home, a few opportunities are available to keep updated on the happenings at Glastonbury, hear music broadcast live from the festival site, and watch footage and interviews. In the UK, programming on several BBC television stations, including the digital Red Button channel, will feature more than 40 live sets, including those by Gorillaz, Muse, Ray Davies, Jackson Browne, Dizzee Rascal, Florence and the Machine, Willie Nelson, and Snoop Dogg. International fans, meanwhile, can tune in to the Glastonbury radio station, Worthy FM, available to stream online via the festival's website.

Once the event is over, much of the footage and interviews gathered by the BBC will be used to create a documentary of the 2010 festival that will be distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide.

Find out more about the BBC's live coverage: http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2010/

Listen to Worthy FM: http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/news/listen-to-worthy-fm-live

Follow the Glastonbury Live Twitter feed @glastolive: http://www.twitter.com/glastolive

http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk