Technical Glitch Blights Virtual Glastonbury Festival

Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival
Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival
TT

Technical Glitch Blights Virtual Glastonbury Festival

Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival
Reuters file photo of people attending the Glastonbury Festival

A technical fault on Saturday left frustrated fans unable to access Glastonbury Festival's livestream concert at the famous farm site in southwest England, after the coronavirus pandemic led to the blockbuster event's cancellation.

The five-hour virtual show kicked off with a performance by British rockers Wolf Alice, but many ticket-holders, who had paid £20 ($28, 23 euros) to access a stream of the event, complained on Twitter that they missed it as their access codes were invalid.

"You've got thousands and thousands of us tweeting you saying we can't get in due to invalid codes. Almost 10 minutes in and we've all missed the start," wrote Twitter user Aimee Young.

Event producers Driift Live tweeted: "Hello! We're looking into the issues of invalid codes urgently."

Organizers later sent out a free link in time for an atmospheric sunset performance by US pop rock trio Haim in Worthy Farm's stone circle.

They were followed by Glastonbury veterans Coldplay, who performed in front of the skeleton of the Pyramid stage, where the headline acts usually perform.

Frontman Chris Martin joked that he had "never played in front of thousands of cows before" as he and his band braved the rain to perform classic hits such as "The Scientist", "Clocks" and "Fix You".

Other performers include Blur's Damon Albarn and Michael Kiwanuka.

Organizer Emily Eavis, who announced in January that the annual event was cancelled for a second year, said had hoped the event would be "like the festival but without people".

"We're very excited to be able to show the farm in a way that people have never really seen it, with these incredible artists," she told BBC radio.

The event will also be played on delay across four international time zones, with Eavis adding there will be "a number of unannounced surprise performances".

Paul Dugdale, the event's director, said he hoped to recreate the event's sense of adventure.

"The overarching vision of it was to... just try and take people on a bit of a journey.

"Glastonbury is an adventure, and you never quite know what's around the corner and often the best parts of the festival are the parts you weren't expecting, and that's really fun," he said.



Taylor Swift Makes Surprise Visit to Kansas City Children’s Hospital

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)
US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)
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Taylor Swift Makes Surprise Visit to Kansas City Children’s Hospital

US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)
US singer-songwriter Taylor Swift arrives for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. (AFP)

Taylor Swift has made a surprise stop at a Kansas City children’s hospital, shocking parents and patients alike as she laughed with them, posed for photos and exchanged gifts.

All parent Cassie Thomas was told beforehand was that she might want to brush her hair and teeth because there was going to be a special visitor. But she was stunned when Swift, fresh off her Eras Tour and one day before her 35th birthday, walked into her son's room on Thursday at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.

“No rumors. Like, we literally had absolutely no idea this was happening,” Thomas recalled.

Her 13-year-old son, Beckett Thomas, is a cancer patient and a fan of Swift's Kansas City Chiefs tight-end boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Beckett uses a 3D printer to make earrings bearing his and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes' names, walking around the hospital unit selling them to nurses.

Now, Swift has a pair as well.

“She was amazing,” Beckett's mom said. “So down to earth.”

Another patient told Swift that her favorite song was “Love Story" and they later discussed the song “Paper Rings,” in which Swift sings, “I'd marry you with paper rings.” When their conversation veered to discussion of San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy, whose team played the Chiefs in the Super Bowl earlier this year, Swift expressed surprise.

“Brock Purdy, What? I mean, I don’t mind Brock Purdy.” Swift said, then continued: “He put me through a lot last February.”

Asked before the Super Bowl whether he was prepared to disappoint Swift, Purdy responded: “Yes.”

The game ended with Mahomes rallying the Chiefs to their second straight Super Bowl title, 25-22 over the 49ers in overtime.

“I was very stressed for a second, but it all ended up fine,” Swift told the girl, their recorded conversation posted online.

The girl then chimed in: “I like Travis now.” Swift responded with: “Me too. That’s an absolute yes on that one."

There is no word on whether Swift will be in the stands when the Chiefs play the Browns on Sunday in Kelce’s hometown of Cleveland.