The excellent Glastonbury clean-up is underway as thousands return home after a weekend of music.
About 1,000 volunteers picked up litter on Monday morning to restore the 800-acre site at Worthy Farm to its normal state when revellers don’t populate it.
It is thought that 210,000 people attended the festival from Wednesday until Sunday, headlined by Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Elton John across three days of music.
Elton John brought the festival to a close on Sunday night on the Pyramid Stage with a set laden with hits.
Volunteers worked across the site on Monday with rubbish bags as they picked up litter.
They waded through a sea of rubbish, plastic bags, tents and laughing gas canisters left by festival-goers.
They separated the waste to ensure that it could be recycled or composted.
The rubbish before the Pyramid Stage had already been cleared by mid-morning.
Once cleaned, the site will be returned to a farm and used as a cow grazing field.
According to event co-organiser Emily Eavis, the clean-up operation can cost as much as £500,000 to restore the site to normal yearly.
It is estimated that more than 2,000 tonnes of waste – nearly 10kg per visitor – is left behind yearly at the festival. However, last year 99% of tents were taken home.
One volunteer, Rocky, told Somerset Live that the clean-up operation had worsened in previous years.
“I came down this morning and thought ‘, this doesn’t look bad’, considering there were about a quarter of a million people here,” he said.
The clean-up operation is already underway, with tonnes of rubbish expected to be collected.
The festival has implored music fans to take everything home with them, writing on Twitter: “When packing up your tent, please put your rubbish in the bin bags provided by campsite stewards and take home all of your belongings to use again next time. Thank you. Love the farm, leave no trace.”
Drivers were encouraged to leave the site before 7 am on Monday to avoid queues and were urged to have food, drink and supplies in their car during long waits.
Advice for those with cars said: “From 8 am until 5 pm on Monday, there are likely to be queued as our stewards work hard to help all the cars which arrived over three days to leave in one day.
“None of the staff can go home until you have, so please be calm, respectful and understanding.”
According to Somerset Council, roads were busy but moving well on Monday morning.
Avon and Somerset Police recorded 120 incidents, a force spokesman said.
This included 27 thefts, 20 drug offences and seven sexual assaults. A total of 35 arrests were made. The figures included incidents and arrests on and off-site, around the perimeter, on approach roads, and in the car parks.
The clean-up and journey home bring to a close three days of music at the festival, with Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses and Sir Elton John all headlining.
Sir Elton brought the festival to a close on Sunday night in what was billed as his final UK show before he retires from touring at the end of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.
He treated fans to hit after hit on the Pyramid Stage, delivering a “special and emotional” two-hour set that included crowdpleasers such as Rocketman, Tiny Dancer, Your Song, and I’m Still Standing.
He also surprised the crowd with unexpected musical guests, putting paid to rumours of big names and famous collaborators.
He opened the show with Pinball Wizard, sitting at the piano as fireworks went off.
After performing The Bitch Is Back, Sir Elton told the crowd: “I never thought I would ever play Glastonbury, and here I am.
“It’s an extraordinary and emotional night for me because it might be my last show ever in England, so I had better play well, and I had better entertain you; you’ve been standing there so long, and I appreciate all the outfits and everything.”
He then launched into renditions of Benny And The Jets, Daniel, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues.
Instead of collaborators like Dua Lipa and Britney Spears, Sir Elton was joined by friends and musicians he admires, starting with Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, who came on stage for Are You Ready For Love?
US singer Stephen Sanchez joined him to perform Sanchez’s song Until I Found You, while The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers came out for Tiny Dancer.
His final guest was Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama, who performed Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.
Sir Elton paid tribute to a collaborator who could not join him on stage as he launched into Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, saying: “This is a fantastic day today; I wondered how I was going to approach it.
