The Glastonbury Festival’s first livestreamed event didn’t exactly go according to plan. The BBC reports that organizer Emily Eavis has apologized after thousands of ticket holders faced technical trouble that either locked them out from the start of the May 22nd virtual performance or kicked them out later on. The festival team made a free stream available around 9PM local time, but you could only rewind that by an hour the earliest parts of the gig were inaccessible.
Driift, the operators for the event, promised access to the May 23rd live streams as well a link that would let them watch through May 30th. People who couldn’t tune in for later showings were also promised ticket refunds.
This isn’t the first time an online concert has run into trouble, and there have been plenty of digital performances that have gone off without a hitch. However, Glastonbury is one of the largest music festivals on the planet and the stream was meant to support charities and music industry staff who’ve been unable to work due to the pandemic. The technical issues soured an important moment, and not everyone will have the opportunity to watch again.
