Noel Gallagher has commented on the state of the popular music festival Glastonbury, saying “it’s gone woke with little fucking idiots waving flags around”. Gallagher has made similar gripes towards the festival in the past, yet despite that, he has also stated that “Don’t get me wrong I fucking love Glastonbury. The festival was probably the best fucking thing about Britain apart from the Premier League.”

Gallagher’s criticism towards this year’s iteration of the festival over the current events in the news regarding war, politics, legislation and various other matters that are making headlines. According to NME, this year’s festival was heightened because it fell right before the UK General Election 2024 and the humanitarian crisis that is occurring in Gaza.

Among the artists who made political statements during sets were PJ Harvey, Damon Albarn, IDLES and Kneecap – who Gallagher watched and later said he “couldn’t believe how enjoyable it was”.

Gallagher continued his criticism of the festival and performers actions during their set as he described his thoughts further: “It’s getting a bit woke now, that place, and a bit kind of preachy and a bit virtue-signaling. I don’t like it in music, little fucking idiots waving flags around and making political statements and bands taking the stage and saying, ‘Hey guys isn’t war terrible, yeah? Let’s boo war. Fuck the Tories man,’ and all that. . . Everybody knows what’s going on in the world, you’ve got a phone in your pocket that tells you anyway. What’s the point of virtue-signaling?”