Glastonbury festival has announced a women-only space

Not everyone is happy though.
 By 
Rachel Thompson
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

LONDON -- Glastonbury is a rock and roll institution at the heart of the British festival scene. A scene that has long been in need of more women.

All that could be about to change, however, as this year Glastonbury is getting its first ever women-only space. 

Sisterhood describes itself as "an intersectional, queer, trans- and disability-inclusive space open to all people who identify as women."


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The space -- which will be located within the festival's Shangri La area -- will play host to "intergenerational workshops", talks, music, dance parties and performances designed to "explore and celebrate everything about being a woman in the world today."

In a description on Facebook, Sisterhood's organisers said that women-only spaces are "necessary in a world that is still run by and designed to benefit mainly men."

"Sisterhood seeks to provide a secret space for women to connect, network, share their stories, have fun and learn the best way to support each other in our global struggle to end oppression against women and all marginalised people, whilst showcasing the best and boldest female talent in the UK and beyond," wrote organisers on Facebook. 

A 2014 investigation by the Daily Telegraph showed that 3.5% of festival acts that year were all-female bands. That pales in comparison to the number of all-male bands that year, which comprised 43%.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Not everyone's over the moon about the venue, however. While many people have taken to social media to express their enthusiasm for the venue, the move has left some men pretty furious...

"Am all for equality but creating gender specific areas is something they do Saudi Arabia," read one tweet. 

"Ops! [sic] it seems @GlastoFest is going backwards. Doesn't it seem a bit segregating to introduce *women-only* venue?" read another. 





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Topics Music

Rachel Thompson, sits wearing a dress with yellow florals and black background.
Rachel Thompson
Features Editor

Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.

A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.

Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.

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