'I got stuck in the Glastonbury Sugababes crush, here’s the main thing that went wrong'

Dua Lipa might have closed the Pyramid Stage with a bang on Friday night, but Glastonbury’s real headline performance took place hours earlier on West Holts Stage.

A staggering amount of people showed up to watch 00s pop icons Sugababes blast through hits, but their all guns blazing show was tainted by panic in the crowd and people struggled not only to get a glimpse of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and Siobhan Donaghy, but to move at all.

Not long after the trio opened their set with hit Freak Like Me, people in the crowd started expressing concern about being so tightly packed in, with others trying to leave the crowd also vocalising panic.

As soon as I rounded the corner towards West Holts Stage, it quickly became clear that the situation was chaotic. Stewards desperately tried to enforce a one-way system, but eager fans slipped through, with the crowd already pushing people up against the food vendors lining the area. Within minutes of the set it became clear festival organisers had missed a trick: Sugababes should have been on the Pyramid Stage.

Fans were desperate to get a slice of 00s pop nostalgia

The situation quickly became suffocating, with the swarms of people packed on top of each other sucking the joy out of hearing chart-toppers like From Hole in the Head to Freak Like Me and About You Know in the flesh.

It didn’t take long for festival goers and those watching from home to take to X, formerly Twitter, to echo the sentiment. Shortly after the group’s set wrapped, one person wrote online: “Hey @‌glastonbury Do take on some constructive feedback. After shutting down two stages in two years @‌Sugababes deserve to and MUST be on pyramid next time round.” Someone else echoed: “Never seen a crowd like Sugababes at West Holts today. Was there in 2022 when they closed Avalon and same thing happened today. Not sure I’ll see a better show this weekend. Pyramid stage surely next…#sugababes #Glastonbury.”

Another frustrated Sugababes fan penned: “They’ve closed the entire area around the West Holts stage because of the amount of people who want to see Sugababes. Same happened for their Avalon stage set in 2022. It really needs to be more widely acknowledged that they’re one of the toppermost adored groups of their era.”

People seemed just as frustrated over on Reddit, where many accused the festival of overselling tickets. One person said: “It's the one thing I don't like about Glastonbury. Everywhere is totally rammed and you need to arrive an hour or more before any of the bigger sets (Skream & Benga, Barry Can't Swim and the Sugababes worst so far).”

In response, another festival goer said: “This was my experience 2 years ago and it hasn’t changed. They oversell it. It’s not fun.” Hopefully the next time Sugababes return to Worthy Farm, they’ll be on the Pyramid Stage where they belong.

Glastonbury Festival said: "Glastonbury has a robust, dynamic crowd management plan in place to protect the safety of its crowds, working closely with all of the relevant authorities, with measures put in place both in anticipation of and in response to crowd movements.

"Our plans include close monitoring and the ability to pause and stop artists where appropriate, as was the case for Bicep's set at IICON, where a swift show-stop was managed effectively.

"Major artists wanting to perform at smaller stages with limited capacities is part of the magic of Glastonbury. This can mean some fans will be disappointed, but our crowd management plan always puts safety first."