Glastonbury 2020

Virtual bands, sound confinement systems and anti-mud
technology will shape the Glasto of the future

Future Jam

Some bands stick with guitars, but many of the younger acts have embraced new ways of creating harmonies. Musicians give gesture-based performances by wearing accelerometers, motion capture technology and electromyographs, which interpret movements and bio-data as sound. Some acts experiment with brain-computer interfaces, which analyse brainwaves to make music.

Audience Power

Pressure-sensitive panels are laid under the fields. This ‘crowd-farming’ technology generates energy from the movement of the thousands of people walking around the festival. Near the main stages, electricity produced by crowds jumping up and down is fed directly into the speakers and lights on stage. Bands that underperform suffer the indignity of their sets falling into darkness and silence.

Security

As well as biometric tickets and iris scans at the gates, the fence around the festival perimeter includes motion detectors, and sensors that tell when the fence itself is being tampered with. High above the festival, autonomous surveillance droids continuously stream video back to security personnel. More drugs are seized this year than ever before.

Nano-burgers

Tucked in among the rows of organic food stalls, greasy burger vans serve traditional festival fare. But while the food tastes just like the artery-clogging favourites of old, this is actually healthy eating. The food is nano-engineered to contain less fat and more nutrients – without sacrificing the taste. Packaging is also biodegradable so any missed by robot litter-pickers will help compost the fields.

Emotional Capture

Many revellers wear electronic pendants designed to enhance the festival experience. The jewelry recognises the songs being played, feeding you suggestions for similar, unknown bands. They also record the whole festival so you can relive your favourite moments. Those who play their own instruments can even jam with their heroes by importing recordings into home media studios.

Ticket to Ride

Tickets take the form of messages sent to your GPS-enabled mobile phone. These let you know where your friends are when you get separated. You also get reminders of when your favourite bands are on, and directions back to your tent at the end of each night. Usefully, you can also sign up for updates on which food stalls have the shortest queue and which toilets to avoid at all cost.

Classics Reborn

A new stage is devoted to classic performances from the festival’s history. Archive footage of David Bowie, The Smiths and Radiohead is rendered to produce 3D holograms that live acts can play alongside and walk around. Headlining this year’s festival, however, is none other than Elvis Presley, in a 3D rendition of his 1968 Comeback Special.

What Mud?

Cloud-seeding techniques around the site ensure that rainclouds wring themselves dry before they drift over the festival itself. The rain that does get through has to contend with more extensive drainage and GM grass designed to hold soil together better than ever before. After four mud-free years, festival organisers respond to nostalgic complaints by installing a 50m² mudbath.

Sonic Zoom

Audiences are surrounded by transmitters that fire ultrasound beams. These interfere with each other to produce soundscapes that you can feel as well as hear, while separate software cancels out reverb. Old-timers complain that it’s not the same without reverb, but their grumbles are drowned out by fans of new directional speakers that address different segments of the audience with different sounds.

Toilet Tech

Seats and basins have a nanotech coating that prevents debris from sticking to the surface. After each flush, the seat is rotated through a cleaning module at the back of the toilet that disinfects and warms it for the next user. Despite this – and special air purifiers – the accumulated waste from thousands of people often overpowers the system, so automatic cleanliness updates appear outside each toilet.