A CASUAL amble from the Pyramid, where R&B-rap-pop singer Janelle Monae just gave an explosive performance of bootylicious-cum-Michael Jackson dancing complete with flamboyant costume changes and a powerful speech on gay rights for Pride week, to the nearby Woodsies stage to see Kim Gordon, of Sonic Youth fame, and her band angrily playing a guitar with a screwdriver, is the sort of hilariously at odds vibe change so typical of Glastonbury festival.

Yet this is all part of Glastonbury's magic. Whatever you may think of Coldplay, and Chris Martin’s occasionally irritating messianic twaddle to the audience, the poptastic Dua Lipa or rising star Sza, there’s almost certainly something for even the most hardened of contrarians.

Outside of the eclectic mix of artists, bands and DJs there’s the usual proud political tradition. Flags — an essential if you ever want to meet your friends — were a sea of Palestinian ones this year. And there were references to the ongoing genocide aplenty.

Among the most moving was by Serbian conceptual artist Marina Abramovic, who led a seven-minute silence at the Pyramid — an impressive feat among a crowd of hedonists. 

Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis was on hand to chime a gong at the start and finish while Abramovic encouraged everyone to put their hand on the shoulder of a neighbour for the duration. 

The 77-year-old artist stretched out her arms of her white dress to reveal the symbol of CND — long-standing supporters of the festival. 

She said: “What I’m proposing is something never done in any of the festivals for music’s entire history — I’m proposing you seven minutes of silence.

“There are wars, there is famine, there is protest, there is killing. Here, we will try to do something different.”

She admitted to being “terrified” at the prospect of the stunt failing. But she succeeded, of course, and the risk more than paid off. It turned out to be the perfect introduction to the protest music of singer-songwriter PJ Harvey, who many had come to see. 

The Left Field stage, where revellers are encouraged to “recharge your activism,” saw Welsh singer Charlotte Church sing “free Palestine” to a packed crowd and explained how music and protest “have always been deeply interwound.”

Billy Bragg, the stage’s curator who also performed there, led chants of “ceasefire now” during his set that includes Sexuality, Which Side Are You On and a reworked version of New England to sing “I’m just looking for another girl… or a decent midfielder… or someone to link up with Harry Kane.”

The stage also had its usual pertinent panel debates, of which there was no shortage of topics so close to the general election. Among the strongest was on Palestine, which heard from Shaista Aziz, who became the first councillor to resign from Labour over leader Sir Keir Starmer’s pro-Israel comments. This caused a domino effect that saw the party lose control of Oxford City Council.

In a nod to Labour’s expected victory in the general election, she said it was “inconceivable” that a future prime minister of this country would think it’s OK for Israel to cut off water and electricity in Gaza and to disregard humanitarian law.

She recalled how a Jewish couple recognised her in a supermarket carpark and shook her hand for taking the stance she did, before they all sobbed together.

“It was a very human reaction to what is going on and we have to have the moral courage to call it out,” she said.

Em Hilton, co-founder of British Jewish group Na’amod, which seeks to fight against Israeli occupation, said: “We reject unequivocally a genocide in Gaza and Israeli occupation being done in the name of Jewish safety.

“It’s completely unjust. You do not support Jews by oppressing Palestinians. The focus should be on how to stop the genocide, not what happened on October 7.”

The traditional grandstanding from Trots in the audience saw chair John Harris tell one from Fight Racism Fight Imperialism to “fuck off” during a debate on the housing crisis in an otherwise smooth running of events.

Banksy also made his stamp at the festival this year during a politically charged set by punk-rock band Idles, who led a “fuck the king” chant in a “new national anthem” and yelled “Viva Palestina!”

In a stunt by the anonymous artist, an inflatable small dinghy filled with migrant dummies wearing orange life jackets sailed over the Idles crowd to symbolise small boat crossings.

Migration was a major theme at this year’s festival with new art installation Terminal 1, one of the most original offerings at Glastonbury in years.

Designed as a repurposed airport, the immersive theatre experience sees migrant actors give the largely white Glastonbury audience a taste of what it’s like for them to deal with British border control — with plenty of shouting and barked orders, and which could see them denied entry if they fail to answer a none-too-easy question from the British citizenship test.

Raising awareness of the subject of immigration is all the more important ahead of a general election in which Labour has been dragged into the culture wars and proven barely less draconian on policy than the Tories. Another triumph at Glastonbury.