For Glastonbury-goers, the possibilities are vast. Global pop icons, the biggest shows on the planet, celebrity spotting at a Charli XCX DJ set, a secret Irish bar down an obscure burrow that only opens at 4am sharp (and filled with absolute nutters) or a treasure trove of folklore and crafts which form the traditional backbone of the festival. Whatever your bag, bases are covered for over 200,000 attendees at the world’s largest and most beloved festival—from the Ritz to the rubble. 

In the southeasternmost corner of the festival, one will find an oasis for electronic music fans called Block9—the brainchild of Gideön Berger and Stephen Gallagher, two well-seasoned masters of temporary realities and disappearing spaces. Alongside the adjacent Shangri-La and Common areas (also homes for electronic sounds) the South East Corner is a moveable feast of manifold delights for sleepless ravers, comprising two fields of adult entertainment and eye-boggling immersive theatrics, across four spectacularly unique stages which go until 6am. Here I spent joyous hours and hours snaking between like a ferret last weekend. 

In the far corner, there’s ICONN: a colossal video-mapped stage shaped like a giant human head, which Berger and Gallagher grinningly explain is intended to “resemble humanity hurtling towards its demise, whilst staring at a screen” or something to that effect. ICONN is the home of contemporary club sounds, and well-known artists like Afrodeutsche, DJ Python [see zweikommaseiben #28] or DJ Stingray [see zweikommaseiben #15] accompanied by jaw-dropping AV shows until sunrise. In the adjacent quadrant, there’s Genosys, a towering dystopian stage where artists like NIKS, OK Williams and Midland, the latter threw down a typically buoyant sunrise set which stood out as one of the weekend’s highlights with end-of-night nostalgia-inducing heaters like The Human League’s “Seconds” and the sanguine “Notions” by Tommy Vicari Jr., an exquisite sombre but uplifting closing tune, to make jaded dancers feel all kinds of something. 

Then across the lawn, we have NYC Downlow, The Meatrack & Maceo’s (the backstage crew bar). The Downlow is Block 9’s true crown jewel—an abattoir-themed multi-room nightclub founded in 2007 and based on Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and the New York underground clubbing scene of the 1980s. Some amazing DJ talents passed through here across the weekend. To name a few: DJ Spen, Dungeon Meat, Sean McCabe, Peach and Gideön himself delivered knockout sets to which bears, queens and all in between moved fervently between the Downlow and the Meat Rack (room 2), occasionally surfacing for fresh air, cigarettes, and conversations with strangers in the tiny grassed smoking area outside. 

Each night the Downlow draws roadblock queues of eager punters away from the bigger stages, seeking to get themselves a pink furry moustache from the kiosk and enter the hallowed space. It doesn’t matter who is DJing at NYC Downlow it’s always banging, and real superstars are the marginalised people who work and dance there all day and night.

One DJ set made a lasting impression as the sort of rarity that could only happen at Glastonbury—and helps sum up the pure magic of the festival. Word had spread throughout the festival that a pretty special guest was coming through to join legendary DJ and remixer François K for a daytime session on Saturday afternoon coinciding with UK Pride. The Downlow crew and drag queen host Jonny Woo had an earlier-than-usual star and people turned up in droves for K’s epic three-hour afternoon fêté of gayness with ballroom heaters and extended house remixes of classics like “Best of My Love” by The Emotions or Mousse T.’s pounding and rousing club remix of Kano’s Italo hit “I’m Ready”. 

The rumours didn’t disappoint, the icing on the cake was a surprise appearance from Cyndi Lauper who popped down in a Land Rover to perform “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”, flanked by dozens of drag queens impersonating her with vigour. Dozens of topless sweaty individuals scrambled to photograph or just to be near a living icon. It was a heartfelt moment during what already felt like an epic reunion—if you didn’t desperately need a shower afterwards you probably weren’t there. Afterwards, Lauper hung around to compliment all the queens on their outfits.

NYC Downlow has the kind of allure that tempts people back to Block9 each night of the festival, at the expense of eating, sleeping or seeing most other things. There’s good reasons why people often cite it as their favourite club in the world—the year is 1982, mobile phones don’t exist, and nothing else really matters while you are there. The Downlow is as authentic a queer clubbing space as they come and it doesn’t take itself too seriously either. Everyone is welcome as long as they respect each other. This a place of pride, a place of hedonism and above all utmost respect for the spirit of the party. 

The only elephant in the room is the queuing, a byproduct of the success and reputation of the Downlow but also crowd swelling, something that has become an increasingly bigger problem in recent years at the wider festival. On Saturday night the entire field had to be shut down temporarily for crowd control, an issue that was felt at various stages across the weekend. The sheer amount of people attempting to get into Block9 to see Bicep perform caused a complete show stop and roadblocks at various paths and entrances into the area for hours. I witnessed similar things happen during several sets across the weekend: Sugababes at the Other Stage, Charli XCX at Levels in Silverhayes—an area which was upgraded in recent years to spread the rising number of electronic music fans and spread demand for electronic music further across the site. 

This sort of bedlam is expected for Pyramid headliners, but bigger artists playing on smaller stages is said to be “part of the magic of Glastonbury” according to a statement the festival issued to The Guardian. The issue runs deeper than that, Glastonbury maintains its millennial demographic whilst attracting new audiences as taste and programming evolve alongside the festival being bigger than it has ever been combined with online FOMO (before this piece will even be published I have fatigue from looking at Glasto content on Instagram), the demand for electronic music is overwhelming, and each year more and more people want to party late into the night in the South East Corner. Pop culture is constantly shifting and we’re in the middle of a huge swell in the tides for electronic music fans seeking harder faster sounds, at the expense of what? For over 50 years Glastonbury has been ahead of this curve, let’s hope they will navigate forward sharper than ever with their plans. Roll on 2025. It’s giving life.