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Glastonbury Festival 2016

Wednesday 22nd to Sunday 26th June 2016
Worthy Farm, Pilton, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 4AZ, England MAP
£228 - SOLD OUT

Daily capacity: 203,000

Glastonbury Festival has launched the Emerging Talent Competition 2016. The return of the annual search for unsigned bands and solo artists which will give new artists from the UK and Ireland the chance to compete for a slot on one of Worthy Farm's famous main stages at this year's festival.

For the 2016 competition, acts will be able to enter for one week only from 9am on Monday, 18th January until 5pm on Monday, 25th January via the official Glastonbury Festival website.

The competition is open to all bands and performers who are not signed to a major label and based in the UK or Ireland. Entrants from any musical genre can follow in the footsteps of previous ETC competitors, who include M+A, Bridie Jackson and The Arbour, Isaiah Dreads, Stornoway, Scouting For Girls, We Have Band, Liz Green, Ellen and the Escapades, The Subways, The Travelling Band and, last year, Declan McKenna, Shields, K.O.G & the Zongo Brigade, and Izzy Bizu.

Entries for Glastonbury Festival's ETC2016 will be FREE during the competition week (ETC rules and conditions apply).

Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said, "New music has always been a huge part of what we do at Glastonbury, and the Emerging Talent Competition has become an incredible way for us to discover – and help draw attention to – the very latest talent."

The winners of the free-to-enter competition will also be awarded a £5,000 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize, to help take their songwriting and performing to the next level. Two runners-up will also each be awarded a £2,500 PRS for Music Foundation Talent Development prize.

To enter, acts will need to supply a link to one original song on SoundCloud, plus a link to a video of themselves performing live (even if it's only in a bedroom). . The entry form will be on the official Glastonbury website. For more information, and full details of the ETC2016 rules and conditions, please see www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk.

Once the entries are in, a newly-recruited panel of around 40 of the UK's top music bloggers will help compile a longlist of 120 acts. The longlist will then be whittled down to a shortlist of eight acts by judges including Glastonbury organisers Michael and Emily Eavis, before a live final showcase in April decides the winning act.

Glastonbury has been running a competition to find the greatest Emerging Talent for the last seven Festivals, and the winners will be following in the footsteps of previous winners Declan McKenna (2015), M+A (2014), Bridie Jackson and The Arbour (2013), Treetop Flyers(2011), Ellen and the Escapades (2010), We Have Band (2009), Golden Silvers, and The Travelling Band (2008), Liz Green (2007), The Deadbeats (2005), Blackbud, and The Subways (2004).

Glastonbury's Emerging Talent Competition is the best way to get your music listened to by many of the stage and area programmers involved in the Festival.

Vanessa Reed Executive Director of PRS for Music Foundation said, "This is a brilliant opportunity for up-and-coming music creators from across the UK to get vital support at an early stage in their music careers, to develop their talent and also perform at the iconic Glastonbury festival. We’re looking forward to seeing which talented new artists apply."

Tickets for Glastonbury have completely sold out, although there is likely to be a resale of returned tickets in the spring, and eFestivals will let ticket buyers know beforehand when the re-sale will be.

Glastonbury Festival runs for five full days from Wednesday 22nd until Sunday 26th June 2016 across over a 1,000 acres of beautiful countryside at Worthy Farm, Pilton in Somerset.

As ever, entry includes a free programme. Once again, the Festival will be raising more than £2 million in funds for Oxfam, Wateraid, Greenpeace and and hundreds of other worthy causes, both local and international.

There are no acts confirmed yet for 2016, the line-up will not be announced until spring. Expect something like 2,000 performances at over 100 venues including music, cabaret, theatre, circus, a fantastic Kidz area, poetry, green crafts and information, site art, decor, and loads, loads more ... much more than just the music, so make sure you check it all out!

As usual eFestivals will bring you the very best-sourced rumours, allowing festival-goers to see who is playing long before the bands are formally announced - keep your eyes on the Glastonbury 2016 rumours, updated as we receive information.

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