‘Ground-breaking’ artistic project coming to Glastonbury Festival 2023

The artistic project will be revealed at Worthy Farm next month (21-25 June).

The artistic pavilion will be home to 6° in the Silver Hayes area of the festival and will showcase "the extraordinary underground network known as mycelium".

The project will also investigate the potential adoption of this biomaterial in the creative industries.

A mycelium is a network of fungal threads and it often grows underground. The fruiting bodies of fungi, such as mushrooms, can sprout from a mycelium.

The project will explore the use of mycelium as a construction material an it will also feature "specially commissioned immersive sound art compositions".

Emily Eavis, co-organiser of Glastonbury Festival, said: "We’re so excited to be bringing this ground-breaking installation to this year’s festival. I hope visitors will flock to Silver Hayes to check out the incredible, sustainable potential of mycelium at the pavilion."

A statement from Glastonbury Festival said: "Inspired by its potential as a new industrial material, a selection of multi-disciplinary practitioners, from film, TV, set design and educational institutes such as Central St Martins, the Royal College of Art and Bath Spa University, will explore artistic expression, creative possibilities and investigate the potential of mycelium. 

“The project aims to demonstrate the opportunity to move away from environmentally impacting materials to a more sustainable fungi future.

"When mycelium is fed with agricultural waste, it forms a construction material, like those you can buy such as polystyrene, foam and plastics, but made entirely organic and compostable. 

“Over a six-week period in the lead up to the installation at Glastonbury, this creative collective will test, manipulate and challenge what is possible with mycelium as a practical material.”

The project will showcase the findings in an exhibition and then publish the results in a report to share with the wider industry. 

The Hayes Pavilion will be a returning platform for artistic research and development at Glastonbury each year, looking at how festivals can be at the forefront of new ideas, materials and products which will potentially help society move towards a more sustainable future. 

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