A 4K restoration of Glastonbury: The Movie will return to UK cinemas on Friday 26 June, marking three decades since the film’s original release and the 1993 festival it documents.
The theatrical run spans 62 screens across Britain and lands on a date that would typically host the festival, though 2026 is a scheduled fallow year for the event.
Restoration Details
The 2026 version has been struck from the original 35mm Panavision CinemaScope negative, with enhancements to both picture and sound quality.
Historical Significance
First released in 1996, the documentary draws entirely on footage from the 1993 Glastonbury festival, offering a portrait of the event before live BBC broadcasts, camera-equipped mobile phones and the modern ticket ballot system became standard.
The 1993 edition was the final Glastonbury held before the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act took effect, legislation that significantly expanded government powers to regulate rave culture, free parties and outdoor music gatherings. The film also became the first feature to receive funding from the newly established National Lottery, distributed through the BFI (British Film Institute).
Director’s Perspective
Robin Mahoney, director and head of Mensch Films, reflected on the project’s unintended historical value:
“Shooting in 1993 gave us something we only fully appreciated in retrospect. Television cameras had not yet arrived at Glastonbury, the first live broadcast came in 1994 and British popular culture was on the cusp of a seismic shift. What feels like recent history now reads as another era entirely.”
“Because we set out to capture the experience of being at the festival from the ground up, from the perspective of a festival-goer rather than a camera pointed at a stage, the film has become an inadvertent portrait of British life at a particular moment.”
Related Archival Release
In April, a new photobook was announced that documents Glastonbury scenes between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m.
