'I was eight when I first performed at Glastonbury'

Many teenagers heading to Glastonbury this weekend will be getting their first taste of a festival.

But at 18, Dan Ottewell is already a veteran of Glasto and has been playing its stages for a decade.

Singer songwriter Dan, from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, said he first performed at Glastonbury's The Glade and Spike stages at the age of eight "after blagging his way on stage" - going on to play a dozen times before this year.

While the Pyramid Stage is reserved for the likes of The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo for now, the teenager will be racing around to perform five slots across the site this year - or more if anywhere else will let him on stage.

With his confirmed 2025 shows his total at Glastonbury will hit 17 sets, and getting 12 under his belt before turning 18 "is undoubtedly a record" for Worthy Farm, he said.

He told BBC Introducing East Midlands: "I did my first performance with the Greenpeace kids' band because I blagged my way on.

"There was a project going on where you did an audition and if you got in you were in this band which played the Glade and the Spike - that was my debut, I'd never been on a stage before."

As a teenager, Dan developed his singer-songwriter chops and during the pandemic recorded a demo at home.

He said: "I sent it off to all my favourite artists like Billy Bragg, Ferocious Dog, Levellers, Frank Turner - luckily they all got back to me.

"Since then I've been touring, recording, I've just been loving it.

"I was absolutely blessed to be asked to support Frank Turner at Rock City. I got to play to a sold out Rock City.

"I've seen so many bands there, I've even broken my nose in the mosh pit, so to be on stage was insane."

One running theme of Dan's career has been his shows at Glastonbury, which included three performances at the 2015 and 2017 festivals.

Dan's first show of 2025 was on Wednesday at the At The Woods stage as campers were arriving, while Friday will see shows at the Fox and Badger at 16:00 BST and Sunny's Bar at 22:15.

On Saturday, he is due to play the Open Arms at 15:15, and return to At The Woods at 18:00, although Dan said: "If anyone on site has any free gigs, I'll do even more!"

Other Derbyshire acts performing at this year's festival include Littleover's pop singer Alessi Rose, who will play the Other Stage on Saturday lunchtime.

She said playing Glastonbury was "a dream" and added: "My mum cried when she found out - and she's not a crier."

Alt-country act Divorce, whose lead singer Felix Mackenzie-Barrow hails from Derby, are booked on the Greenpeace and BBC Introducing stages on Saturday and Sunday, while Girlband!, a Nottingham-based rock band with Bakewell connections, are on the Leftfield stage on Saturday afternoon.

Married couple Lilla Shy and Tom Bright, of Little Eaton, will both perform shows, while Ashbourne singer-songwriter Paris Paloma and punk act Pet Needs, from Derby, are also playing.

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