Glastonbury 2020: Kendrick Lamar joins lineup as festival defies coronavirus fears

Festival is still scheduled to take place in Somerset this June

The first lineup poster for the 50th anniversary of Glastonbury festival has been announced, despite fears that the event would be rescheduled or cancelled due to the coronavirus.

Kendrick Lamar has been revealed as the third headliner, joining Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift at the top of the billing. Diana Ross has been booked to play the Legends' slot.

Thom Yorke, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Dua Lipa, Pet Shop Boys, Phoebe Bridgers, Sinéad O’Connor, Kacey Musgraves, Camila Cabello and more are included in the line-up unveiled on Thursday.

More artists will be announced in the future.

Organisers say the festival is currently still scheduled to go ahead in June despite the coronavirus epidemic.

“As things stand we are still working hard to deliver our 50th anniversary Festival in June and we are very proud of the bill that we have put together over the last year or so,” co-organiser Emily Eavis wrote on social media.

“No one has a crystal ball to see exactly where we will all be 15 weeks from now, but we are keeping our fingers firmly crossed that it will be here at Worthy Farm for the greatest show on Earth!⁣

⁣⁣”As always this is just a taste of what is to come, we plan to announce many more artists and attractions, area by area, over the coming weeks leading up to the full line-up in May.”

Festivals including Coachella and Stagecoach in the US have been postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, while acts including The Who, Madonna and Miley Cyrus have cancelled live dates.

Glastonbury, which draws around 200,000 people to farmland in Somerset, is due to take place from 24 June to 28 June 2020.

Additional reporting by agencies