Inside Glastonbury’s secret new Soho House party hub including VIP area, endless free cocktails & special key to get in
MY usual Glastonbury haunt, The Rabbit Hole, is missing from Worthy Farm this year after the White Rabbit hung up his hat.
The parties were legendary and, over the years, I danced there until dawn with celebs including Noel Gallagher, Rita Ora, and Princess Eugenie, while revellers dived into the hot tub after drinking cocktails by the dozen.
But thankfully all is not lost — Soho House has come to the rescue and created a brand new pop-up, which is by far the coolest and most exclusive place to be at this year’s festival.
After the team and I touched down at Worthy Farm yesterday, like a homing pigeon I flew straight over to check it out — my secret “Hideout” entrance key card in hand.
Picante cocktails were already flowing inside the uber-cool area, which has been decked out in classic Soho House style — with beautiful scented candles making me feel like I was in a five-star hotel, not a field packed with Portaloos.
As well as their trademark spicy Picantes, Soho House was serving up Casa Verde cocktails, which tasted just like a Caipirinha, in honour of their new Soho House Sao Paulo venue.
It’s a tough gig, but someone’s got to review them.
And luckily there were plenty of dirty burgers on offer to soak up the booze while I wrote this.
As well as a bar for well-heeled punters, there is a super-exclusive VIP area which, I’ve no doubt, will be packed to the rafters this weekend with big stars such as Dua Lipa and Chris Martin toasting their headline slots.
James Corden is also expected to show face.
Other star names including Russell Crowe and Florence Pugh are at the event, and I would be surprised if I didn’t see them propping up the bar at some point.
While some celebs such as Abbey Clancy and Peter Crouch, plus Romeo and Cruz Beckham, always stay on site, most hole up in the fancy Babington House, which is owned by Soho House and is just up the road in Frome.
Some of the performers are also staying off site and have been booked into a posh four-star hotel nearby, from which they will be flown to the site by helicopter ahead of their performances.
Tonight, once the Soho House pop-up closes, we’ll be heading to NYC Downlow in Block9 — with insiders telling us they are expecting Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott to be there with their mates.
We’ll keep our eyes peeled and bring you all the Glasto gossip tomorrow and over the weekend.
Avril’s Lavigne it large
Avril Lavigne looks in sparkling form ahead of her set at Glasto.
She wore this glitzy purple outfit and hat at Paris Fashion Week, ahead of her journey to Somerset for her Sunday slot on The Other Stage.
She will take to the mic shortly after her fellow Canadian Shania Twain lights up the Pyramid Stage.
Avril is someone who enjoys the finer things in life, and I doubt she will be sticking around in the grubby campsite for too long.
Woody has sets appeal
Zoe Ball and Fatboy Slim’s son Woody Cook is putting his parents to shame with all of his work at the festival.
Woody is DJing four times across the weekend at different venues – kicking off with a 75-minute set at a spot called The Wishing Well this afternoon.
That puts his DJ dad to shame, as the Right Here, Right Now hitmaker is doing half as many, with one set today and one tomorrow.
That also beats Fatboy’s ex-wife Zoe, though.
The Radio 2 presenter will do her show live from Worthy Farm this morning with a load of special guests expected to swing by.
Getting that out of the way by 9.30 am is ideal – she can enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Paul Heaton reckons a very strange ritual is the secret behind his brilliant stage shows.
The singer, who is on the Pyramid Stage this afternoon, explained: “We once saw a list of things at a fishmonger in Limerick, and we memorised them.
“So now we recite the fish shop list while our drummer Pete pours a communion-style quantity of red wine into paper cups and we sip.”
Rip, rip hooray Camila
Camila Cabello let rip on stage in these torn trousers as she prepared for her Glasto debut.
The Cuban star has had a packed week and was snapped here playing in Morocco, before a set at a festival in Denmark tonight and her performance on The Other Stage tomorrow.
Oh, and there’s the small added pressure that her new album is out today.
I expect her to play tracks from the record, C, XOXO, but I’m also told hits including Senorita and Havana will be there.
Annie Mac is so determined to see Irish band Fontaines D.C., she is planning to miss some of her own set.
She is putting on her Before Midnight club night from 7 pm to midnight this evening but is DJing early on, so that she can dash from Stonebridge Bar to the Park Stage to see the group’s set at 11 pm.
Annie said: “I can’t miss this gig.
“It’s going to be major.”
Mike puts the boot into rule
Festival founder and organiser Michael Eavis has a lot on his plate with the festival kicking off, but he has a more pressing issue to have his say on – the offside rule.
Michael said: “I don’t see how they can carry on without altering the rules.
“I think they ought to drop the offside rule.
“It really needs to be scrapped.
“Then there would be more goals.
“And if there are more goals, it’ll be more fun.
“And then everyone’s going to be happier.”
There won’t be any talk of that on Worthy Farm this week though, as no venues on site will be screening England’s Euros game against Slovakia on Sunday.
I’ll just have to just keep my fingers crossed for our boys.
Biz blinds
They are one of TV soap’s best-known faces, but once the cameras are off and they hit Worthy Farm, anything goes.
During one visit to Glasto, Blaank Blaank racked up a line of cocaine and snorted it up their hooter in full view of other celebs in the Rabbit Hole.
It’s not a rare sight at Glastonbury – but it was only just past 6 pm.