George Ezra and Jack White are among the acts who are performing secret sets at Glastonbury.
The festival’s belated 50th anniversary has officially kicked off, and speculation has been rife about who might be filling the missing lineup slots.
The 2022 schedule already includes huge names like Paul McCartney, Billie Eilish and Diana Ross, but there are still a few spaces left for some surprise performances.
Past secret sets have seen the likes of Lady Gaga, Franz Ferdinand and Pulp perform.
Aside from word of mouth, news of who the TBA performers has been known to travel via Twitter account @Secretglasto, which claims to notify followers of suspected performances a few hours before they start.
The account, which has over 37,000 followers at the time of writing, has previously been correct on past Glastonbury surprises such as The Killers (2017), The Libertines (2015) and Glass Animals (2017).
Who are the most rumoured acts for 2022?
Bastille, who did indeed play on Thursday 23 June, had been one of the most rumoured acts to perform after a photo emerged on a Twitter.
The @Secretglasto account, which has successfully predicted many other rumoured sets in the past, posted an image of peace sign on the Pyramid stage with the caption: “I think if Bastille had the nuclear codes and had to keep them secret, we’d all be dead. #CND.”
George Ezra and Jack White, meanwhile, both confirmed on Sunday that they were set to play sets at the festival.
Ezra takes the stage at 2pm, while White is set to perform at 6pm.
It is also suspected that George Ezra will be playing the John Peel stage on Sunday (26 June), after a photo emerged on Instagram of a sign marked “Gold Rush Kid, John Peel Stage - 2pm”.
The singer’s recent album is titled Gold Rush Kid, leading Twitter account @TheGlastoThing to suggest that he could be filling the highly anticipated slot.
Harry Styles is also being mentioned in speculative conversations about secret sets, with rumours suggesting he could be joining Billie Eilish on the Pyramid Stage during her Friday night headline slot.
Originally a rumoured headliner himself, Styles was not listed on the confirmed lineup. He does, however, still have the majority of the weekend free in between tour dates.
With a Dublin show on Wednesday (22 June) and a Hamburg show in Germany on the Sunday (26 June), fans think he could be surprising festival goers.
It is also thought that US band Green Day might be making an appearance. The band have never played the festival before but previously performed a secret set at Reading Festival in 2012.
The rock band of “American Idiot” fame are currently touring the UK but have a gap in their dates on the Sunday (26 June) of Glastonbury, leaving fans to speculate about a possible performance.
Further fuel has been added to the fire due to the fact that the tour’s support band Amyl and the Sniffers are playing the John Peel stage on Sunday (26 June), exactly where Green Day have their gap.
Elton John was a rumoured name, too, with gaps in his tour dates back in 2019 before the festival was cancelled for two years running due to the pandemic.
With the artist currently touring the UK, speculation has started again over whether the Rocket Man could be doing a surprise performance at Worthy Farm.
Currently, John has a space between shows on the Saturday of the festival (25 June) after performing on the Friday (24 June) at London’s BST Hyde Park series.
Arcade Fire and The Chemical Brothers are also among the speculations.
It has also been suggested that Florence + The Machine turned down the opportunity to fill one of the secret slots at this year’s festival.
How to get in the know
Once the festival starts, rumours as to who are playing the secret sets become even more prominent, with word of mouth from festival workers circulating gossip.
If you want even more of a chance to get in on the surprise, this Twitter account claims to get wind of sets a few hours before they happen.
All of the unannounced set times across Glastonbury 2022
William’s Green, 7.45pm-8.25pm on Thursday
William’s Green, 9pm-10pm on Thursday
BBC Introducing Stage, 7.55pm-8.55pm on Friday
Arcadia, 11pm on Friday - 1am on Saturday
BBC Introducing Stage, 1pm-1.30pm on Saturday
BBC Introducing Stage, 7.15pm-7.45pm on Saturday
John Peel Stage, 2pm-3pm on Sunday
The Park Stage, 6.15pm-7.15pm on Sunday
BBC Introducing Stage, 7.45pm-8.15pm on Sunday
Glade Stage, 0.10am-1.30am on Monday
If you’re not attending the festival, find out how to watch it live here and check out our list of the most tricky set clashes here.
