Streakers, heat seekers and all-star surprises: Saturday at Glastonbury 2023 – photo essay

Saturday started off on a bum note as a streaker protested at the Park stage during Tilda Swinton’s spoken word appearance with modern classical composer Max Richter. Meanwhile, opening up the Pyramid, Rick Astley brought Harry Styles covers, self-deprecating humour and that big hit.

A man is removed from the pit area during a performance by Max Richter on the Park stage. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Raye performing on the Pyramid stage. Photograph: Dave Hogan/Shutterstock

Raye followed Rick on the Pyramid, graduating to pop’s big leagues with a glamorous backing band and a show that took in the breadth of her pop, dance, and moody chart-topping R&B.

Fans with fans! Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

It was the second scorcher in a row – and an even less forgiving one, with little cloud cover. Punters were grasping for brollies, fans and all manner of other cooling devices.

Light and shade at Glastonbury festival. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Rebel yell: Billy Idol on the mic. Photograph: Guy Bell/Shutterstock

Billy Idol of Generation Sex, his rather confidently named supergroup with Tony James of Generation X, plus Steve Jones and Paul Cook of Sex Pistols.

Aitch taunts the Pyramid crowd on Saturday afternoon. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

Manchester rapper Aitch will have won over thousands of new fans with a set of ultra-confident, masterful mic work and genuinely funny banter – such as casually asking for security to eject a Man City fan. This was photographer Jill Mead’s first experience in the pit at Glastonbury, and she came back buzzing.

Maggie Rodgers at the Other stage. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

On the Other stage, Maggie Rogers faced down the awesome intensity of the afternoon sun for a set of strident, emotionally literate pop-rock.

Lewis Capaldi on the Pyramid stage. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Having taken a hiatus from touring to prepare for Glastonbury, Capaldi’s voice failed him on a couple of occasions – but the chanted support from the crowd made this set the most moving of the day.

Rapper Central Cee and friend on the Other stage. Photograph: Joseph Okpako/WireImage

Sweet child o’ mine? On the Other stage, Central Cee brought out the baby that features in the video to chart-topping track Sprinter – oh, and the song’s other A-list MC, Dave.

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders on the Park stage with guest Johnny Marr. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

As dusk fell at the Park, it was time for some more surprise guests. Paul McCartney appeared but didn’t actually perform – instead it was left to Johnny Marr on guitar and Dave Grohl on drums to bring the musical support.

Dusk settles as Guns N’ Roses play out the Pyramid on Saturday night Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Guns N’ Roses closed the Pyramid out on Saturday night with an epically long and magnificently overwrought show of rock’n’roll theatrics.

Guardian photographer Jonny Weeks gets a leg up from a kind punter to take pictures of Guns N’ Roses. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

They operated a closed photographers pit, so our team had to improvise ways to get the shots they needed – including commandeering random strangers’ shoulders.

People watching a set by Skream B2B at Arcadia. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

A late night ice cream van at the Arcadia district. Photograph: Jonny Weeks/The Guardian

By the end of the night Arcadia was bouncing and some festival goers needed an ice cream to cool off.