Glastonbury Festival welcomes back fans after pandemic

Thousands of people are returning to England's Glastonbury Festival as the five-day music and performing arts event reopened on June 22 for the first time in three years after being disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Headliners on the main Pyramid Stage include former Beatle Paul McCartney, U.S. singer Eilish and rapper Lamar.

Other big-name performers on the bill are soul legend Diana Ross, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, New Zealand singer-songwriter Lorde and electro-pop duo Pet Shop Boys.

McCartney, who turned 80 on June 18, will become the oldest headliner to play at the festival when he performs the coveted Saturday night slot.

Other acts include Oasis star Noel Gallagher, U.S. pop-rockers Haim, electro pioneer Herbie Hancock and veteran Australian indie band Crowded House.

Festival-goers started lining up to enter the gates at Worthy Farm in Somerset, southwest England early. Many struggled to get to the site because the festival coincided with the largest rail strike that Britain has seen in decades.

Hundreds of people waited with their bags at London's Paddington Station to try to get on a train to the festival.

Camilla Seward, 26, described feeling "abject panic" when the rail strikes were announced.

"It is my first-ever actual festival. We bought the ticket nearly three years ago. I've been so stressed out about getting there that I haven't even thought about who I am excited to see," she said.

Jenna Conway, 30, thought she could beat travel disruption by getting to Paddington eaerly, but she and a friend were left queuing for hours.

"We got here three hours ahead of our train, we were stupid, we just thought we could jump on any train. We thought they would be kind because of...