Glastonbury 2024: Emerging Talent Competition finalists announced
Every year, the Emerging Talent Competition at Glastonbury allows one new act with the opportunity of a lifetime to perform at the world’s premier music festival.
Previous winners of the competition include She Drew The Gun and Declan McKenna, who has gone on to achieve significant success since he won it as a teenager in 2015. The Emerging Talent Competition proved to be a pivotal springboard, which allowed McKenna to build a loyal following and achieve stardom.
In addition to achieving national attention and a slot at the esteemed festival, the winners of the Emerging Talent Competition will also receive a £5,000 Talent Development prize from the PRS Foundation, which will help acts record material during economically crippling times, especially for unsigned artists.
After initially revealing a longlist of 90 acts, this has now been whittled down to eight, and those are, The Ayoub Sisters, Bryte, Caleb Kunle, JayaHadADream, KID 12, Nadia Kadek, Olivia Nelson, and Problem Patterns.
Sharing their delight with followers on X, The Ayoub Sisters wrote: “We’re so unbelievably excited to announce that we’ve reached the final of the 2024 Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition. We’ll be competing in the live final on April 27th for a slot on one of the main stages.”
On April 27th, all eight of the acts will discover their Worthy Farm fate when they appear at the invite-only final. In addition to crowning a winner, two runners-up will each receive a £2,500 Talent Development prize from the PRS Foundation.
In a statement, Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis said of the competition: “At a time when it’s not always easy for acts to get their foot on the ladder, we’re really happy to be able to offer this opportunity for rising artists. So many amazing acts have been showcased by the Emerging Talent Competition over the years – and, as with the Festival, we welcome artists from all musical genres.”
This year’s event will be headlined by Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA, who will each take to the Pyramid Stage at Pilton. Meanwhile, Shania Twain has been confirmed for the legend’s slot.
Other acts who will appear across the weekend include LCD Soundsystem, Little Simz, Idles, The National, The Streets, Michael Kiwanuka, Fontaines D.C., Bloc Party, The Last Dinner Party, Jungle, Disclosure, Jamie XX, PJ Harvey, Janelle Monae, Sampha, James Blake, Sleaford Mods and Avril Lavigne.
Tickets for the event sold out in under an hour, even before a line-up was revealed. However, those who weren’t successful in the ballot shouldn’t get their hopes up when the resale tickets become available, as Eavis recently said: “Just heard that we had our highest percentage of ticket balances paid ever. Incredible. Thanks so much everyone. There will be a resale of the (very limited) returned tickets later this month. Info to follow on that.”
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