Neil Young’s set clash with Charli XCX might be the big Glastonbury 2025 talking point, but it could be another Saturday night headliner who gives fans a scheduling headache

If the organisers of the Glastonbury Festival were looking for a way to learn more about the demographics of their audience - and where they might be heading in the future - they could hardly have done better than schedule Neil Young and Charli XCX to play at the same time on their two biggest stages.

Young, the grizzled folk-rock-country warrior who eventually confirmed himself as a Pyramid Stage headliner by first saying he wasn’t going to play, will seemingly be facing off against the British electronic pop superstar on the Saturday night of this year’s festival, when she takes to the Other Stage at the same time.

Such is the culture clash between the two artists - and the make-up of their respective fanbases - we’re guessing that there won’t be many Glastonbury goers agonising over whose set they’ll be happy to miss. Of course, there are other stages (other than than Other Stage, that is), but the ‘Neil Young vs Charli XCX’ chat is already being heard, and it’s only going to get louder in the build-up to the festival, which runs from 25-29 June.

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That said, some of those who are considering taking in Charli XCX’s set may face a dilemma when they learn that breakout hip-hop star Doechii, who recently wowed at the Grammy Awards, will be headling the West Holts stage at the same time. Field space for these two performances will be in equally high demand, we suspect; in fact, British DJs Annie Macmanus and Nick Grimshaw, who broke the news of who’s playing where and when on their Sidetracked podcast, speculated that organisers may have intentionally clashed Charli with Doechii in a bid to spread the younger crowd a little wider.

Speaking of which, the Gen Z contigent are sure to be out in force for Olivia Rodrigo. Based on sales and current streaming metrics - not to mention her ability to put on a high-energy live rock show - Rodrigo deserves her shot at headlining the Pyramid Stage on the Sunday night.

However, there will undoubtedly be grumbles from those who argue that she’s ‘not right’ for the slot - whatever that means - and it’s to be hoped that she doesn’t suffer the same fate as SZA, whose festival-closing Pyramid Stage set last year featured a noticeably thin audience.

We somehow doubt it, though - Rodrigo's previous appearance at the festival, in 2022, was massively oversubscribed - and we’d be equally surprised if the 1975, the Friday night Pyramid Stage headliners, didn’t also pull in a significant crowd, despite their capacity to divide opinion.

And opinion is all this is about, really. The Glastonbury bookers must know by now that, whoever they have on the bill, there will always be those ready to call it ‘the worst line-up ever’, but such is the scale of the festival that, if you don’t want to watch someone, you can always go somewhere else.