While it’s far from the first time that mushrooms and Glastonbury have found themselves appearing together in a sentence, this year’s edition of the festival is nonetheless playing host to a fungi first.

Given the festival’s longstanding connection with nature – a deep-rooted link which very much extends to the sleepy-yet-ever-so-slightly-off English town of Glastonbury itself – that the 210,000-person gathering has sustainability practices in place should hardly be surprising.

In fact, the Worthy Farm festival has its own on-site recycling plant, maintains a commitment to lower-impact fuel usage – which ranges from solar power to a temporary wind turbine to hydrotreated vegetable oil for generators – and has donated numbers in the millions to charitable partners like Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid.

All of which, of course, is very impressive. But it’s a new development for the 2023 festival that’s catching our eye: a pavilion, marking the 10th anniversary of the electronic music-focused Silver Hayes area, created from mycelium biomaterial.

With timber frame supports – because, let’s face it, as much fun as it sounds to be enveloped by a giant mushroom at Glastonbury, this isn’t quite the way you’re imagining it – the Silver Hayes Pavilion is made from a particular strain [of mycelium] that works well when you bind it with agricultural waste.” Project lead Ben Price, however, noted that “in the future this could be used with other types of waste like plastic” – a potentially groundbreaking step in dealing with the delicate balance of waste vs. progress.

The Pavilion will function not only as a celebration of Silver Hayes’ landmark birthday, but also as a place of education: a community space to articulate the sustainability potential of mycelium, particularly in regard to festivals, as a replacement for planet-harmful materials like polystyrene and single-use plastics.

If you’re planning to be at Worthy Farm between Wednesday 21st and Monday 26th June, consider setting aside some time for the Silver Hayes Mycelium Pavilion. Or, if you’re not going – or maybe just don’t want to interrupt your festival experience – you can wait for the follow-up documentary.