Stephen Hawking Booked on Glastonbury’s ‘Kidz Field’
Stephen Hawking has been booked as a special guest at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. The renowned physicist, mathematician and professor will appear, oddly enough, at the Kidz Field alongside beloved children’s entertainers like Dynamo the magician, New Zealand songster Mr. Yipadee and his good pal, Wonky Donkey.
It’s unclear what Hawking will be doing on the Kidz Field. Perhaps he’ll regale the youngsters with his smash hit musings on gravitational singularity, kick out the cosmological jams enumerated in A Brief History of Time or further promote the study of theoretical physics by teasing the potential existence of an alternate universe in which Zayn Malik never left One Direction.
The Kidz Field will also feature Alex Winters and Katy Ashworth, regulars on the BBC’s children’s network CBeebies, and performances from various children’s theater troupes like Tucked in Theater, DNA Theatre and Rhubarb Theatre. The Field will also boast various rides, such as a Vintage Helter Skelter and the Kidz Field Castle, and activities, all presented free of charge (children 12 and under are admitted free to Glastonbury).
This year’s Glastonbury Festival will take place June 24th through the 28th, with headliners Foo Fighters, Kanye West and the Who joining Florence and the Machine, Pharrell Williams, Alabama Shakes, Lionel Richie, Deadmau5, Patti Smith and many more.
As for Hawking, the beloved scientist continues to expand his cultural reach, especially in music. Last year, he recorded a new version of Monty Python’s “Galaxy Song,” which was played during the comedy troupe’s reunion shows in London and later released as a limited-edition seven-inch on Record Store Day. Hawking also reunited with Pink Floyd for the track “Talkin’ Hawkin'” on their 2014 LP, The Endless River. The scientist had previously narrated “Keep Talkin'” off Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell.