Ros Atkins and Crissy Criss sample Glastonbury’s Emily Eavis on new track, ‘The Festival Is Here’

Crissy Criss and Ros Atkins have collaborated on a new track ahead of the latter’s Glastonbury drum & bass takeover. Listen to a snippet below.

‘The Festival Is Here’ is inspired by the feeling of anticipation on the Wednesday and Thursday of the legendary Somerset bash, and combines elements of ’90s jungle and contemporary d&b. The track was produced by BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Crissy Criss specifically for tomorrow night’s Rave Machine takeover, helmed by BBC news broadcaster and DJ Ros Atkins.

“Once I knew Rave Machine was going to be on the Thursday evening, I started thinking about whether we could make a track that captures people’s excitement on the Thursday of the festival,” Atkins told DJ Mag. “It also needed to be a track that matched my hope that Rave Machine will be a high-energy and euphoric experience.”

‘The Festival Is Here’ features a variety of samples including an interview Atkins did with Glastonbury organiser, Emily Eavis, as well as voice notes from Radio 1 listeners sharing their personal experiences at the festival with Greg James, whose show Atkins featured on last week.

“Writing chords is one thing, but layering those with real voices, real emotions, and real experiences—that’s where it hits differently,” Crissy Criss explained. “When Greg’s listeners sent in their voice notes, and we merged Emily’s beautiful words about Glastonbury into the project, everything just clicked.

“Ros had this vision of capturing people’s stories and blending them with the music—and honestly, it worked like gold.”

The tune was created as a follow-up to last year’s drum & bass remix of David Lowe’s BBC News theme, which was the star of Atkins’ debut Glastonbury set.

“Following up a BBC News theme remix is some seriously big boots to fill!,” Crissy Criss shared. “But even before Ros pitched the idea, I was already in, haha. There’s something about wild challenges I just can’t say no to. That’s the thing with d&b and Jungle—it’s an inquisitive, open-minded community. When two completely different worlds collide but both understand the genre, anything is possible.”

“‘The Festival Is Here’ is emotional, uplifting, energetic, and hard-hitting—all in one,” he continued. “Only a jungle tune can hold that many emotions at once. It genuinely takes you on a journey. In my honest opinion, it’s great! I’ve definitely had a few mini rave moments in the studio while making it. Getting Tertia May on the vocals to add something people could sing along to topped it all off—it brought the whole thing to life.”

Glastonbury attendees can hear the track being played out tomorrow night (Thursday 26th June) on the Stonebridge stage during Crissy Criss’s Rave Machine DJ set. The takeover will also feature appearances from BBC Radio 1’s Danny Howard, Charlie Tee from 1Xtra and DJ Rap, as well as MCs Inja and Chickaboo.

“I can’t wait to hear it through the Stonebridge soundsystem,” said Atkins. “Not just that, Greg James is going to join Crissy on stage to introduce the tune. That could be a moment!”

You can listen to a snippet from the track on DJ Mag’s Instagram post below.

Atkins joined Greg James on the Radio 1 Breakfast show last week week to chat about Rave Machine. You can listen back to the interview via BBC Sounds (from 9’38).

The gates have officially opened at Glastonbury 2025 today, 25th June, and the festival will run right through until the 29th. The 1975, Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo are due to headline, and the likes of The Prodigy, Charli XCX, Four Tet and Leftfield are among the many, many acts to play. Check out the full line-up and set times here.

Glastonbury was voted No.5 in DJ Mag’s Top 100 Festivals Poll for 2025.